Coffee Talk presented by Dr. Patrick Wasley, 11/27/12. Overview of Averett University Library database, Literature Online (Chadwyck-Healey / Proquest).

1. Introduction to Literature
Online (LION)
PATRICK WASLEY
NOVEMBER 27, 2012

2. What is Literature Online?
“Literature Online is a virtual library containing over
350,000 literary texts together with full-text
journals, author biographies and other critical and
reference resources. Since its launch in 1996, it has
become established as the first port of call both for
advanced researchers, looking for accurate online
versions of authoritative print texts, and for students
who require trustworthy critical sources on set texts
and authors.”

3. Who Owns Literature Online?
 Literature Online is owned by Chadwyck-Healey.
This company is the specialist humanities publishing
imprint of ProQuest.
 Some “translation” may be necessary for users in the
United States (e.g., British & American spelling).

4. What Does Literature Online Contain?
 More than 343,000 works of English, American, African
American and Canadian poetry from the eighth century
to the present day
 More than 5,000 works of English and American drama
from 1280 to 1915
 More than 2,000 works of English and American prose
from 1500 to 1914
 The full text of over 350 literature journals
 All 38 of Shakespeare's plays in dramatised audio
recordings
 Nearly 900 Poets on Screen filmed readings

5. LION Content (cont.)
 More than 175 volumes from the “Companions to Literature” series from
Cambridge University Press
 Over 900,000 records of articles, monographs and dissertations in the
Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature from 1920
onward
 Fifteen leading literary reference works:
 The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (Oxford University
Press, 1990)
 The Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English
(Routledge, 2005)
 Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism
(Columbia University Press, 1995)
 Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century (Fitzroy
Dearborn Publishers, 1998)

6. Even More ….
 The King James Bible
 Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
 Concise Oxford Dictionary
 OUP's A Shakespeare Glossary
 Links to over 5,100 Web sites
 Literature Online biographies for 4,100 of the most
widely studied authors.

7. What’s the Purpose?
“Chadwyck-Healey literature collections offer users the potential
to transform the scholarly discussion of literature and
language past and present. Making the works of canonical
writers, as well as their lesser-known contemporaries,
accessible and available to sophisticated analysis in electronic
form allows all users of Chadwyck-Healey collections - from
specialist researchers to undergraduate students - to make
new connections and serendipitous discoveries, thereby
creating fresh avenues for critical debate, scholarly dialogue
and linguistic research in the humanities.”
Source:
http://collections.chadwyck.co.uk/marketing/about_chadwyck_
healey.jsp

8. Usage Statistics (from Proquest)
 2011-12: Full text downloads= 237; Searches= 1,059
 2010-11: Full text downloads= 174; Searches= 706
 2009-10: Full text downloads= 348 ; Searches= 269
 2008-09: Full text downloads= 440; Searches= 1,986
 2007-08: Full text downloads= 662; Searches= 1,522
 2006-07: Full text downloads= 802; Searches= 3,257

9. Observations about Literature Online
 Many works in the public domain are included in
this database (esp. English literature). LION is a
useful resource for locating primary sources (just
type word or phrase in the search box (default –
Keyword Search)).
 Many primary works include page breaks / page
numbers so that users can cite their sources and
locate information in print volumes, if necessary.
 The information for a complete citation is
included, but the citation is not formatted.

10. LION: Citation Download
 Author: Kibble, Matt
Title: Hurston, Zora Neale
Title of volume: Literature Online biography
Source: Literature Online
URL: …

11. LION Citation (MLA)
Kibble, Matt. “Zora Neale Hurston.” Literature Online
Biography. Literature Online. 2009. Web. 26 Nov.
2012.
How to Cite Texts Page:
http://lion.chadwyck.com/infoCentre/citations.jsp

12. More Comments
 Database does not support variant spellings
(e.g., “Duchess of Malfi” is listed under its Old
English name, “The Dutchesse of Malfy”). Many texts
are reproduced with original spelling and syntax.
 Recommended access points: keyword or author.
 Database does not contain a large number of full-
text, secondary (critical) sources.
 Literature Online would best be used in conjunction
with other databases (Literature Resource Center
and Academic Search Complete).

13. Chadwyck-Healey
 For more information about Literature Online
(LION) and Chadwyck-Healey, visit:
http://collections.chadwyck.co.uk/marketing/index.js
p

14. Sample Searches
 Find three critical articles (secondary sources)
relating to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, “My
Kinsman, Major Molineux.”
 Find biographical information on American author
Zora Neale Hurston.
 Find a copy of Walt Whitman’s poem, “Out of the
Cradle Endlessly Rocking” (1872 edition of Leaves of
Grass).
 Find an audio recording of Shakespeare’s King Lear.