English Research Guide

Library Databases for Research in English

MLA International Bibliography: The preeminent database of literary criticism on English-language content, with a great deal of content related to most modern Western languages.
Contemporary Authors & Contemporary Literary Criticism: Short literary reviews and analysis of work by individuals who were alive when the articles were written (i.e.—contemporary), so 20th and early 21st century authors. Includes biographical details of authors.
Academic Search Premier: This source has better "review" sources than it does "literary criticism" sources, but many of the literary critical and book review articles are available in full text.

Project Gutenberg: an enormous collection of free on-line e-books.
Shakespeare Search Engine: Search the full-text of Shakespeare's plays by character, text, or themes.
The Victorian Women Writer's Project: digital archive of Victorian women authors' works.
Perseus Digital Library: digital archive of plays, poems, and nonfiction works by ancient and medieval authors.

Bartleby Verse: American & English Poetry 1250-1920: online reference source for U.S. and U.K. poetry, medieval through modern times.
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: Irish literature, history, and politics.
American Memory Project: Library of Congress's digital library of Americana, including digital images of some of Walt Whitman's notebooks.

Bohemian Ink: literary underground review
Modern American Poetry: online poetry/poetics journal
Web Del Sol: Web site which publishes poetry and articles about poetry online.

PAL: Perspectives in American Literature: free online bibliographies and some full-text archived material for well-known American authors.
Librarian's Index to the Internet: Literature: Web link list