Are you taking a class that includes studying literature? If you are, you might need to find the following types of things.
Click on the tabs at the left side of this page for more information on how and where to find them!
Works of literature, also known as fiction, such as novels, plays, stories, poetry and graphic novels.
Works of literature are PRIMARY SOURCES.
Even if they are based on facts, they are works of the imagination.
Author biographies and other background information, such as information about the time or place a work of literature was written, can be a good way to get started. Always check with your professor if you aren't sure whether a source meets requirements.
Literary criticism explains, explores, examines, and otherwise discusses works of literature. If you're talking about literature, "critical articles" or "scholarly articles" are literary criticism.
Most literary criticism (including yours!) consists of scholarly books or articles which refer to original works of literature, to other literary criticism, and sometimes to other sources - historical, philosophical, political, economic, musical, mathematical, you name it! They are SECONDARY SOURCES.
Book reviews don't count as literary criticism, though they can be good sources if they're very well-researched and thorough.
Literary theory is related to literary criticism but is more theoretical and less focused on examining specific works of literature and their authors.
Writing handbooks can help with all aspects of writing, from comma splices to thesis statements to organizing your research. They also include information on citing in different citation styles such as MLA, APA and Chicago / Turabian. Think of them as translators between your brain and the brain of your professor!
A free online library of ebooks, including current and popular titles as well as older public domain works. Requires registration; some books have a waitlist.
Use the library catalog to find printed books, including course reserves aka textbooks, at Solano College and our partner libraries (Napa Public libraries and Napa Valley College).
gives you access to materials throughout California and Nevada libraries (academic, public, and special libraries).
See the Link+ FAQ info at: https://libguides.solano.edu/faq-policies
You may request items from any of these libraries, provided it is listed as "available" in the Link+ catalog, and it will be delivered to you at SCC for checkout.
Apply for a library card online! You need this to check out books, chromebooks, and use Hoopla. Make sure you fill out the form completely. A temporary card number will be emailed to you. A permanent card is required for access to Hoopla. Please email scclibrary@solano.edu with questions.
When you're ready to dig deeper into your topic, or just need something good to read:
A full-text ebook collection with over 150,000 titles from leading university presses and general interest publishers, in a broad array of subject coverage.
A great place to begin your research process: to narrow your topic, get background information and to gather keywords. Encyclopedias and reference books are not generally used as cited sources in college-level research papers (usually you'll need to take what you find in an encyclopedia and head out to the databases for more advanced sources).
Subject coverage includes: art, biography, business, education, environment, history, information and publishing, law, literature, medicine, multicultural studies, nation and world, religion, science, social science, and technology.
A streaming video database that covers nearly every academic discipline; among the producers included are National Geographic, HBO, TED, Frontline, PBS, BBC, and more.