Literature: Gale Literary Index: Intro

Being in book form, the Gale Literary resources may seem a bit strange at first. However, there are good reasons to use them. Here are some:

• Generally easy to read--many online journals are designed for academics who study literature; the Gale resources are designed for college students;
• Lots of material--we have hundreds of volumes of Gale books, so there's simply a lot there;
• Broad coverage--it is hard to find articles or books on some literary works; Gale's broad coverage makes it easier to find something on otherwise obscure works;
• Variety of material--Gale resources include works that contain biographical information, selections for journal articles, background information on characters or setting, information about a work's theme.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact a librarian by:

• Calling the Circulation Desk at: 574.807.7180, or
• By using the Ask a Librarian form

Gale Literary Index serves as an index to several of the reference books published by Gale; as such, it does not provide online full text access to the resources, but rather shows you where you can find information related to the work or author that you are researching.  To use it, do the following:

• Perform a search 
• Click on the author or work that you are interested in
• You will then see a list of results. The first part is the title of the Gale book in which the entry appears, then the volume number, then the page number
• Using the book catalog--found on the right hand column of this screen, find the call number of the Gale book--for example Epics for Students
• Using the call number, go to the Reference section of the library and find the book on the shelf; the volume number should also be on the call number that is on the book
• Find the book and then turn to the page number or numbers indicated from your index search

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