University Library > Guides > Fiction: Novels

Syllabus for Literary Research: 3. Fiction: Novels

Table of Contents:

Indexes to Works of Fiction Finding Biographies Biographical Dictionaries Finding Literary Criticism & Bibliographies

Dictionaries of Literary Characters Encyclopedias Summaries of Works of Fiction Novels

This guide lists selected titles of books and databases about novels held by the UW-Whitewater Andersen Library. It is not a comprehensive list of available titles. Follow the examples under Finding Biographies and Finding Literary Criticism and Bibliographies below to find additional books held by the UW-Whitewater or other UW-System libraries.

Locations: Call numbers preceded by Main are in the Main Collection (3rd floor) and those preceded by Ref are in the Reference Collection (2nd floor). Items without call numbers are online indexes and databases accessible from the Indexes & Databases by Subject: Humanities webpage, or by clicking on the linked title.

Indexes to Works of Fiction

• Fiction Catalog
  Ref   Z5916 .W62   vols. 5-9, 11-14 and suppls. 1951-1979, 1986-2002

• Olderr's Fiction Index
  Ref   PN3326 .O434x 1987

Finding Biographies in the Library

To find books about novelists, search the library catalog. Select the Basic Search tab (default). Then select Subject Keywords from the menu by clicking on it. Click in the textbox and type a subject heading. Click on . For example:

hemingway ernest biography

or select Keyword (use and, or, not) from the menu and search for combinations of terms used in subject headings for genres like "American fiction" or "English fiction," or categories like "novelists American" or "novelists English," "African American authors" or "women authors," with a chronological period like "19th century" or "20th century," and a type of resource, such as "biography" or "bio-bibliography." Enclose a phrase of two or more words between quotation marks. Combine multiple terms with Boolean operators (and, or, not). Click on . For example:

"novelists american" and "20th century" and biography

Biographical Dictionaries

• African Writers
  Ref   PL8010 .A453 1997   vols. 1-2

• American Indian Novelists: An Annotated Critical Bibliography
  Main   PS153 .I52 C64x

• Contemporary Fiction Writers of the South: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook
  Ref   PS261 .C565 1993

• Contemporary Lesbian Writers of the United States: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook
  Ref   PS153 .L46 C65 1993

• Contemporary Novelists   3rd ed.
  Ref   PR883 .V55 1982

• Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook
  Ref   PS217 .W64 N56 1997

SEE ALSO: Syllabus for Literary Research: 2. Biography of Authors.

Finding Literary Criticism and Bibliographies

To find books containing literary criticism or bibliographies citing literary resources, search the library catalog. Select the Basic Search tab (default). Then select Subject Keywords from the menu by clicking on it. Click in the textbox and type a subject heading. Click on . For example:

hemingway ernest criticism and interpretation

hemingway ernest bibliography

or select Keyword (use and, or, not) from the menu and search for combinations of terms used in subject headings for genres like "American fiction" or "English fiction," "historical fiction" or "science fiction," or categories like "African American authors" or "women authors," with a chronological period like "early modern," "18th century," "19th century" or "20th century," and either "history and criticism" or "bibliography." Enclose a phrase of two or more words between quotation marks. Combine multiple terms with Boolean operators (and, or, not). Click on . For example:

"english fiction" and "19th century" and "history and criticism"

"american fiction" and "20th century" and bibliography

"african american authors" and fiction and "history and criticism"

"women authors" and "american fiction" and bibliography

SEE ALSO: Syllabus for Literary Research: 1. General Sources: a. Literary Research Guides, Bibliographies and Indexes of Literary Criticism.

Encyclopedias

• The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
  Ref   PN3433.4 .E53 1993

• The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction
  Ref   PR871 .S87 1989

Dictionaries of Literary Characters

• Dictionary of American Literary Characters
  Ref   PR374 .C43 D5 1990

• Dictionary of British Literary Characters
  Main Oversize  PR830 .C47 D5 1993

  • vol. 1   18th and 19th Century Novels
  • vol. 2   20th Century Novels

• Dictionary of Fictional Characters
  Main   PN56 .4 S49 1992

• Historical Figures in Fiction
  Ref   Z5917 .H6 H37 1994

• Larousse Dictionary of Literary Characters
  Ref   PR19 .L37 1994

• Plots and Characters in the Fiction of Eighteenth-Century English Authors vols. 1-2
  Main   PR858 .P53 J64 1977

Summaries of Works of Fiction

• Beacham's Popular Fiction in America vols. 1-4
  Ref   PS374 .P63 B43 1986

• Beacham's Popular Fiction in America, 1991 Update
  Ref   PS374 .P63 B435 1991

• MagillOnLiterature Plus
  This online database contains all of Masterplots and Masterplots II as well as several other books.

• Masterplots
  Remote Storage   PN44 .M33 1996

• Masterplots
  Remote Storage   PN44 .M32

  • vol. 2 - American Fiction Series
  • vol. 3 - English Fiction Series
  • vol. 4 - European Fiction Series

• Masterplots II: African American Literature Series  vols. 1-3
  Remote Storage   PS153 .N5 M2645 1994

• Masterplots II: American Fiction Series   vols. 1-6
  Remote Storage   PN846 .M37 1986

• Masterplots II: British and Commonwealth Fiction Series  vols. 1-4
  Remote Storage   PR881 .M39 1987

Novels

• Critical Survey of Long Fiction: English Language Series   vols. 1-8
  Remote Storage   PN3451 .C7

• English Novel Explication
  Ref   Z2014 .F5 P26

SEE ALSO: Syllabus for Literary Research: 1. General Sources: b. Literary Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Histories, and Summaries.

For assistance, contact a reference librarian at (262) 472-1032, by email or chat or in person at the Library's Reference Desk.

Last Revised: MS - 11/5/2009