Course resource help for English Literature and Creative Writing

Find out about:

• How to get help using the Library
• Library services for disabled people and Alternate formats

Find out about Headington Library services, study spaces and opening hours

Group, quiet and silent study spaces are available throughout each floor on levels 2-4.

If you look at the map of Headington library, you'll see we use traffic light colours to indicate whether a space is for group work, quiet work or silent work. The map also shows where you can find computers and printers.

Brookes support services

• Student support and wellbeing - how to contact your Student Support Co-ordinator and other services. 
• Inclusive Support Service

Library support for wellbeing

Check our Life and study balance page to find out about the Library Wellbeing Zone, the bookable Sensory Study Space and collections of self-care resources.

• Wellbeing resources - Resources to help with self-care and dealing with stress and anxiety.
• Reading and viewing for pleasure - Take time out from your studies and discover the Library's collection of fiction, or check out BoB for TV programmes and films

• If you're new to the Oxford Brookes Library, check our quick guides For new starters
• Find out How to get help using the Library
• Find out about Library services for users with a disability and Alternate formats
• Check a PDF floor plan of the Headington Library The main section for print books in English Literature and Creative Writing is on Level 4 of the Headington Library.

Inclusive resource lists

• Neurodiversity resources
• LGBTQ+ resources
• Anti-racism resources
• Activism resources

Find out more about the library’s inclusion and diversity reading lists

Sustainability resource lists

• Sustainable living - Living more sustainably in your daily life, covering topics such as food, fashion and travel.
• Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) - A list for teaching staff on ESD theory and sustainability resources for your students.

Check the Study Smarter section to find online resources and recommended books on study skills topics, including:

• Managing yourself and your time
• Reading, lectures and note taking
• Writing essays, reports and other assignments
• Group work and presentations
• Preparing for exams
• Skills for dissertations and independent research

Find and use your module reading list

You can find your reading list on each module's page on Moodle. 

Your module leader may suggest you read things for various reasons e.g.

• You may be asked to read a book chapter or journal article before a seminar, or watch a video, as it will be discussed as a group.
• You may wish to read some recommended sources after a lecture, in order to consolidate what you learnt.
• You can read resources on the reading list to help you research and write coursework.

Using your reading list:

• The list may be organised into sections, such as the weekly schedule of topics. You can use the Table of contents (top left) to jump to the section you want. 
• Your tutors may have labelled items to help you to prioritise your reading. Essential readings are items you're expected to read as preparation for your classes. You'll also see recommended and optional resources that will be useful when you're doing assignments.

Find and use any reading list

You can also access any reading list - whether you are taking the module or not - via the Library web site:

• Go to the Library home page and choose the Reading lists tab above the LibrarySearch box. Type in the module code or name.
• Alternatively go directly to our reading list page.

Finding books in the Library

• Every book in Headington Library has a call number. This is the code written on the label on the side of the book. Books are arranged in numerical order, using these numbers. For example this book: Technology, literature and culture  is shelved at 809.93356 GOO.
• To find a book's call number, you can look up the book on LibrarySearch. 
• Look at the signs on the wall in between the stairs and the lift on Level 1 to see which range of call numbers is on each level. You will find a detailed map on each level, and you can also download a library map 
• The main section for print books in literary studies is on Level 4 in Zones D and E of the Headington Library.
• The guide How to find books for English Literature, Creative Writing and Drama in the Library (Google doc) highlights key areas of the library for these subjects.

Borrowing, returning and placing holds

If the book is on loan to another user, you can put a hold on it. If it's on the shelves, it's quicker for you to go and get it yourself. Find out more about borrowing and returning books and placing a hold from:

• How to...Borrow and return items
• Library essentials quick guides

• Google Scholar is a freely available search engine that focuses on scholarly sources. Check our guide Searching Scholar to find out how to ensure it recognises resources you can access for free via Oxford Brookes, or install the free LibKey Nomad browser extension to make sure you can access any articles provided by Brookes, wherever you are on the Web. 
• Google isn't recommended for finding academic sources but it can be useful for tracking down sources on very recent literary texts. 
• Get more from Google - tips on using Google and Google Scholar more effectively.
• Install the free LibKey Nomad browser extension to make sure you can access any articles provided by Brookes, wherever you are on the Web.

Assessing the quality of web sources

Remember that you need high quality reliable sources for your university work. Take a look at our guide to Evaluating Web sources for tips (Word & PDF versions available).

Useful websites

The online publication The Conversation contains articles written by academics for a general audience on topics currently in the news and contains links to freely available resources. It does cover the arts and culture, for example it has articles on:

• Poetry

• Fiction

• Theatre

• Rethinking the Classics

• Film adaptations

• Literary prizes

Selection of useful websites for English Literature, Drama and Creative Writing

Referencing web pages in MHRA

Check Reference with MHRA: How to reference a web page for guidance on how to reference web pages correctly.

