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 AU Library Subject guides English

Subject guide for English

On this page you will find a selection of resources concerning English language and literature as well as some resources concerning cultural studies. You are welcome to contact us in case you need help, or if you have suggestions for additional information for the page.

Reference works

  • British Council Literature
  • Reference work containing articles about the most important authors of England, Ireland and the Commonwealth countries.
  • Dictionary of Irish Biography
    Comprehensive reference work with biographical articles on Irish men and women who have had particular importance for Ireland. Distinguished by well-written and detailed articles. The online version corresponds to the printed version of the same name.
  • Encyclopedia of American Studies
    Encyclopedia concerning American culture. Contains a large amount of articles about literature, art, films, history, social conditions, economy, education, gender, race, religion, environment, philosophy, science, social reforms and more.
  • Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics
    ELL2 is the largest linguistic encyclopedia. Contains overview articles with matching reference lists about all language scientific topics, disciplines and technical terms.
  • Gale Virtual Reference Library
    E-book database containing reference works mainly within the study of the humanities, theology, religion and social science.
  • Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism
    The reference work contains a large number of articles about the most important theorists, critics, schools, topics and movements in literary theory, aesthetics, philosophy, cultural studies and more.
  • Literature Online
    Reference work concerning world literature, text archive with classic fiction in English, access to Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL), a large number of full-text journals as well as introductions to literary classics. Access to the literary introductions: Click ’Publications’ on the front page and search for study guides.
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
    Reference work including biographical articles about dead brits and non-brits, who have had a special importance to Great Britain and the history of the British Empire.

  • Oxford Handbooks Online
    OHO is a collection of reference works written by leading scholars. Will be updated continuously. There is access to Business & Management, Economic and Finance, Law, Literature, Political Science, Psychology og Religion. Please note that there is not always access to all volumes of a specific reference work. Search tips:  Guided Tour

  • Oxford Reference Online
    E-books database containing a large collection of acknowledged reference works and dictionaries within the English language as well as English-French, Spanish, German, Italian, Latin, Irish and Welsh dictionaries. Also contains a collection of quotes, illustrations, maps and historical timelines.

  • Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics
    Reference work on many topics and areas of Linguistics. The articles are research-based, peer-reviewed and contains references, cross-references, links to digital material, etc. Will be updated continuously.

  • Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature
    The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature (ORE) encompasses a wide range of literary topics from all over the world: literature from Africa, Asia, England, Ireland, North America and Western Europe as well as topics such as children's literature, cultural studies, poetry, drama, film, media, literary concepts, comparative literature, etc. All articles are peer-reviewed and written by literary experts. Contains literature references for further reading.

  • The Literary Encyclopedia
    International encyclopedia about authors, works and topics in world literature. The content is put in its historical context since it is possible to search for historical topics and events.

Bibliographies

  • MLA International Bibliography
    References to articles and books within literature- and language studies. Usually the articles are available in full-text. Covers European, Asian, American and Africa languages and literary fields.
  • Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH)
    The Bibliography covers the history of the British world from Roman Britain to the 21st century. It contains a large number of references to books, journal articles and book chapters published from the early 1900s to the current year. You can search by author, title of publication, subject, time period, publication type and dates of publication. The bibliography continues to add new publications to the collection.
  • Bibliography of Metaphor and Metonymy
    International bibliography covering the concept of figurative language very wide. All articles are provided with keywords and a lot of them include abstracts.
  • International Index to Film Periodicals
    Bibliography with references to articles and tv- and film reviews from a selection of international journals.
  • Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts
    Next to the MLA the LLBA is the largest linguistic bibliography. It contains references to language-scientific literature (journal articles, articles in books, books and more) about all linguistic topics and branches as well as all languages.
  • Proquest
    Collection of databases which covers a wide range of subject areas: Humanities, social sciences, science and medicine. Most of the databases are bibliographies.

Article databases

  • JSTOR
    Journal database with full-text access to the leading journals within all subject areas. Usually it is not possible to access the most recent 3-5 volumes, but it is possible to access publications before that.
  • Project Muse
    Journal database with full-text access to high quality journals within the humanities and social science. The database provides access to the most recent issues and sometimes to older issues (back issues) as well.

