Library Resources - Literatures in English

The resources supporting research in language and literature disciplines are located in the Raynor Memorial Libraries, which contain over 1.6 million volumes of books, bound journals, audiovisuals, and microfilm.  The Libraries also offer hundreds of computer workstations and circulating laptops, group study spaces, comfortable seating for browsing and study, and an array of services for research and information support.  The libraries are open 104 hours weekly plus 24/7 access to Raynor's (1st floor) Information Commons.

Collection Strengths

Marquette's collections in language and literature support departmental teaching and research through the doctoral level.  The collecting concentrates on the history and criticism of British and American literature, emphasizing the traditions of scholarship, historical research, and literary theory.  Graduate topics include Old English; Chaucer and Medieval Literature; Shakespeare; Renaissance Literature; Renaissance Drama; Restoration and 18th Century origins of the English Novel; 19th and 20th Century British Literature; American Literature Beginnings to 1900; Modern American Poetry; 20th Century American Literature; Modern Critical Theory; and Studies in Rhetorical Theory.  The collection also supports practical and theoretical instruction in rhetoric and composition for those students who hold teaching assistantships.  A commitment to cross-disciplinary programs in the University positively affects the collection in the following areas: women's studies, Native American literature; Irish studies, film studies; and medieval studies.

English is the primary language of acquisition.  Translations of literary works from other languages into English are purchased as necessary to support curricular and general reading interests under the auspices of the English faculty or the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.   Materials covering all periods and genres are purchased.  Geographic guidelines include collecting literatures of all English-speaking countries with greatest emphasis on literatures of Great Britain, Ireland, and the United States.  Literary works by Catholic authors and/or works in which the Catholic Church forms an integral element are an area of special interest and are collected comprehensively.  Some popular literature and poetry are purchased for the Browsing Collection, where they remain while they are heavily used and are then relocated to the general collection.  The Libraries are actively participating in projects and consortia to add electronic books (e-books) to the collection.  To review holdings of e-books, search MARQCAT using the subject E-Books -- English Language and Literature.  New books added each month may be reviewed in MARQCAT'S New Titles feature, listing for English Language and Literature.

The core of the monographic literature collection is found in the Library of Congress 'P..' classification with rounded numbers of holdings (in titles) as follows (1993 National Shelflist Count):

P (philology, linguistics) 5,000
PE (English philology and language) 3,000
PN (Literature-general) 19,000
PR (English Literature) 38,000
PS (American Literature) 27,000
PZ (Juvenile fiction) 900

The library's current periodicals collection, including subscriptions to journals, series, and other standing orders, numbers approximately 5000, 240 of which are designated as directly supporting the English department's research needs.  Current issues of journals are shelved on Raynor's second level and bound journals are accessible on Memorial Library's lower level compact shelving.   In addition to the printed materials, the library acquires in microform retrospective runs of many journals and selectively, rare and out-of print monographs. 

A growing collection of journals in electronic format extends the library's print subscriptions.  The major vendors of interest in the humanities are JSTOR and Project MUSE.  To review e-journals in literature, search MARQCAT using the subject heading E Journals--English Language and Literature.  All e-journals are cataloged and hotlinked in MARQCAT as well as listed on on the Libraries' Web site.   Notable full-text electronic archives of interest in literary research include: American Literature, Callaloo, Chaucer Review, ELH, Journal of Modern Literature, MLN, Milton Quarterly, Modern Fiction Studies, Nineteenth-Century Literature, Shakespeare Quarterly, Victorian Studies, and Yale Journal of Criticism.

The library owns several important collections of rare digital texts, all of which are catalogued and linked in MARQCAT: Evans' Early American Imprints (36,000 books published 1639-1800); Early English Books Online (100,000+ titles published between 1473 and 1700); and Eighteenth Century Collections Online (125,000 works published 1701-1800). The University's Department of Special Collections includes manuscript and special collections devoted to (among others) authors J.R.R. Tolkien, Sherwood Anderson, James Joyce, and poets Jessica Powers and Joyce Kilmer.   The department's rare books also support the study of incunabula and the history of printing.

