Research Guides: Seventeenth Century British Literature Research Guide: Databases

Database Searching

The databases are a good source both for literary criticism and reference materials.

Reference & Primary Sources

Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Access encyclopedias and reference sources within the Gale eBooks platform.
Gale Literature: Dictionary of Literary Biography This link opens in a new window
The series provides reliable information on authors and their works in an easy-to-understand, engaging format while placing writers in the larger perspective of literary history.
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Gale Primary Sources: Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspapers Collection This link opens in a new window
British newspapers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. An excellent source for contemporary reception of your works of interest, and also a good place to find historical information if you need it.

Criticism

MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
When you are searching for literary criticism, this should be your first stop, because it is the most comprehensive index of scholarly work on language and literature. Here, you can search by the title of a work or the name of an author, and add keywords to search for specifically what you need. Please note that you will need to click through Find It to get full text.
Gale Literature This link opens in a new window
This includes several resources, one of which is a book series entitled "Literature from 1400-1800." It collects selected criticism on works from that period. Some of the entries include articles that were recent when the entry was published, while others provide a historical perspective. In some cases, this includes documents contemporary with the work under consideration, which can help you to understand the work's reception.
Humanities Source This link opens in a new window
Although it is less comprehensive than MLA, Humanities Source provides coverage of the humanities more broadly, including journals on literature but also some which focus on theatre, history, women's studies, or other disciplines. This can be particularly useful if you are researching drama and need information on performance history. Includes both full-text searching and indexing.
International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text This link opens in a new window
An important resource for research on drama, particularly if you are interested in productions or production histories of plays.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Full-text, multidisciplinary collection of journal articles. It provides no indexing, so choosing comprehensive search terms is very important. You can use this to search for specific phrases.
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Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
This is the same kind of database as JSTOR, but it collects different journals. If you are searching JSTOR, it's worth taking a look at ProjectMUSE as well.
WSB | World Shakespeare Bibliography This link opens in a new window
A browsable index of work on Shakespeare. You can browse by play or look through reference works, articles on stage productions, and more. Does not use Find It, so you will need to know how to find items in our catalog.