SHORT STORY LITERARY CRITICISM - Learning Resource Center

Using “Find Articles”
Another direct way to find criticisms is to search for journal articles that can be found
on-line via the LRC Homepage .
*Note* To access the databases from your home computer, you must first activate your
Raider card by stopping at the Niceville Campus LRC Circulation Desk or calling 729-5318
for telephone activation. Then you may use “Find Articles” from home by entering your
Borrower ID number, which is the 14-digit number below the barcode on your student ID
card, and your PIN, which is the last four numbers of your social security number.
Use the following databases to locate articles about authors and their works:
Academic Search Complete – Full-text articles on a variety of topics
Omnifile Full Text Mega – Full-text articles on a variety of topics
Literary Reference Center – Documents including full-text plot summaries, criticism,
biography, and many more topics
Literature Resource Center – Full-text critical analyses of authors
JSTOR – Full-text articles on a variety of topics
Biography Research Center – Full-text biographies, articles and websites
Academic Onefile – Full text articles on a variety of subjects
Choose an appropriate database and follow the on-screen instructions to locate full-text or
abstracts of articles. If only an abstract is available on-line, the LRC may own the journal
in another format or be able to obtain the article through interlibrary loan. To determine
which periodicals are available at the LRC, consult the NFSC Periodicals Holdings- the red
notebooks located throughout the library.
Using “The Web”
The Internet provides information on short stories that is accessible on Web sites.
However, some Web resources may not be accurate or timely. There may not be any peer
review or validation of information. Some criteria for evaluating Web resources are to look
at the domain, the author, objectivity, content, and currency.
To locate some web sites that might be useful click on Virtual File and select Literature.
These web sites are selected by at least two librarians to support the OWC curriculum.
Using “The LRC”
The best way to locate criticisms about a specific short story is to use indexes to look up
the author’s name, then the short story under the author’s name, in the following indexes:
Magill Index to Critical Surveys. INDEX PN 524 M34 1994
Short Fiction Criticism
INDEX Z 5917 S5 T5
Twentieth–Century Short Story Explication INDEX Z 5917 S5 W33 1977
Remember, this handout serves only as a starting point for your research. Additional
assistance is always available from the library staff.
04/08
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