ENGL 310 - Introduction to Literary Studies

This guide provides information about literary resources to aid students enrolled in ENGL 310 locate relevant research materials

Library Research Guide

Reading a Call Number

The call number is both the address for the book and a code for the subject of the book.

Reading a call number takes practice for everyone. If you have problems finding your book, ask at the library help desk (in Hale, it's on the 2nd floor.) They will help you find your book!

See the Find Books box for more information about finding books in K-State Libraries, including learning a book's call number and general location.

Every book has the call number on its spine or front cover.

Books are shelved by call number in alphabetical and numerical order, starting with the first letter (or letters, sometimes there are two.) You will find all books with A call numbers in the same location, followed by the B call numbers, etc.

Call numbers are read in pieces. Example: D810 .C88 M43 2002

1. The first letter(s) are alphabetical. D comes after C, but before DS and E. So: C... D... DS... E. Once you find the Ds, move to the next segment.

2. The second segment is a whole number. 810 comes after 805 but before 8105. So: 80...650...805...810...8105. Once you find the D810s, move on to the next segment.

Sometimes there is a decimal in the number. If you can't find your book, make sure you are looking for 810.5, not 8105.

3. The next segment is a combination where you first read the letter alphabetically and then the number as a decimal. C88 comes after B4 and before .D7. So: .B4... .C8 .... .C88 .... .C9 .... .D7 Once you find the D810 .C88s, move on to the next segment.

4. Usually by this point you are really close to your book, so it can be fastest just to read the titles on the spine. If not ...

5. The next segment is also a combination where you read the first letter alphabetically and the number as a decimal.

6. The final number is the year of publication and is read as a whole number. You usually only need to worry about this if there are multiple editions of the same book.

7. Look at the books shelved near the book you were looking for. They should be on the same or very similar topic. They may also be helpful for your research.

Books and Literary Criticism

This page provides guidance for searching for books about literary criticism.
Books can seem intimidating due to their length. However, you may find that you only need to read a chapter or two from a book.

Search Tips:

Use Search It to find books owned by K-State Libraries.
Use the database WorldCat to find books owned by libraries around the world. If they are not rare, we can usually request a copy from another library for you through Interlibrary Loan.
Use the database Ebook Central to find fulltext books online.
Use broad search terms like the author, title of the work, or genre.
- Search It and WorldCat only search for keywords in fields like: Author, Title, Subject, Abstract and (sometimes) Table of Contents.
When you find a relevant book, use the Subject Headings to find more books like that one.
When you find a relevant book, look at the books shelved next to it—they should be on the same or similar topic. (See information below about Search It to do this online.)

Ebook Central
Paid for by K-State Libraries
Offers over 139,000 scholarly ebooks, including books from university presses. Includes hundreds of books in languages other than English. Books can be viewed through a web-browser or through apps for IOS and Android that use the highly rated Bluefire Reader for mobile devices.
Use is restricted to currently enrolled K-State students and employees of K-State.
Search It
Search It enables simultaneous searching of information about K-State Libraries' physical and online collections and about articles and other sources from hundreds of databases, journal publishers, and organizations.
WorldCat Discovery
Paid for by K-State Libraries
Provides information about books, serials, videos, and other items cataloged by libraries around the world, including K-State. Editions and formats will be grouped together, not listed separately as in FirstSearch. Discovery processes searches similarly to Search It and may find additional resources beyond a FirstSearch search.

Find Books

K-State Libraries provides access to print and e-books.

Find Books Using Search It

Use Search It, the search box on the Libraries' home page, to look for book by author, title, or keyword/topic. The default option is to search all of Search It. Use the drop down menu to only search Books & E-Books.

The search results page will show relevant titles. Each title will indicate whether the book is:

available online, including a link to access the ebook
located in K-State Libraries physical collection, including the location (e.g. Hale Library Stacks, Annex Offsite) and the call number -- the combination of letters and numbers following the location
both online and in the physical collection

As an example, the book The Comanche code talkers of World War II is available both in Hale Library Stacks and online.

Find a Book Located in Hale Library Stacks

For books located in unique locations (Salina Library Stacks, Special Collections Library, Annex Offsite) the full record in Search It states where that location is, or if you need to follow a link to request the item.

Books located in Hale Library Stacks, with a few exceptions like those is Special Collections, show a Map It button on their record in Search It.

The Map It button opens a map of Hale Library, showing the floor and/or stack level where the book is located. The red pin on the indicates the book's rough location. Map It also provides written directions for the floor and stack level location (if needed), plus the item/call number.

As an example, the book The Comanche code talkers of World War II is located in Hale Library Stacks.

The Map It icon opens a map showing the 1st floor of Hale Library, and marks the book's general location in Stack Level A.

Both Map It and the book's record in Search It show the book's call number, which is a combination of letters and numbers (K-State, like many academic libraries, uses the Library of Congress call numbers). Write down or take a picture of the whole call number.

Signing in to Your Library Account

Signing in allows you to:

See check-out periods for K-State Libraries' physical items.
See a list of physical items you currently have checked out from K-State Libraries.
Renew items you have checked out from K-State Libraries.
Save results to "My Favorites"
Save search queries so you can re-run them at a later time.
Add tags and reviews.
Maximize the amount of content visible in your search results.

Click "Sign in" in the top right corner of the screen and enter your K-State eID and password.

Saving to Your e-Shelf in Search It

Save items to My Favorites by clicking on the pin next to an item.

To access My Favorites, sign into Search It and click the pin in the top right corner. You can also use the dropdown menu and click on "Saved Items."

Within My Favorites, you can organize, print, and e-mail any saved search results. You can also export them to citation management programs like RefWorks - check out our guide on Citations and Bibliographies.

To remove a pin, simply click the pin next to the item.