Background, Context and Reference sources

Reference sources are a great way to start your research or quickly get an overview of the context and background of a topic in preparation for a seminar.

On these pages, you will find resources such as handbooks that give you an overview of the subject of your interest, alongside biographies that give you further details about the individuals involved. Also included on this page are periodical directories and dictionaries.

  • ProQuest One Literature: Large and inclusive literary collection including primary texts, criticism, reference works and multimedia.
  • Oxford Very Short Introductions: Online version of Oxford’s popular Very Short Introduction books.
  • Oxford Reference Online: Multidisciplinary reference collection containing entries from Oxford’s dictionaries, companions and encyclopaedias.
  • Orlando: Comprises more than 8 million words of original scholarship about women writers’ lives, bodies of work, and cultures in a collection of author profiles, event entries, and bibliographic entries.
  • MLA International Bibliography: Bibliographic database including reference source elements covering literature, language and linguistics, folklore, film, literary theory and criticism, drama and theatrical arts, as well as the historical aspects of printing and publishing – international in scope.

Dictionaries

Biographies

Directories