Find Books

Steely Library's holdings include many resources for those seeking literary criticism. This tutorial highlights a few reference sources in our collection (print and online) and suggests a search strategy to find materials in our circulating collection. For locating specific items, using the library's catalog, NKUIRE, is recommended. Keyword, Author, Title, and Subject are among the ways you can search. If you're not familiar with NKUIRE, then watch the video below first.

Click on the link below to watch a 30-second video on how to access the library's catalog, NKUIRE.

NKUIRE Video Demonstration

For locating Literary Criticism, the following search strategy is recommended:

Using the library's catalog, NKUIRE, select the "LC Subject" tab and search by the name of the work or the author's name: last name, first name.

Screen shot of Library Catalog - Library of Congress Subject Search

Examining the list of results, look for the subheading "criticism and interpretation" or the title of the work to help narrow your results.

Screen shot indicating that 18 items contain criticism and interpretation of Edgar Allan Poe

Some example subjects are listed below. Click on the links to see the records.

Literary Criticism Reference Sources

Steely Library subscribes to Credo Reference E-books, an online collection of reference books. The collection includes more than 20 titles from the literature field.

The following are recommended print Reference titles. These items are located on the 3rd floor of Steely Library.

Contemporary Literary Criticism
REF PN771 .C59
Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism
REF PN761 .N5
Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism
REF PN771 .G27
Poetry Criticism: Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of the Most Significant and Widely Studied Poets of World Literature
REF PN1010 .P499
Short Story Criticism
REF PN3373 .S382x
World Literature Criticism: 1500 to the Present
REF PN523 .W67 1992
Children's Literature Review
REF PN1009.A1 C5139

These are suggestions only and do not reflect the full range of materials that may be useful to you. For additional assistance, Ask Steely Library!