Search Omni to find books of criticism, biographies, bibliographies, concordances, literary glossaries, dictionaries, and encyclopedias on literary works.
Subject headings allow you to search Omni for resources on a particular author or topic and are often more productive than keyword searches.
Keyword searches work best if you have multiple concepts or topics. Use the results to find relevant titles and identify assigned subject headings for your topic in order to find similar books.
To find critical writings about a specific work, you can search Omni by either keyword or subject heading. For example:
To find criticisms on a specific work, search Omni by keyword:
"miracle plays" AND criticism
or, search by subject heading if you have discovered relevant subject headings by looking at relevant records.
Mysteries and miracle plays
Mysteries and miracle plays, English
Mysteries and miracle plays, English--England--York--History and criticism
To find books concerning a particular mode or genre in a particular language or period, search the mode or genre by subject heading. This will give you a list of more specific subject headings from which you can choose. Some examples include:
Christian literature
Civilization, Medieval in literature
Drama, Medieval
English drama--Medieval
English drama--To 1500
English language--Middle English, 1100-1500
English literature--Middle English, 1100-1500
English literature--Middle English,1100-1500--Criticism, Textual
English literature--Old English, 1100-1500--History and criticism
Medieval literature
Other useful subheadings:
Apocalyptic literature
Bible in literature
Bible plays, English
Christian drama, English (Middle)
Christian literature
Festivals-England--History--To 1500
Liturgical drama
Mysteries and miracle plays, English
Religious drama, English
Theater--England--History--Medieval, 500-1500
Theater and society--England
Theater audiences--England
Towneley plays
York plays
Once you have found call numbers for a few promising books, go to the stacks, where you will find other related titles.
Selected subject headings for an overview of the historical period include:
Fifteenth century
Sixteenth century
Great Britain--History--Medieval
period, 1066-1485
Great Britain--History--1066-1687
Great Britain--Social life and customs--
16th century
Social history--Sixteenth century
Browsing the library shelves is another strategy for locating information on a topic.
Most books related to Medieval literature and drama are located in the call number ranges:
PR15803-2165 and PR641-644 on the 4th floor of Stauffer Library.