The CCA Library collections include fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and drama, as well as critical discourse and reference sources both online and in the stacks.

Finding Books on Writing and Literature

The Meyer Library (OAK) houses the majority of literature in the CCA Libraries. Literary journals and other selected titles are available from the Simpson Library (SF).

Searching for Books & Journals

  • Use the CCA Libraries Catalog to search for particular books on the library shelves.
  • Select the "Literature" category in Combined Search to find literary journal articles in the CCA Libraries all at once.
  • Use the Journal Finder to see if a particular literary journal is available online at CCA.
  • Select the Literature Resource Center database link in Journal Finder to browse CCA Libraries online literary journal titles.

Browsing the Library Shelves for Literature

Go to the shelves for the following call numbers to browse CCA Libraries literature books:

  • PN - Literature (General) and Criticism
  • PQ - French, Italian, Spanish, Portugese Lit
  • PR - English Lit
  • PS - American Lit
  • PT - Other International Lit
  • PZ - Fiction and juvenile belles lettres

Finding Journal Articles on Writing and Literature

» Literature Resource Center

Use the Lit Resource Center database to find full-text articles online:

  • Journal articles
  • Author biographies and bibliographies
  • Literary criticism
  • Interviews
  • Entries from the Encyclopedia of Literature.

» Combined Search and Journal Finder

  • You can search the "Literature" category in Combined Search to find literary journal articles and books in the CCA Libraries.
  • Use the Journal Finder to find a particular literary journal in the CCA Libraries online databases, and then select the Journal Name link to search for articles within that publication (available for online journals only).

» Encylopedia Britannica Online

Access the full-text of selected literary journal articles from the ProQuest and EBSCO databases through the EB search interface.

  • Search an author's name on the EB homepage.
  • From the search results page, select the "From ProQuest" and "From EBSCO" links under "Journals & Articles" on the left of the page to view articles on the author and his or her work:
Screenshot of EB Sources

Finding Full-Text Literature Online

A great deal of copyrights for books from the early 20th century and prior have expired, and many books, poems, and essays are therefore freely available on a number of websites and full-text databases through the CCA Libraries and on the Web.

» Google Book Search

  • Google Book's default search is a full-text search of books that retrieves book previews and some full-view books.
  • Check the "Full View Books" check-box to search only books that are fully available online.
  • Read books online using Google's viewer or download and print pdfs.

» Project Gutenberg

  • Search or browse over 20,000 e-books with expired copyrights.
  • Includes books in multiple languages and audio books.
  • Available in formats that are downloadable for Palm Pilots and other portable e-book devices.

» The Online Books Page

  • Search or browse over 25,000 books that are freely available online in a number of formats.
  • Includes contemporary "open-source" books as well as older texts with expired copyrights.
  • Links to e-books on third-party sites.

For more Information