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American Literature

Book Search

Books are labeled with Library of Congress call numbers, which group them by subject. The libray catalog provides unique call numbers for locating each book.

To search the catalog enter a word or short phrase below:

 

Example: As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

EXAMPLE: find criticism on "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner -

1.  Go to the "Library Catalog" tab and click the "Author/Subject Browse" link. Library Catalog - Author/Subject Browse

2. Type "Faulkner, William" into the search box and click the "subject" button to browse works about Faulkner.

Click subject to find items about the author

3.  Browse displayed subject headings for most relevant results. (The number to the far right of each subject heading indicates how many works the library possesses that correspond to that subject heading.)

4. Look for a sub-heading matching the title of the work.  The books listed under this sub-heading will often have criticism over the work.  (For example, Faulkner, William, 1897-1962.  As I Lay Dying).

5. Look for the subheading "criticism and interpretation." If one doesn't exist for your particular work, examine the general critcism items on the author.

 

6.  Get the book from the shelves and scan the table of contents and index to determine if it will be useful to your research.