Electronic Resources (Discover Primary Sources, Historical Sources, and Other Relevant Information)
The UIUC Library provides access to a wide variety of electronic resources that can help you discover primary source materials, historically significant texts and periodicals, and other important information. On this page, you will find the electronic resources most suitable for your research in literature and its allied fields.
Simply decide which resource meets your needs. The tabbed box for each database walks you through each of the databases, how they work, and what you should do when you locate an item of interest.
For a more comprehensive list of Early Modern British Literature Resources, please visit the Early Modern Research Guide. For all other databases associated with English Literature, please visit A-Z Databases. Select the "Subject" most closely affiliated with your research or learning needs to discover relevant databases.
Digitized Literature and Literary Collections
- Early English Books OnlineFeatures nearly every work published in the British Isles and North America, as well as other English-language works published around the globe from 1470-1700.
- HathiTrust Digital LibraryHathiTrust is a not-for-profit collaborative of academic and research libraries preserving 17+ million digitized items. HathiTrust members steward the collection — the largest set of digitized books managed by academic and research libraries — under the aims of scholarly, not corporate, interests.
- Alexander Street Press Literature and Language CollectionsLiterature & Language combines a variety of linguistic, cultural, and literary traditions in a way that allows users to explore and analyze themes and trends from around the world. Areas of focus include France, Spain, Germany, Russia, Japan, and China. Through interviews, biographies, and surveys of regional literature and literary periods, these titles offer researchers and students a comprehensive resource for study of literature.
- ProQuest Literature Collections
Each literature collection has been developed with its own specialist editorial board to advise on the selection of texts and editions. - Literature Criticism Online
LCO covers a range of modern and historical views on authors and their works across regions, eras and genres, offering tens of thousands of hard-to-find critical essays. - Literature Resource Center
Searchable database of full-text articles, essays, book reviews, plot summaries, poems, short stories, plays, and interviews with contemporary writers.
Early English Books Online
- Early English Books Online
Features nearly every work published in the British Isles and North America, as well as other English-language works published around the globe from 1470-1700.
Search EEBO
To perform a broad search on EEBO, simply type your search term into the bar.
Learn to Use Facets and Other Limiters
You may also perform an advanced search. To do this, click on the advanced search icon on the home page of EEBO.
You may add as many search terms as needed, and limit your search to find exactly what you need.
You can narrow your search by using specific terms with one another, by publication date, and by source or document type.
Finally, you may sort your results in whatever way would be most useful to you.
Get What You Need
EEBO retrieved several thousand results.
To make things easier, you can refine your search using the side bar on the left. Depending on what you need, you can narrow it down by author, date of publication, place of publication, subject, and publisher.
Let's say I'm looking to access images of Shakespeare's First Folio. EEBO retrieved one result.
From this page, you have several options available for viewing the text. Clicking on the title will bring you to the full text and table of contents, so you can go directly to the page you need. In addition, you may access and download the Folio as a PDF for further use.
ProQuest Literature Collections
- ProQuest Literature CollectionsEach literature collection has been developed with its own specialist editorial board to advise on the selection of texts and editions.
Find Material
Since ProQuest provides access to all of these collections, searching in each database follows the same process.
For instance, we can search for material related to Herman Melville. Like all ProQuest databases, you can perform an "Advanced Search" to refine your search.
Our search produced 14 results. Scroll through the results to find those that best match your needs. Use the facets on the left hand side of the page to revise your results.
Get What You Need
When you select an item that matches your needs, simply click on the associated link, which will direct you to the digitized text.
This page also enables you to save the text as a PDF, Cite the item, email it to yourself, or print it. In addition, you can create an account by selecting the appropriate icon in the right hand corner of the page. This will help you to keep track of your searches, saved items, and other related items.
Alexander Street Press
- Alexander Street Press Literature and Language Collections
Literature & Language combines a variety of linguistic, cultural, and literary traditions in a way that allows users to explore and analyze themes and trends from around the world. Areas of focus include France, Spain, Germany, Russia, Japan, and China. Through interviews, biographies, and surveys of regional literature and literary periods, these titles offer researchers and students a comprehensive resource for study of literature.
Search Alexander Street Press
Alexander Street Press provides access to a number of collections, representing literature, languages, and the performing arts. Once you have identified which collection is right for you, you can search it to find information related to your research or teaching needs. Here, we will examine Black Drama to become familiar with how to use Alexander Street Press collections.
Each Alexander Street Press collection describes its contents and provides you with the option to create an account by selecting the "User Profile" Icon. Creating an account is a useful way to keep track of your research, searches, and related activity.
Searching for content in the collection is fairly easy. Input your search term or use the facets on the left to advance to results related to your reach and learning needs.
Once you have refined your search or produced a result list that you believe represents your inquiry, you can begin to read material.
You are also welcome to search across all of the Alexander Street Press collections. Simply visit https://search.alexanderstreet.com/ to search for content in a variety of fields and presented in an array of formats, including streaming medial
Get What You Need
Below you will find a sample of results from a search for material in Black Drama.
Selecting any one of these options will open the text for you to read and study. For instance, below you will find Langston Hughes' Don't You Want to Be Free?
You know have the option to read the text. The platform also provides you with the ability to cite the work, email it to yourself, share it, include it in a list that you want to create, or embed it in other platforms.
HathiTrust
- HathiTrust Digital Library
HathiTrust is a not-for-profit collaborative of academic and research libraries preserving 17+ million digitized items. HathiTrust members steward the collection — the largest set of digitized books managed by academic and research libraries — under the aims of scholarly, not corporate, interests.
Search HathiTrust
Before you begin, Login to HathiTrust Digital Library. This will enable you to take advantage of all of its features and access its content.
You can discover a variety of digitized texts in the HathiTrust Digital Library.
Selecting "Advanced Full-Text Search", "Advanced Catalog Search" or "Search Tips" will enable you to refine and expand your inquiry according to your needs.
Once you have decided which search option works best for you, type your search terms into the search bar and review your results.
Get What You Need
Once you entered your search terms, you will discover a list of results.
Select the result that best matches your research and learning needs, or that you find is particularly interesting.
Click on the "Temporary Access" Link to read the text.
Cambridge Companions
- Cambridge Companions
The Cambridge Companions to Literature and Classics collection offers thousands of comprehensive and accessible essays on major authors, periods and genres, written by experts and designed for student readers.
Oxford Handbooks
- Oxford Handbooks
One of the most prestigious and successful strands of Oxford’s scholarly publishing, the Handbook series contains in-depth, high-level articles by scholars at the top of their field.
The Bible in English
- Bible in English This link opens in a new windowContains twenty versions. In addition to the twelve complete Bibles, there are five New Testament works, two Gospel works and William Tyndale's New Testament, Pentateuch and Jonah translations.