Skip to Main Content

English & Comparative Literature

This guide will help you find articles, books, and websites on literature and criticism.

Finding Books at the King Library

Use OneSearch to find a specific title. Search by title or the author's name.

To find literary criticism, search by the subject, using the name of the author or a topic. These are some examples of Library of Congress subject headings:

  • Harjo, Joy
  • Beat Generation --Poetry
  • American literature--African American authors

If you don't know the Library of Congress subject heading, search by keyword using a variety of terms that are relevant to your topic.

SJSU's literature collections are located:

7th floor:

English literature, Library of Congress call number range: PR (British, Irish, Canadian, Australian, and postcolonial writers)

American literature, Library of Congress call number range, PS

5th floor:

Ethnic American literature may be located in the AACNA collections in the PS range.

SJSU Special Collections has many first editions and rare books which an be viewed in the Special Collections reading room only.

3rd Floor: San Jose Public Library: Search the 800 Dewey call number range/

Finding Books at Other Libraries

California State University CollectionsSJSU students, faculty, and staff have access to over 29 million books across the entire CSU, right from within OneSearch. You can request books from any of the other 22 California State University libraries and have them delivered to the SJSU Library within 2-5 days.

Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad): Request items such as books, articles (print or electronic), and dissertations from libraries worldwide. 

In WorldCat, you can search the collections of nearly 17,000 libraries worldwide to find a library that has the item you're looking for.

You can borrow items through Link+ that are not available at the San José Public Library (SJPL) using your SJPL card.

Check out what other Bay Area and California libraries have to offer. Select a library's website to find a phone number to call for assistance or search the library's catalog yourself.

See Borrowing from Other Libraries for more information.