Research Guides @ Fordham: English and American Literature: English Comp Essentials

Finding Articles

Searching with OneSearch (Library Instructional Video)

OneSearch and individual database have powerful features to help you find results.

Break your search into keywords or key phrases, and use Advanced Search to specify where your terms should be searched (e.g. title, abstract, subject, full text).

Use limiters to narrow your results. Suggested limiters include:

Full text
Academic journal or peer reviewed article
Subject
Date

Accessing Databases (Library Instructional Video)

View complete list of Language & Literature databases.

Library Tutorial

Library Tutorial
Learn how to conduct academic research and how to use Fordham University Libraries.
Personal Librarian Program
Sign up to be paired with a librarian who can give you library tips and be a contact person for your library questions. For Rose Hill students.

One Minute Paper

One Minute Paper
If you're taking an English Comp class, you may be asked to complete this at the end of your library session.

Finding Books

Searching the Catalog (Library Instructional Video)

Click on the Catalog tab to search for books within Fordham University Libraries.

Broad search: Use the "Words or Phrase" option to search for words appearing anywhere in the Catalog (does not search full text of books).

Narrower search: Use "Subject" option to find books about specific authors or topics.

Sample subject terms:

English literature
American literature
Literature and history
Women and fiction
George Eliot and criticism

Background Information on Literature

Credo Reference - Language and Literature
Online encyclopedias and dictionaries of language and literature.
Gale Literature
Includes information on literary figures from all time periods writing in all genres, thousands of overviews of literary works, and much more.
MagillOnLiterature Plus
Access ends 8/1
Complete Masterplot series with plot summaries of fiction, drama, and epic poetry, as well as biographies of authors.

Identifying Keywords

Identifying Keywords

This 1 minute video illustrates how to identify best keywords for your search.

A transcript of the video is available.

Citing Sources

The MLA Style Center
Companion site to the MLA Handbook that features guidelines on formatting a research paper and sample papers in MLA style.

Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
Writing and citation resource from Purdue University. Includes citation overviews for MLA, APA, and Chicago citation styles.

English and American Literature: English Comp Essentials