Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online (Gale)
Provides full text access to biographical and critical essays on important literary figures from all eras, genres, and geographic areas. Many essays include manuscript pages, portraits, excerpts of criticism, bibliographies, and more. Electronic access extends back to 1978.

Historical Dictionary of Children's Literature

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press)
Presents authoritative biographies of influential people who lived in Britain. Covers only deceased subjects. Includes portraits, if available, and bibliographies with citations to works by and about featured individuals.

Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature
The database includes essays on poets, playwrights, essayists, and novelists, as well as major works and essays on literary movements, periods, themes and encompasses the range and depth of American literary history from the 1600s to the present day.

Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford University Press)
Contains the complete text of the second edition of the 20-volume Dictionary. Presents authoritative information on words in the English language, including their form, definition, history, pronunciation, and etymology. Approximately 1,000 new and revised entries are added on a quarterly basis.