History
Finding Canadian Literature
If you already know the book you are looking for, search our library catalogue by Title or Author. TIP type the Author's last name first (ex. Monroe, Alice).
Search by Subject Heading to find additional books on your topic, or books about a particular author. Examples of the types of subject headings you can use:
- Authors, Canadian
- Authors, Canadian Alberta
- Canadian literature
- Children's literature, Canadian
- Canadian literature 20th century
- Novelists, Canadian
- Richler, Mordecai
What are book reviews?
Book reviews are typically short descriptions and evaluations of recently-published books. They may be found in newspapers, magazines, journals, or online, and may be written for a general public readership or for a specialized scholarly or professional audience. This guide offers tips on finding book reviews through the library's resources.
What is literary criticism?
Literary criticism typically takes the form of journal articles, book chapters, or even entire books. They are longer than book reviews and provide greater analysis of the book under study to explore elements of the book itself (ex. theme, style, genre, structure,...) or elements of it's relationship to its historical and cultural period (ex. representations of gender, society, culture, language,...).
What's the difference?
Although there are many similarities there are important differences. Book reviews typically describe a single book, or a small selection of books together, and they are written to advise prospective readers whether the reviewer recommends it or not. Book reviews are not typically considered to be academic or scholarly - even if written by scholars.
On the other hand, literary criticism is considered scholarly work. It contains much more in-depth analysis and evaluation, drawing on multiple sources in it's analysis which are formally cited. Literary criticism often analyzes works through the lens of a theory (ex. marxism, feminism, queer theory, post-colonialism,...).
When should I use them?
Book reviews can be used as evidence of contemporary public reaction to a book. Use them as a primary source for your own analysis.
Literary criticism can be used to gain greater knowledge of historical and cultural context surrounding the book's initial reception and enduring impact. Use them as a secondary source informing your analysis and agument.
Quick links to resources with book reviews and literary criticism
- Gale Literature Criticism This link opens in a new windowAn online collection of literary criticism that includes Contemporary Literary Criticism, Drama Criticism, Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, Shakespearean Criticism, and Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism.
- Canadian Book Review Annual Online This link opens in a new windowProvides access to reviews of Canadian authored books.
- CPI.Q (Canadian Periodical Index Quarterly) This link opens in a new windowProvides Canadian periodicals, a bilingual interface, indexing from 1980 forward, full-text articles from 1983 forward, The Globe and Mail, Maclean's weekly magazine, and handbooks from Fodor's for Canadian destinations.
- British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new windowContains the full runs of 48 newspapers specially selected by the British Library to represent Great Britain in the nineteenth century. Includes national and regional newspapers representing different political and cultural segments of British society.
- Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new windowThe Times is the world's newspaper of record and covers all major international historical events from the French Revolution to the Falkland War. The archive provides access to pages published between 1785 and 2012, allowing users to search the full-text of the newspaper, including articles, editorials, and advertising.
- Globe and Mail (1844-2018) This link opens in a new windowAccess the full-page newspaper archive of The Globe and Mail from June 1844 to 2018.
- Daily Mail Historical Archive This link opens in a new windowIncludes both the regular edition of the newspaper as well as the Atlantic Edition, which was printed on board transatlantic cruise liners between 1923 and 1931.
- Sunday Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new windowExplore the digital archive of The Sunday Times, which provided analysis and commentary on the week's news and society at large.
Recommended Databases for History
For a full list of relevant databases click here.
Quick links to suggested databases:
- America: History and Life This link opens in a new windowAccess citations and abstracts from journals focusing on the U.S. & Canada.
- Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new windowCovers the history of the world, excluding Canada & the U.S., from 1450 to present.
- Arts & Humanities Citation Index This link opens in a new windowPart of the Web of Science Core Collection, this multidisciplinary database indexes thousands of journals in multiple languages.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowIncludes full-text access to back runs of many journals, typically excluding the last 3 to 5 years.
- Bibliography of Indigenous Peoples in North America This link opens in a new windowIndexes material related to all aspects of native North American culture, history and life.
- Gale In Context: World History This link opens in a new windowUncover information on hundreds of the most significant people, events, and topics in world history from a variety of sources.
- Last Updated: Mar 28, 2025 10:26 AM
- URL: https://library.ulethbridge.ca/history
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