ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE RESEARCH GUIDE: Books

Can't find what you're looking for in the UR Library catalog? Use the box below to search in WorldCat. You can request it from another library by clicking the "Request Item" button.

The first place to check for books on your topic is the UR Library Catalog.  Here are some quick tips for effective catalog searches:

If you are looking for books by a writer, use the Author search (last name first).

If you want books about an author, use the Subject Heading Browse search (last name first).

Most books by and about an author are shelved together, so once you have a few call numbers, you can browse.

If you're looking for a particular short story or an essay, a Keyword search works best.  It may be in an anthology, far away from other books by or about its author.

Most works of literature written in English will be in these areas:

PE: English Language and Philology

PN: General Literature (including creative writing and general anthologies)

PR: British and Commonwealth Literature

PS: American Literature

PZ: Children's Literature

The library has an extensive collection of DVD's, Blu-rays, and VHS as well as numerous streaming video platforms. Here are some tips for searching for films in the catalog:

• Always filter the results of your search by Video/DVD, DVD only, or Streaming Video.
• Search the catalog for specific titles, it helps to put exact titles in quotations like "The Wild Bunch". If you are searching for a film that has a non-English title, the title in the film's original language may appear first in the record.
• Search the catalog for contributors/creators. Films do not have just one "author" like books do. They have directors, actors, editors, producers- and filter the results.
• Search by language. Films are categorized by language, but take note that some films have multiple languages. For example- search the catalog for Motion pictures Japanese and filter the results.
• ​Search for films by country of production- the country of production does not just include a film's location- it includes the countries that financially produced the film as well. So, take this into consideration if you are just looking for films based in a certain place, or national cinemas. For example you can search for Motion pictures Germany, and then filter the results .
• Search for films by genre or form, for example Animated films, Western films, War films, Experimental films, Suspense films, Adventure films, Documentary films, Silent films.
• Streaming movies are added to the catalog every few months, so for the best results it helps to search the streaming video platform directly. See the links below.
• All DVD's, Blu-ray's and VHS are located in the library's Media Resource Center.