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How to Find Literary Criticism
in Expanded Academic Index

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF USING THE EXPANDED ACADEMIC INDEX?

Expanded Academic Index is an excellent first step to locating critical materials on literary works and authors. Searching the Expanded Academic Index is generally a fairly "user friendly" way to identify publications on a literary work or topic published after 1980.

Full-text is available for approximately one-third of the material in Expanded Academic Index

The information is structured to allow users to find references to materials published in the most recent two (2) years or search a "backfile" for references to materials published since 1980.

Expanded Academic Index has some useful automated search features. When a "subject" search is not successful, other products often return no results and no hints on how to proceed. Expanded Academic Index automatically re-enters a "subject" search as a "word" search in a failed search, often producing results. After searching for a topic in the most recent two years, Expanded Academic Index can also automatically perform the same search back to 1980.

ARE THERE DRAWBACKS TO USING THE EXPANDED ACADEMIC INDEX? Possibly.

It may not be possible for the library to own all of the journals or books listed in Expanded Academic Index. You should always check the library catalog to determine whether or not a particular journal title or book is available in your library.

There may be instances when little or no material has been published since 1980 on a particular work.
Other good options include:

1) consulting the library online catalog

2) check in a Reference book. The library has an extensive collection of print reference books with lists of critical materials on particular literary works

3) search in the Modern Language Association Bibliography (MLA Bibliography)


Jump to: Searching by the Name of a Work || Searching by the Name of an Author ||
Searching by the Name of a Character || I Found Something Good, How Do I find More? ||
It Didn't Work What Can I Do Now? || Connect to Expanded Academic Index ||

Searching by the Name of the Work

Try this first when you are looking for material on a particular literary work

See also: Searching by the Last Name of an Author Searching by the Last Name of an Author

Examples:

Ode on a Grecian Urn

I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed

Sun Also Rises

Train Whistle Guitar

Streetcar Named Desire

Searching by the Name of a Literary Character

This strategy may not always be successful, but it is worth a try.

See also: Searching by the Name of the Work or Searching by the Last Name of an Author

Examples:

Emma Bovary

Bill Gorton

Searching by the Last Name of the Author

You will actually locate more material by using the author last name. Materials in Expanded Academic Index are generally are grouped under the author last name in basic searches.

Examples:

Aeschylus

Levertov, Denise

Ibsen

I Found Something Good, How Do I Find More?

Make it a habit to take advantage of these two excellent automated features of Expanded Academic Index:

Now that you've located a useful citation, chances are very high that more material will be found using information in the citation. Expanded Academic Index does this automatically with EXPLORE

Press "EXPLORE" to include in your search the subjects found in a high quality citation

Because the "backfile" covers nearly 15 years, chances are that you will actually locate many additional
useful citations

It Didn't Work, What Do I Do Now?

1) If you searched on the name of the literary work or a literary character:

Try searching on the last name of the author instead

2) If nothing was found in the most recent time-period

Try different terms and/or search the "Backfile" (1980-1993).

3) I tried all of the above in Expanded Academic Index:

Exit Expanded Academic Index and do a "word or phrase" search in the online catalog

or jump now to the library online catalog

Connect to Library Catalog

4) Exit Expanded Academic Index and find a REFERENCE BOOK that may help

5) Exit Expanded Academic Index try your search again in the Modern Language Association Bibliography

6) I tried Expanded Academic Index, Reference Books, and the MLA Bibliography, now what?

Each source has peculiarities for searching which may be cause of your difficulties
The reference librarians are there to help and will have strategies you may not have considered.

PLEASE ASK THE REFERENCE LIBRARIAN FOR ASSISTANCE