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Universiteitsbibliotheek – LibGuides

Search Advice English Language and Literature: Get going

This Guide Is Aimed At...

Students and researchers studying English language and literature, especially in the BA English Language and Culture.

In this LibGuide you will find the following:

  • How to effectively search for resources, both printed and online
  • How to evaluate resources
  • Videos introducing basic search tips for the MLA International Bibliography
  • References to related LibGuides on specific databases and relevant information

Get Access

Students and employees of Utrecht University have online access anywhere and anytime. Learn more on how to get access.

Related UBU LibGuides

Not all UBU LibGuides are available in English.

I already have a title...

When you need a specific book, or a chapter from it, search for the author and title in the Utrecht entrance to Worldcat.

When you need a specific article from a journal, search:

A quick search with Google Scholar

Google Scholar: do a quick search for publications you can get hold of easily. Beware that you may miss important publications and that you will find a lot of titles that are not closely related to your subject.

Google Scholar Search

A quick or extensive search with MLA International Bibliography

MLA International Bibliography: important scholarly publications on language and literature. Use for journal articles, books and chapters from books. Unfortunately there is a significant chance that books are not available in Utrecht. For a quick search, limit your results to (peer reviewed) journal articles.

The Library: Online and On Site

University Library City Centre

You can start your research anywhere and anytime. Both the resources for searching literature and the literature itself are often available online. Yet the library as a physical space remains important.

Anywhere, Anytime

Utrecht University Library provides access to a large number of English language and literature resources:

  • 95% of the journals are available online
  • 30% of the recently published books are available online

which means that they are available anytime, anywhere.