Group work, presentations and posters

Lists of books, web resources and other support on:

• Group work and presentations 
• Poster presentations

Preparing for exams

• Past exam papers are available for download by Oxford Brookes students and staff from RADAR. Choose 'Learning and Teaching', then 'Past Examination Papers'. 
• Useful resources on Preparing for exams (part of our Study Smarter series)  

Using images in your English & Drama assignments (Google slides) - check this guide which covers:

• Understanding copyright
• Finding free to use images
• Crediting and referencing images

Collections of images

Library databases mentioned in the guide above:

• Bridgeman Education - more than 3 million images on all subjects including photographs, art works, museum collections. It’s very good for images of plays in performance and rehearsal
• JSTOR image search (incorporating ARTstor) - JSTOR is a key database for English Literature, containing academic articles and books, but it also offers an image search. Use it to find high-quality images from around the world, including artworks, maps, photographs, and more.

Collections of high quality, free to use photos and images, all mentioned in the guide above:

• Unsplash
• Pexels
• Pixabay

Referencing

Check Reference with MHRA: How to reference other sources for guidance on how to images such as photographs correctly.

Resources for Creative Writing- list of books and other resources about creative writing techniques

Guides to writing about literary texts

Resources for Creative Writing: Writing about literary texts -  a selection of resources on literary criticism that may be useful for writing a critical review or critical commentary.

How to find published critical sources on a text

• Use LibrarySearch to find books and journal articles on an author or text
• Databases can give you a range of additional sources that you won't find on LibrarySearch. Check the section How to search databases for links to some key resources
• Newspapers can be a good source for interviews and book reviews if you're looking at a contemporary text. We have two newspaper databases you can search.

If you're need help or advice with literature searching, you are welcome to contact the Library for individual help and advice. You can make a 1-to-1 appointment for help (in person or online).

Explore Special Collections

The Special Collections Reading Room is located within the Headington Library. It holds unique collections of resources for teaching and research.

Check our Special Collections page for details for details of how to access the Reading Room and a link to the Archives catalogue.

Of particular interest to English Literature and Creative Writing staff and students is the Booker Prize Archive:

• Booker Prize Archive - The Archive encompasses the administrative history of the prizes from 1968 to date, including the Booker International and Booker Russian Novel prizes, as well as one-off prizes such as the Golden Man Booker - awarded in 2018 to celebrate 50 years of the main prize. The collection comprises a diverse range of material, including correspondence, publicity material, copies of both the Longlists and the Shortlists, minutes of meetings, photographs and material relating to the awards dinner (letters of invitation, guest lists, seating plans). Embargoes of ten or twenty years apply to certain categories of material, examples include all material relating to the judging process and the publishers' submissions.
• In the main Library - We have a reference collection of all the shortlisted Booker Prize titles in the Headington Library on Level 4 (Zone D). In addition we hold loan copies of many of the shortlisted titles - these are filed in the normal book sequence on Level 4.

Other collections relating to publishing and literary prizes that may be relevant to English Literature and Creative Writing students are:

• Andre Deutsch Collection
• Early Children's Book Collection
• Publishing in Africa
• Steve Hare Penguin Collection

Lists of useful resources:

• Study skills resources for English Literature, Drama & Creative Writing
• Dissertations and independent research
• Writing essays, reports and other assignments

Who can access: MA students and undergraduates doing dissertation or equivalent research (from the 2nd Semester of your 2nd Year) are eligible to apply for a Bodleian card .

What they hold: The Bodleian is a copyright deposit library, which means that a copy of all British publications should be deposited in its collections by the publisher under copyright law. Check their Library catalogue SOLO

How to apply: Check How to access the Bodleian and other libraries. Note that there are different procedures if you apply during the vacation 

What you can access: You can use the main Bodleian Library of Oxford University.
Your Bodleian card gives you access to print and e-resources but only within their library buildings. You will be given a Bodleian Libraries username and password which allows you to log into SOLO, library PCs and the ‘Bodleian-Libraries’ Wi-Fi network as well as using their Print, Copy and Scan (PCAS) service. For full details, check their guide What access do I have as a Bodleian Reader card holder 

Interlibrary loan service

You can use this free service to request a loan of a print book or to obtain a copy of a journal article that we don’t hold at Brookes. Find out more about the interlibrary loan service

Go further, get more

Check the Library's Go further, get more page for other options.

• LibrarySearch: Libraries worldwide
• You can use LibrarySearch to look for resources in Brookes Library and beyond. To look for books and articles held by other libraries, type your keywords in the search box and then use the menu on the left to change the settings from 'Oxford Brookes University' to 'Libraries Worldwide.' For many items you will see an option to place an interlibrary loan request.
• Jisc Library Hub Discover allows you to search materials held in many UK national, academic and specialist libraries.
• SOLO Search the catalogue of the University of Oxford

BA dissertations

• Selected undergraduate dissertations are available from the English Literature homepage on Moodle in the section 'Dissertation information.'
• To check whether other hard copy dissertations are available, contact the Programme Administrator for English, Drama and Creative Writing.

PhD/MPhil thesis

• A copy of every Oxford Brookes PhD and MPhil thesis is deposited with the Library in print format (also known as a 'hardcopy'), online format (also known as 'electronic' theses or eTheses), or in both print and online formats. Oxford Brookes theses submitted from 2021 onwards are only available from the Library in online (or 'electronic') format.
  To find print and online Oxford Brookes theses you can search LibrarySearch by author, title, keyword, while for only the online theses you can browse or search our repository RADAR.
• If you want to search beyond Brookes, check the Library's Theses page.