Journals

  • Periodicals Archive Online (PAO)
    PAO is a major archive that makes the backfiles of scholarly periodicals in the arts, humanities and social sciences available electronically. The archive continues to add new titles to the collection. Note: PAO is a part of the Proquest platform and you can search all the databases simultaneously.
  • Periodicals Index Online (PIO)
    PIO is a major index to a large number of scholarly journals in humanities and social sciences. It encompasses three centuries of scholarly publication in over 60 languages and dialects. The index continues to add new titles to the collection. Note: PIO is a part of the Proquest platform and you can search all the databases simultaneously.
  • Language and Linguistics Compass
  • Literature Compass

E-books and text archives

  • American History 1493-1945: From the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York
    The text archive contains a huge collection of primary source documents that cover American history from the early settlers up until the end of World War II.
  • Cambridge Companions Online
    Online-versions of the acknowledged Cambridge Companions series meant for students. Contains good introductions to classical and central authors, artists, philosophers, topics and periods.
  • British History Online
    English database with partly free access to a large number of digital versions of often used sources and maps related to British history and British local history until around 1900. Also includes sources concerning the Parliament, church history and economic history.
  • Blackwell Reference Online
    Blackwell Reference Online provides access to 28 e-books concerning linguistics. The titles can be found under the topics: Anthropology, Communication and Media Studies, History and Linguistics.
  • Early English Books Online
    EEBO contains reproductions of almost all works published in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America as well as publications in English printed in other parts of the world from 1473-1700. NOTE: Early English Books has moved to the main ProQuest Platform.
  • Ebook Central
    E-book database with thousands of e-books in all subject areas.
  • Economist Historical Archive 1843-2011
    Electronical version of the magazine The Economist including photocopies of every page in a lot of the issues published between 1843-2011. The Economist prints global news, facts, analyses and commentaries of the historical, political and economic sort. It is meant for researchers and teachers in the humanities and social science.
  • Emily Dickinson Archive
    This text archive provides access to all versions of the poem manuscripts of Emily Dickinson from different archives and libraries.

Dictionaries

  • Oxford English Dictionary
    The OED is the largest and most updated dictionary of its kind. In a historical perspective the dictionary provides information about the meaning of a word as well as its development through quotes from many different periods, texts and genres. Covers the entire English speaking world.
  • Ordbogen.com
    Collection of dictionaries which contains Ordbogen.com and Gyldendals Ordbøger. The collection of dictionaries covers a large number of subject areas and languages. The list of all relevant dictionaries is obtained when you search a word.
  • Oxford Advanced Learner’s’ Dictionary
    The largest freely-accessible dictionary online for students of English. Covers use and definition of English words including both English and American pronunciation.

Newspaper and media

  • Factiva
    Dow Jones Factiva is a unique database combining global news with first-class company information. The page is good for both global news search and search for marked and company information.
  • Regional Business News
    Database with full-text access to a large number of business-economic publications from America and Canada.
  • The Times Digital Archive, 1785-2019

Language, grammar and translation studies

  • The Chicago Manual of Style
    Reference work concerning the use of language, grammar, punctuation and typography. Classic standard work for everyone editing and publishing in English.
  • GrammarCheck
    A website which offers an online tool to proofread any English text. The website checks grammar, spelling and writing mistakes.
  • Handbook of Translation Studies
    HTS is an extensive reference work in the research field of translation and interpretation covering topics such as translation theory and history, intercultural communication, adaptation, interpretation and terminology.
  • Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies
    The reference work gives a detailed overview of translation studies and reflects the interdisciplinary diversity. The articles are all written by leading specialists in the area and besides traditional topics such as equivalence, translation strategies and new translations it also covers areas such as censorship, publication, semiotics, sociology and cultural studies.
  • Translation Studies Bibliography (TSB)
    TSB is an extensive bibliography within the research fields of translation and interpretation. Covers topics such as translation theory and history, intercultural communication, adaptation, interpretation and terminology.

Selected countries and topics

Reviews

Other online library sources

Editors

Lotte Thyrring Andersen

Senior Researcher
M
H 1360
P +4589462309
P +4551671326

Sofie Baungaard Hansen

Information Specialist
M

P +4591356405
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Revised 22.10.2024
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