Shakespeare Research Guide
Book and Audio Visual Sources-
To find print sources on the Bard that are here on the McClain's shelves, search Alexandria by "William Shakespeare," or "Shakespeare, William," or the title of your work. Be sure to search by SUBJECT. A subject search will bring you only books about William Shakespeare and not works with Shakespeare in the title or written by Fred Shakespeare. Be sure to also check the cart of sources that have been pulled and placed on reserve for your class to use. These reserve materials may not be check out, but feel free to make any photocopies of information you find, including the title page and its verso for your Works Cited page.
Databases-
Tennessee Electronic Library offers the Literature Resource Center free of charge to all Tennessee citizens. The LRC defaults to an author search. Again, like Alexandria, you can type in "Shakespeare, William" or "William Shakespeare" in the author search box. Users can also click the title tab and search by title of the Shakespeare play for which they are looking. This title search opens a screen where you can type in both title and author, which is handy and works as a one stop shopping kind of search. If you are searching for a good biographical sketch of Shakespeare, search the Encyclopedia of Literature. It will tell you all the highlights on Will's life.
EBSCOHost provides subscribers access to Magill's on Literature Plus, an electronic database of the series Magill's Choice. Under basic search, type in either author's name (last, first) OR title of work.
Memphis Public Library has a great collection of free full-text databases. The Scribner Writer's Series offers a nice biographical sketch as well as an in-depth analysis of Shakespeare's plays. There is a link entitled "citation" at the bottom of the essay, but if you look closely you will notice the citation does not contain the needed bibliographic elements or arrangement of them as defined by MLA-SO DON'T USE IT. Twayne's Authors Series offers analysis of individual works and characters. Search it by first clicking on the first letter of the author's last name and then by type of play (comedy, history, etc.).
Internet Sources-
Locating reputable online sources for literary criticism can be tricky at best, so limit yourself to the list of links the librarians have listed under the "Recommended Online Resources" on the library webpage. Follow this path: Collierville Campus/ Library/ Recommended Online Resources/ English & Literature. Search the last 6 links for information about Shakespeare, his works, and his historical period.
