Find Reference and Background Information
- Oxford English Dictionary OnlineFull-text of the 2nd ed. The OED covers words from across the English-speaking world. It also offers etymological analysis, listings of variant spellings, and shows pronunciation using the International Phonetic Alphabet.
- Oxford Reference OnlineContains 100 language and subject dictionaries and other reference works, and searches across these resources. Limited to 5 simultaneous users.
A Dictionary of Literary Symbols by ISBN: 1316623327Publication Date: 2017-05-27This is an expansion of the first dictionary of symbols to be based on literature, rather than on 'universal' psychological archetypes or myths. It explains and illustrates the literary symbols that we frequently encounter (such as swan, rose, moon, gold) and gives thousands of cross-references and quotations. The dictionary concentrates on English literature, but its entries range widely from the Bible and classical authors to the twentieth century, taking in American and European literatures. For this third edition, Michael Ferber has included some twenty completely new entries (such as birch, childbirth, grove, mill and railroad) and has added to many of the existing entries. Its rich references make this book an essential tool not only for literary and classical scholars but also for all students of literature.
Find Scholarly Journal Articles
- Academic Search PremierA great place to start your research on any topic, search multidisciplinary, scholarly research articles. This database provides access to scholarly and peer reviewed journals, popular magazines and other resources. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
- JSTORFind full text articles in academic journals or books on the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. JSTOR provides articles from the journal's first issue. In some cases the most recent 2-5 years may not be available. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
- Literature OnlineFind literary criticism and scholarly articles on literature included in the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature and The MLA International Bibliography. It also includes an online full text library of literary reference resources and searchable full-text of over 300,000 works of English and American poetry, drama, and prose.
- Google Scholar (Setup connection to get to PDFs)Use Google Scholar to find articles from academic publishers, professional societies, research institutes, and scholarly repositories from colleges and universities. If you are using from off-campus access, change the "Library Settings" to University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Look for the "FindIt@U of M Twin Cities" links in your Google Scholar search results to access full text and PDFs. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
- Web of Science (Database Access + Guide)A comprehensive interdisciplinary collection of journal article citations. Subjects generally covered are within Science and technology, arts and humanities, and social sciences.
Find Magazine Articles
- MasterFile CompleteSearch magazines, with a small number of journals and newspapers, covering a broad range of disciplines and topics. Includes photos and multimedia.
- Reader's Guide RetrospectiveUseful for researching popular culture in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century. Search for articles from popular magazines from 1890-1982.
Find Current Newspaper Articles
- U.S. Newsstream This link opens in a new windowSearch the most recent premium U.S. news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full-text format.
- FactivaSearch millions of newspapers, business magazines, and newswires with international and foreign language coverage with all editions of the Wall Street Journal. Financial information for publicly traded companies, stocks, funds, currencies, and common market indexes. Limited to 7 simultaneous users.
- Access World NewsFull-text news from over 9,000 news sources in the U.S. and international newspapers, major wire services, and hundreds of local broadcasting outlets and blogs. There are over 100 Minnesota sources. Mostly English language news coverage with some 200 titles in Spanish, French, Afrikaans and other languages.
- News SourcesA guide to finding newspapers, magazines, broadcasts, and other news sources at the UMN Libraries.
Find Historical Newspaper Articles
- ProQuest Historical NewspapersSearch old editions major U.S. newspapers and the Times of India. Papers include the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Other titles include the Atlanta Daily World, Chicago Defender, Christian Science Monitor, Jewish Advocate, the Jewish Exponent, Los Angeles Sentinel, the New York Amsterdam News, Pittsburgh Courier, South China Morning Post, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.
- World Newspaper ArchiveWorld Newspaper Archive is a collection of historical newspapers published in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. It provides excellent coverage of the people, cultures, issues and events that have shaped world history. Additional collections covering other regions will be added over time.
- Chronicling America: Historic American NewspapersThis site allows you to search and view US newspaper pages from 1880-1923 and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
Find Media and Images
- ARTstorARTstor is a cross-disciplinary image database. It offers collections of approximately 300,000 art images and descriptive information covering art, architecture and archeology.
- UMN Libraries Streaming Video Collections GuideThis is a guide of university licensed and freely available quality digital (mostly streaming) video online resources.
- UMedia/Digital CollectionsIHRCA digitized materials in UMedia: UMedia provides open access to digitized materials from across the University of Minnesota. The IHRCA currently has over 5000 objects available in UMedia, including video, audio, and photographs.
Getting full text
When using Library resources, the FindIt link is your connection to accessing the full text of articles if a PDF link is not already visible.
This short video will show you how to get to the articles you need for your research paper or other University of Minnesota assignments. Never pay for articles! If we don't have it online, request it and we will get it for you.
Tutorial: Getting the most out of Google Scholar
After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Identify the differences between Google and Google Scholar
- Understand how to access University of Minnesota Libraries-licensed materials through Google Scholar’s “Library Links”
- Search more effectively using Google Scholar’s advanced features and settings
Checking out books and other items
- Checking out or borrowing itemsYou can borrow books and other materials by using your U Card. As a UMN student you can check out an unlimited number of items and have full access to online library resources both on and off campus.
Get It
Use the Get It link to have physical materials delivered to your home, campus office, or another library.
Get help from the U Libraries - Online!
- Peer Research ConsultantsMake an online 30 minute appointment for one-on-one peer assistance with your research. Get help with researching your topic, finding sources, citing sources and more. Peer Research Consultants can also help you get started with faculty-sponsored research.
- Chat 24/7 online with the LibrariesAsk us anything! Chat with a librarian, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with any research or library questions.
- Meet with a librarianSchedule an online consultations for personalized research support primarily for University of Minnesota faculty, instructors, graduate and undergraduate students and staff.
Off-campus access to library resources
Current University students, staff and faculty should be able to get full text and online access to the University Libraries from anywhere. Here are three ways to access the library full text from off campus.
- Search the University of Minnesota library website. Log in with your UMN Internet ID and password to access resources.
- Log in using the U of M Virtual Private Network (VPN). You will need to download it VPN software to your computer from campus OIT (Office of Information Technology).
- Install the Libraries' Proxy Bookmarklet to your browser and click it to reload the page with your U of M login to get access to full text. Watch a proxy bookmarklet video (3 min) to learn more.
View examples and learn more on our How to get to full text from on and off campus Guide.
Last Updated: Jan 12, 2024 10:26 AM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/ENGW/1104