Reference collection  
Answers to quick questions; definitions; background & contextual information. Most references available on overnight loan

Dictionary of literary terms and literary theory
Clarify the terms, with definitions, historical development with examples.
Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Gives source and citation details.
Literary movements for students
Vol 1 Includes Greek drama, offers an extensive overview, identifies representative authors & works. Covers themes, styles, historical context.
Vol 2 Includes Absurdism of the fifties.
Oxford companion to American literature biographical & bibliographical information.
Background to English Literature series: Renaissance; Romantics; Victorian; Modernist; Post-war literature. Places works in various contexts.
Harvard Concordance to Shakespeare. Covers all Shakespeare’s plays and poetry. Alphabetical list of all the words occurring in Shakespeare’s works giving citations, e.g. play, act, scene, line number.
Facts on File Companion to Classical Drama Includes a commentary on why the Oresteia plays are important.
History in literature. Background to historical events, e.g. My Lai Massacre in Vietnamese war; Colonialism in Belgian Congo.
Oxford English Dictionary Definitive 12 volume work for English definitions.
MHS English index - key to articles on authors & literary works in MHS Library’s collection of literary journals. Also indexes articles in literary series written specifically for senior students.

State Library of Victoria.  Access to Gale literary databases and others.
Free membership via phone or online.
Includes:
    Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive 1902-2006.
    Literature Resource Center – full-text criticism & reviews
    Literature Criticism online  - extensive collection of literary commentary
    Colombia Granger’s World of Poetry.

Most Victorian public libraries provide member access to a large range of electronic
databases.

Literature section classified in the 800s arranged by:

    800 – 809  Generalities e.g. Book of quotations, literary 
                            movements, etc.
    810-890    1.  Language: 810 American, 820 English, 840 French,
                            880 Greek, etc.
                       2.  Form: in the order of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, etc.
                       3.  Chronologically arranged by historical period.
                       4. Alphabetical by author then title.

    810         American Literature generalities
    811         American poetry
    813         American fiction
           .53    F. Scott Fitzgerald
           .54   Tim O’Brien

    820         English literature
    821         English poetry
    822         English drama
           .33           Shakespeare – generalities e.g. Shakespeare survey
           .33 B        Shakespeare biography - good for background & settings
           .33 D -E   critical works
           .33 S7     Hamlet
           .33 S8     works about Hamlet

    822.914        works by and about Samuel Beckett

    823          English prose
           .912        Heart of darkness

    880        Classical & modern Greek literature
    882        Classical Greek poetry & drama
           .01   Aeschylus & Greek drama
    883       Classical Greek epic poetry & fiction

Other areas of interest:

    320.0938 Greek political science
    938           Greek history

  Note:    Australian literature is prefixed with A in front of class number,
and shelved at the beginning of the 800s.