Ramsey Library at UNC Asheville: Literature & Literary Criticism: Reference

Using Reference Resources

A reference source is a compendium of authoritative information, compiled for ease of use. Examples include: subject or general encyclopedias, dictionaries and thesauri, statistics, biographical compilations, & maps)

Reference materials may be found on our main floor to the left of the Research Services Desk as well as online.

Featured Reference Books

Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism
Call Number: REFERENCE PN81 .J554 2005
ISBN: 0801880106
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature
Call Number: REFERENCE PS21 .E537 2004
ISBN: 0195156536
also available online

Online Reference Sources

Gale Literature Resource Center
Articles, critical essays, work and topic overviews, full-text works, and biographies covering authors, their works, and literary movements.
Literature Online (LION)
Library of more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose, 150 full-text literature journals, and other criticism and reference resources.
Oxford Reference
Resource discontinued as of 12/31/2017.
Please contact libref@unca.edu if you need help accessing alternate resources.
Gale Virtual Reference Library
30 Reference books and Encyclopedias in Religion, History, Philosophy, and more.
Cambridge Companions Online (CCO)
Two searchable collections: the Cambridge Companions in Literature and Classics and the Cambridge Companions in Philosophy, Religion and Culture

Cambridge Histories of Literature
50+ texts covering a wide range of periods and genres from around the world.

Credo Reference
Encyclopedias, dictionaries, biographies, bilingual dictionaries, thesauri, quotations and atlases, plus a wide range of titles covering everything from accounting to zoology
Oxford English Dictionary
The standard dictionary of the English language. Includes a history of individual words along with their derivation and usage examples.

PAL-Perspectives on American Literature
Free web resource
The Literature Network
Free web resource

Key Reference Titles

American writers; a collection of literary biographies
REFERENCE PS129 .A55
An Anthology of World Poetry
GENERAL PN6101 .V3 1928
The Art of Literature
GENERAL B3118.E5 S38
Biographies of books : the compositional histories of notable American writings International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
GENERAL PS25 .B58 1996
The critical performance; an anthology of American and British literary criticism of our century
GENERAL PN99.G7 H9
Dictionary of literary biography yearbook
REFERENCE PN451.D5 Y3
Also included in Literature Criticism Online
A dictionary of literary symbols
REFERENCE PN56.S9 F47 2007
Also available online in Credo Reference
The great books : a journey through 2,500 years of the West's classic literature
GENERAL PN523 .O37 2009
A Glossary of Literary Terms
REFERENCE PN41 .A184 2005
A handbook to literature
REFERENCE PN41 .H355 2000
The Oxford dictionary of allusions
REFERENCE PE1580 .D45 2001
Americans' favorite poems : the Favorite Poem Project anthology
GENERAL PN6101 .A46 2000