Sample Searches

Literature Resource Center Sample Searches

Literature Resource Center is a database that offers biographies, bibliographies and critical analyses of more than 120,000 authors from every age and literary discipline.

Search 1:

A librarian from the University of South Alabama using Literature Resource Center wanted to search for biographical information on contemporary authors who wrote about Christians or Christianity and appeared in the journal World Literature Today.

Solution:

1. Opened Literature Resource Center and went into the "Advanced search" page.
2. Entered "Christian*" in the first entry box in "Keyword".
3. Entered "World Literature Today" in quotation marks in the second entry box in "Keyword".

Note: Literature Resource Center at this time cannot search individual publications as is done in InfoTrac databases. This is a frequently-requested feature that may come out in a future release of Literature Resource Center, but for now the best way to search individual journals is in the "Advanced Search" page as a keyword with the journal name in quotation marks.

4. Selected "Biographical Essay" for "Document Type:".
5. Selected "Contemporary Authors" for "Database:".
6. Clicked on the "Search" button and retrieved more than 120 author biographical records fitting the desired criteria.

Search 2:

A patron from the Seton Hall University called for assistance in formulating a search strategy in Literature Resource Center to retrieve British and American authors who wrote political poetry during a specific era.

Solution:

1. Opened Literature Resource Center and went to the "Authors by Type" page.
2. Selected both "American" and "British" under "Author Nationality:". [Select more than one item by holding down the "Ctrl" key on a PC, or the "Command" key on a Macintosh.]
3. Selected "Political Poetry" under "Genre:".
4. Selected "Victorian period literature, 1832-1901" under "Literary Movement or Time Period:".
5. Clicked on the "Search" button and retrieved 20 American and British authors.

Search 3:

The reference librarian at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, wanted to find a search strategy in Literature Resource Center that would retrieve the works of non-Native American authors who wrote about Native Americans.

Solution:

1. Opened Literature Resource Center and went to the "Advanced Search" page.
2. Entered "Native w1 American*" in "Keyword" in the first entry box and selected "OR".
3. Entered "American w1 Indian*" in "Keyword" in the second entry box.
4. Selected "Work Overview" for "Document Type:".
5. Selected "*All Databases*" for "Database:".
6. Clicked on the "Search" button and retrieved 140 work overviews that matched the customer's request.

Search 4:

A teacher using Literature Resource Center at the Plymouth Whitemarsh High School in Pennsylvania wanted to know how to retrieve critical essays on William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet".

Solution:

1. Opened Literature Resource Center and went to the "Title Search" page.
2. Entered "Romeo and Juliet" and selected "Exact title".
3. Clicked on the "Search" button and retrieved more than 15 critical essays that fulfilled the customer's request.

Search 5:

A student from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville wanted to know how to find literary articles and other resources on the women's suffrage movement in Literature Resource Center and how to save the search for future use.

Solution:

1. Opened Literature Resource Center and went to the "Advanced Search" page.
2. Entered "women* w1 suffrag*" in the first entry box and selected "Keyword".
3. Clicked on the "Search" button and retrieved numerous author biographies, literary criticism articles and additional resources related to the women's suffrage movement.
4. The InfoMark used to save this search was:

   http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?
   ADVSF1=women*+w1+suffrag*&ADVST1=
   KA&ASB1=AND&ADVSF2=&ADVST2=
   NA&ASB2=AND&ADVSF3=&ADVST3=
   NA&DT=&UZ=&ste=69&vrsn =3&tbst=
   asrch&srchtp=adv&locID=knox61277