ENGL 203G - Michelini - ENGL 203G: Shakespeare - LibGuides at Northampton Community College

Suggested Library Databases & Collections

SpartaCat (Library Catalog) This link opens in a new window
The most direct way to search for books, ebooks, and streaming videos about your topic. A keyword or subject search will be probably be most helpful.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Articles and entries from encyclopedias, handbooks, guides, and more. Helpful for basic facts, introductions, summaries, and overviews. Especially helpful when you are at the beginning of your research.
Gale EBOOKS This link opens in a new window
Articles and entries from encyclopedias, handbooks, guides, and more. Helpful for basic facts, introductions, summaries, and overviews. Especially helpful when you are at the beginning of your research.
Gale in Context World History This link opens in a new window
Contains academic journals, encyclopedia, newspaper, and magazine articles. Also contains biographies, primary sources, audio, and images.
Salem Online This link opens in a new window
A collection of ebooks including titles such as Critical Insights: Julius Caesar, Critical Insights: King Lear, Critical Insights: Macbeth, Critical Insights: Othello, Critical Insights: Romeo and Juliet.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Contains academic journals, books, and primary sources in more than 75 subject areas, including history, language, literature, science, and more.

JSTOR Understanding Series - Shakespeare (Beta)
Choose one of Shakespeare's texts to see journal articles and book chapters quoting that passage.

EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) This link opens in a new window
Search across the library's collections. Apply the 'at my library' or 'full text available online filters.'

Suggested Websites

Frontiers This link opens in a new window
An open access publisher of peer-reviewed journals in more than 600 disciplines.

Internet Archive
A digital library offering free universal access to books, movies & music, as well as 624 billion archived web pages and other documents. Create a free account to borrow an item.
Description Of Elizabethan England, 1577 | Modern History Sourcebook
By William Harrison (1534-1593), taken from Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
British History (BBC)
Includes a timeline and overviews for Norman Britain (1066 - 1154), Middle Ages (1154 - 1485), Tudors (1485 - 1603), & Civil War and Revolution (1603 - 1714).
British History Online
A collection of nearly 1300 volumes of primary and secondary content relating to British and Irish history, and histories of empire and the British world. Includes images and historic maps of the British Isles. Some content is open access, while other content is subscription only.
Shakespedia | Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Learn more about the life and works of William Shakespeare.
History & Politics | Internet Shakespeare Editions
The "history" of Shakespeare's plays means two things: the history of earlier times he used in many of his works, and the history of his own time which informs and shapes much that he wrote. This book explores both these kinds of history, and in addtion provides some background on the legal system of the time, and the growing influence of puritan, anti-monarchist forces.
Renaissance Society | Internet Shakespeare Editions
This book explores country life, huswifery, husbandry, the family, city life, and life at court.
Elizabethan England | Shakespeare Resource Center
Links to English history resources.
Historical Scholarship | Shakespeare Resource Center
Links to public domain works from the 1800s & early 1900s available online from either Project Gutenberg or the HathiTrust Digital Library.
Shakespeare's Biography | Shakespeare Resource Center
Links to biographical resources.
Shakespeare's Globe Theater | Shakespeare Resource Center
Links to Globe Theater history resources.
Shakespeare's Language | Shakespeare Resource Center
Links to language resources

Depending on your topic, the websites of professional organizations and associations, museums, and historical societies could be helpful as well.

Tips for Building & Troubleshooting Your Searches

Search Keywords

Use words that precisely describe the ideas you are looking for. The database or tool will search for that word and if it appears in the title, publication information, summary, or text of a source it will show in your results. Think of synonyms, related ideas, and the words experts might use to discuss your topic. Adjust your keywords as you continue searching. Group keywords that represent one idea or phrases “inside quotation marks.” Combine separate ideas and search keywords with AND/OR connections. Examples:

fate and “free will”
“patriarchal society” and marriage and “Elizabethan period”

Search Filters

Many library databases and tools have filters you can apply to help you navigate your list of results. Sometimes you can choose these options when you first enter your search but sometimes you need to apply them after you have a search started. Look for the following and consider using them, and others, if they may be helpful:

Full-text
At my library
Scholarly / Peer-Reviewed
Source or Document Type
Date or Publication Date

Accessing Full-Text

If you selected Full-Text as a search limiter, you should see a link somewhere on the page to the PDF or HTML text version of the source. Depending on the database, this link may be in different places. Sometimes you may see Open in..., View record in..., or Full-Text Finder in EBSCO Discovery Service, which means the source is located in another database. It's usually just a few more clicks to get to the PDF or HTML text in it's original location if that is the case.

Cross-reference & Follow Breadcrumbs to Other Sources

If you find a source that you really like, or even one that is almost what you are looking for, but not quite right, look at the list of sources in its reference or bibliography section. There may be helpful sources listed there that you can track down and use directly in addition to or instead of the source you started with.

Submit an Interlibrary Loan Request for Items Not in the Library Collections

If you find a source that the library does not have in full text in its collections, or you hit a pay wall when searching online, you can submit an interlibrary loan request, and we will see if another library with access to it is willing to send it to us for you to use. Books sometimes can take a week to arrive, but articles will be shared with you by email and may take only 2-3 days to arrive.

Troubleshooting - Common Problems - What To Do If You Get Stuck

There are 2 common ways you might get stuck when searching:

Problem A: You are getting many results, but not many useful sources. This could be because your topic is too broad or big.
Possible Solution: You may have to choose some specific examples or identify some smaller pieces and points to focus on. Ask who, what, why, how about your topic to get at a more focused approach, and to find some of those smaller points.
Problem B: You aren't getting many, or any, results. This could be because your topic is too narrow or small.
Possible Solution: You may have to take a step back. Look at the bigger picture and bigger ideas. Think about the context of your topic, what it might be an example of, what larger subject area it falls into. Can you connect it to something else? There may be information about the bigger or related ideas that you can apply to your topic or that your topic illustrates.

Additionally, you can try adding or removing search filters, trying different keywords or combinations of keywords, or switching to another database or tool. Maybe the focus of the collection or resource you are searching is not a good fit for your topic.