Accessing Databases

Getting information about poets and their works

There are a lot of great resources available through the subscription databases at the Beverly Public Library. They are NOT available when you search on Google.

You can access these from home, from here, or at the library. You may need a library card number to access some of them.

A few of the best for this project are:

    • Literature Resource Center
    • Articles from literary magazines and journals, book reviews, biographical essays, full text of poems and short stories, essays on books and literary topics, links to other websites.
    • LitFinder
    • Full-text literary works, including poems, short stories, novels, essays, plays and speeches.
    • Literary Reference Center
    • Articles/essays of literary criticism, poems and short stories, plot summaries and synopses, biographies, literary journals, and more. (see directions below for how to access).
  • Biography in Context (previously called the Biography Resource Center)
  • Biographical information about thousands of people, including authors.

Note: When you search for a poet or author on the literature sites, it's important to notice and use the TABS that appear at the top of results page. Clicking on these tabs will give you access to different types of information about the writer: biography, literary criticism, reviews, reference books, etc.

To see all the databases offered by the Beverly Public Library

  • Go to the BeverlyPublic Library website at http://www.beverlypubliclibrary.org/
  • On the left side of the page, click Databases
  • Scroll through to look for the database you want.

To go to the Literary Reference Center via the Beverly Public Library site:

  • Go to the BeverlyPublic Library website at http://www.beverlypubliclibrary.org/
  • On the left side of the page, click Databases
  • Scroll down to the Literary Reference Center and click Login from Home
  • In the box where you enter a library card number, put in the Briscoe number – 21400000866357, then under name, type Beverly. You can also use your own library card number and last name.
  • Click Go