Earlham Libraries Home: All English Resource Guide: Reference Sources and Web Sites

Reference Sources and Web Sites

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
The academic alternative to Wikipedia! Pulls articles from a wide range of encyclopedias and dictionaries written by subject experts.
The academic alternative to Wikipedia! Provides access to nearly 500 encyclopedias and dictionaries. Search by concept map. Includes thousands of searchable images.
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference books covering many subjects.
Contains the complete texts of over 100 Oxford University Press dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference titles.

New Dictionary of the History of Ideas by Maryanne Cline Horowitz
ISBN: 0684313774
Publication Date: 2004
A survey of the history of Western thought and culture that explores the origin, cultural interpretations, and historical themes of such subjects as beauty, love, feminism, diversity, and social capital, among many others. Experts from various disciplines examine major developments in intellectual history during the past 30 years reflecting all aspects of knowledge from a global and gender-inclusive perspective, allowing readers to trace ideas and concepts across culture and time periods.

Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
Background information about art and artists.
Contains the 34-volume reference set, The Grove Dictionary of Art, the Oxford Companion to Western Art, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics and more.
Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new window
Definitions, pronunciation, and history of English language words.
Current, online version of the famous dictionary.
Wiley Online Library (formerly Blackwell Reference Online) This link opens in a new window
Contains the complete texts of nearly 300 Blackwell Publishing reference books arranged by subject. Literature examples include Feminist Companion to Shakespeare, Companion to the Victorian Novel, and Companion to Eighteenth-Century Poetry.
Includes the complete texts of almost 300 encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and other reference works from Wiley Blackwell Publishing in the Wiley Blackwell Reference Online collection. Also contains description-only citations of over 21,000 other online books, journals and articles.

The Year's Work in English Studies
Review articles of scholarly books and articles dealing with English-language literature published in a given year.

Glossary of Poetry Terms
An A-Z glossary with hyperlinks provided by the Poetry Foundation.
The Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. Includes audio recordings of poems.
Poetry Archive
The Poetry Archive is a free, online collection of recordings of poets reading their work.
Poets.org
Created by the Academy of American Poets, Poets.org contains thousands of poems as well as hundreds of poet biographies, essays, interviews, and poetry recordings—with new material being added constantly. Also available are resources such as the National Poetry Map, a national events calendar, and poetry lesson plans for teachers.
Poetry Center Digital Archive
An expansive collection of audio recordings by 20th century poets. This open-access resource is sponsored by San Francisco State University and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Beowulf: A New Translation for Oral Delivery
This site features the 2005 translation by Dick Ringler of Beowulf which intends to emphasize a stricter imitation of the meter of the original Old English text. Includes the print and audio of the full text.
First World War Poetry Digital Archive
A source for primary materials and supporting information for the study of major British poets who fought during WWI, including: poems, manuscripts, diaries, letters, thousands of images, and streaming audio and video.