LitFinder provides access to primary literature content, including the full-text of poems, short stories, essays, speeches, and plays. Some works may only be available as citations or excerpts.  LitFinder also includes biographies, work summaries, photographs, and a glossary.  The database is international in scope and covers all time periods.
 

ACCESS:

On Campus

From the Ely Library Homepage (http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu)  In the Quick Links to Databases section click LitFinder. If you are Off Campus, ou will be prompted for you username and password.  Follow the onscreen instructions.

Basic Search	Browsing	Printing
Advanced Search	Search Results	Citing References

Continue through Guide or Start Searching.

Basic Search

LitFinder may be searched in a number of different ways.  The database is divided into five different categories:  Poems, Stories, Essays, Plays, and Speeches.  To search for a piece of literature or an author in a specific genre, click on one of the tabs on the top of the screen to limit your search.

You will then be prompted to enter your search terms into the Basic Search box.  There are a number of benefits to searching this way:  you quickly limit your search to a desired genre, and can easy learn of the database's coverage of a particular genre by reading the description provided.  An example of the basic search screen for poems:

Alternatively, you can conduct a basic search from LitFinder's homepage:

• Enter your search terms directly into the search box.
• Search for exact phrases by placing them in quotation marks, for example, "to be or not to be," will search for the exact phrase, not the individual words.
• Select a genre by checking the box next to the genre you want (or leaving it at All).  You may choose more than one genre at a time.
• click .

For more information about sorting through or refining your search, go to Results.

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Advanced Search

The Advanced Search function allows you to narrow your search by certain key categories:  Literature, Author, References, or All.  In addition to providing keyword and author searching, each category provides unique search options to assist you with limiting a search in a meaningful way.  Access the Advanced Search function by clicking Advanced Search under the heading To Start, Either... on the database's homepage.

Literature

• Allows you to search across all five genres for any keyword(s) (in the text or description of the work), title, or author.  One nice feature in searching this way is the ability to search by time period (under the drop-down menu, Timeline).
• To start search, click 
• For more information about sorting through or refining your search, go to Results.

• Enables you to search by a few characteristics of the author such as Gender and Religion (see drop-down menus) as well as Timeline and Author's name.
• To start search, click 
• For more information about sorting through or refining your search, go to Results.

• Allows you to search by the publication in which the essay, poem, story, speech, or play originally appeared.  To do so, enter the publication in the Record Title field.
• To start search, click 
• For more information about sorting through or refining your search, go to Results.

• The All category provides a range of searching options.  In each drop-down menu, you may search for a number of different descriptors, including:  author pseudonym, year born/died, nationality, Works first/last line, Translation date, or Play Character.
• The All category allows you to combine terms using Boolean Operators.  This means that you can combine terms together using:

Example:	Search Result:
	A Play, Story, Speech, Poem, or Essay written by the author with the pseudonym Mark Twain, AND with the first line, "warm summer sun."

OR

Example:	Search Result:
	A Play, Story, Speech, Poem, or Essay by either a Norwegian OR Swedish author.

But Not

Example:	Search Result:
	All works by all Norwegian authors available in Litfinder, BUT NOT (excluding) Astrid Andersen.

For more information about sorting through or refining your search, go to Results.

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Browsing

The Browsing function of LitFinder enables you to find various works of literature by limiting by genre, or using a subject and sub-heading hierarchical list.

Browsing by Topic:

• Browse by scrolling down to the bottom of the homepage and selecting a topic.  Topics are arranged in the following categories: Genre (more specific than LitFinder's Genre tabs, some examples include Children's Literature and Humor), Subject, Contemporary Work, and Kids Korner (provides access to works that appeal to children).
• Clicking on a topic will bring you to a screen that will prompt you to select a sub-topic.
• Your results will be arranged alphabetically by the author's last name.
• To further refine these results, click on the topics on the left-hand side of the screen under the heading Refine Results.

• Scroll down to the bottom of the homepage.  Click on one of the genres listed on the left-hand side of the screen under the heading, Browse.
• Clicking on a Genre results in a list of every work in Litfinder in that genre.  This list is alphabetical by the author's last name.
• To refine this search, click on one of the topics listed on the left-hand side of the screen under the heading Refine Results.

Results that are returned with  next to the title are available in full-text.  Click on the title of the work to see the full-text or citation

Search results will be ranked by relevancy.  Results that most closely match your terms will appear at the top of the list.  If a search was not limited to a genre, the results will also be grouped by genre.

Limiting your Search/Refining Results
To limit your search, click on one of options listed under Refine Results on the left-hand side of the screen.  The options for refining your results will change according to the genre you are searching.  Additional refining options are available by clicking More...  Refinement options will often include limits by Genre, Subject, Nationality, and Timeline.

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Printing

Click on the title that you want to print.  If it has  next to its title, it is available in full-text.  When the title opens, click on  on the right-hand side of the screen.  This will open up a new window with the re-formatted text.  To print, click again on .  This will open up a dialog box that will allow you to select specific printing options.

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Citing References

To cite works taken from Litfinder, you should have the following information:  Author, Title of the Work, Database Name, Copyright Date, Information Supplier, Date of Access, and the URL.

For example, if you accessed (read, printed, saved, etc...) Samuel Clemen's story, "A Burlesque Biography," on November 21, 2004 using Westfield State College's link to the database, you would use the following citation:
 

Clemens, Samuel.  "A Burlesque Biography."  Litfinder 2004.  Thomson Gale Databases.  Westfield State College Library,          MA.  21 November 2004.  <http://www.litfinder.com/search/worx.asp?R=777123066&act=A70&rothST=twain>

For more information about citing articles from databases, see the citation guides (including MLA) on the Library's homepage at http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu/.
 

Help

For additional help, click Help on the top right-hand side of the screen.

Litfinder's Glossary of Terms can assist you with defining terms used by the database.  To access the Glossary of Terms,  scroll to the bottom of the database's homepage; under the Browse options click Glossary of Terms.  This will result in an alphabetical list of terms.  Click on the term to read the definition.

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            URL: http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu/Litfinder.htm