Research Resources

The Libraries' Web-based online catalog, MARQCAT, includes listings for all books and journal subscriptions held in the campus libraries.  It is accessible on and off-campus 24 hours a day and is supplemented by guides and research starting points on the Libraries' Web site.  Raynor's reference collection contains comprehensive sources in language and literature, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and bibliographical compilations on authors, literary history, and genres.  A special collection of recommended Web sites for the study of language and literature is maintained by the collection librarian for English literature.

The Library maintains a wide range of indexes and bibliographical services, increasingly available in online format.  All online databases in the following list are available to students from off-campus locations (unless noted) by ID login. A selection of key online resources includes the following; see descriptions or link to these electronic resources from the Web site's Articles, Databases, and other E-Resources

• The primary digital literature resource is Literature Online (LION), a comprehensive resource of more than 350,000 works of drama, poetry, and prose; biography and bibliography for over 16,500 British and American authors; and the complete critical indexes MLA International Bibliography and ABELL (Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature). The critical indexes include the full text of articles from 192 literature journals.
• 19th Century Masterfile (Poole's)
• American Humanities Index
• American National Biography
• American Periodical Series (APS)
• Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL, via LION)
• Arts & Humanities Search
• Books in Print
• Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford)
• Dissertations and Theses
• Early American Imprints: Evans 1639-1800 (full text digital collection)
• Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)
• English Short-Title Catalogue (ESTC)
• Essay & General Literature Index (Raynor Reference AI3 .E752)
• Everyday Life of Women in America 1820-1900 (full text digital collection)
• Film Literature Index (Raynor Reference PN1993 .F59x)
• Humanities in ProQuest
• Humanities Index International
• ITER:  Gateway to the Renaissance
• Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism
• Medieval Sourcesonline (full text digital collection)
• MLA International Bibliography (via LION)
• Motif-Index of Folk Literature
• New York Review of Books
• Oxford English Dictionary
• Periodicals Archive Online and Periodicals Index Online
• Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language (Raynor PC use only)
• Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals 1824-1900 (Raynor PC use only)
• WorldCat (OCLC's national union catalog)
• W.B. Yeats Collection (full text digital collection)
• Women Writers Online (full text digital collection)
• World Shakespeare Bibliography

Special Services

Services in this brief listing may be explored further in other areas of the Library's Web site; key privileges and services for graduate students include:

• Semester borrowing of monographic materials; with online holds and self-renewal.
• Open hours of 104 hours weekly plus 24/7 access to Raynor's Information Commons during fall and spring semester. Click here for library hours.
• Interlibrary Loan service for books and journal articles at no direct cost to students; requests and renewals may be placed online after ILLiad registration.
• More than 240 networked computers in Raynor Memorial Libraries for access to online resources and software. MARQCAT and most electronic resources are available 24/7 for off-campus access.
• AskUs! Information service: knowledgeable librarians available for help seven days a week--in-person, telephone, e-mail, and online messaging (chat).
• Research Consultation program--meet one-on-one with a librarian to discuss a research strategy.
• Convenient laser printing and self-service copying (PrintWise) tied to students' MarquetteCard account.
• 16 Group study rooms (some may be reserved) and semi-private, locked research carrels for graduate students by application.
• RefWorks: Web-based personal bibliography software.
• Extensive manuscript, rare book, and archival collections and comfortable Prucha Archives Reading Room (Raynor 3rd level) for use of archives and special collections.
• Laptop computers for 4-hour checkout to students.
• Easy access to nearby research libraries and in-person borrowing via InfoPass.
• Two PC-equipped teaching labs available for classes by appointment and for student use when not scheduled for classes.
• Writing Center, administered by the English Department, for help with writing projects.
• Brew @ the Bridge Café.