Chaucer Research Guide
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Selected Reference Sources

Use reference sources to choose a topic, understand terminology, locate background information, and identify good search terms.

• Chaucer A to Z (R 821 C496zRo)
• Oxford Companion to Chaucer (R 821 C496ZGr)
• A Chaucer Glossary (R 821 C496)
• Old And Middle English Literature (R 809 D554 v.146)
• Dictionary of the Middle Ages (R 909.07 D554)
• Medieval Wordbook (R 909.07 C834m)
• Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages (R 909.07 B942 en)

Finding Books (and more) in the Online Catalog

To locate circulating books ABOUT Chaucer and his works, use the subject search in the catalog. The subject heading is:

• Chaucer, Geoffrey, d.1400.

Some of the useful subheadings under this subject heading are: Biography, Characters, Contemporary England, Criticism and interpretation, Dictionaries, Handbooks, etc.

Titles about works by Chaucer receive a subheading for the work. For instance, one of the subject headings for Chaucer's Major Tales is: Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400-Canterbury Tales.

To search for works BY Chaucer, search by author: Chaucer, Geoffrey, d.1400. To search for specific titles by Chaucer, use the title search.

Although most works by and about Chaucer are located in the 821 C496 (literature) area of the Reference and Circulating collections, search the catalog to locate ALL sources on Chaucer. For instance, Daily Life in Chaucer's England is located in 942.037 (history).

Finding Articles in Research Databases
(To access databases from a computer located off-campus, go to DA Orgs/Library)

• EBSCOhost Databases (full text plus citations and abstracts only)--use this link to search more than one database at once
  Literary Reference Center (full text)(graphical version)
  A comprehensive database that provides information on thousands of literary works across disciplines and timeframes--combines information from reference works, books, literary journals and more--search by author or work
  Academic Search Premier (full text plus citations and abstracts only)
  Use this database to find scholarly articles about Chaucer and his works--try the following search to find whole articles about Chaucer: su Chaucer, Geoffrey
• InfoTrac Databases (full text plus citations and abstracts only)--use this link to search more than one database at once
  In these databases, try a search for "Chaucer, Geoffrey" in the Subject Guide search and look at the subdivisions--see the subdivision for "Criticism and interpretation".
  Try: Academic OneFile, Expanded Academic, General OneFile, General Reference Center
• JSTOR (full text)
  Use this database to find scholarly articles about Chaucer and his works.
• LitFinder
  Use this database to find information about Chaucer's poetry, examples of his poetry, and the full text of Canterbury Tales.
• Readers Guide
  Use this database to find citations for articles about Chaucer from popular magazines published from 1890-1982.
• Grove Art Online
  Use this database to find articles about art during Chaucer's time. Use Explore/Styles & Cultures/Medieval Art to find articles on this period

Selected Internet Sites
(Websites should always be evaluated for authorship, accuracy, and currency)

• Chaucer's Metapage (UNC-Chapel Hill)
  A portal to the many websites devoted to the study and teaching of Chaucer and his works
• Geoffrey Chaucer (East Carolina U.)
• Geoffrey Chaucer (Harvard U.)
• Chaucer's Prologue in Middle English (VMI)(audio reading)
• Canterbury Cathedral
• Medieval England Sources

Need help with citing sources?
MLA Citation Style Guide
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