Searching for Poetry in the Library

Did you know the library houses books, ebooks, and online content you can easily access? Use the link below to search for content. But first, be sure to look at the search strategies below.

Strategies - Search by: Author, Keyword, or Subject
 

Search by Author

• In the Advanced Search box, change Contains to: is (exact) or enter the name in quotes.

• And change Any Field to: Author/Creator.

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• You can limit to books immediately at Material Type or wait to see what you find and then limit by Source Type.
  • Note: Our books may be print or digital e-books you can read online or download.
  • Also Note: A Search by author will find everything the author has written (in our library), including poetry, essays, etc.

Search by Keyword:

Your poet's work may be included in an anthology.

• To search more broadly for work by your author, do not change Any Field to Author. 
• A keyword search returns, for example, works by Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey in a collection of poetry by US Poet Laureates.

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Search by Subject:

• Subject Headings return all the work we have on a given subject.
• Look for Subjects associated with books by or about your poet.
  • Below is a screenshot of the subjects associated with a book I found with a keyword search of Natasha Trethewey

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• Click on the Subjects linked in the record as shown above, or use the Advanced Search again to search by subject at Any Field.

Using Gale Literature

Gale Literature is one of the library's literary criticism databases

Most of the content is mainstream and scholarly criticism, but you will find some work by the poet in his or her own words.

• While in the search results page, limit by document type, choosing: Primary Sources and Literary Works
   

Other library databases may have full text or excerpts of works by your poets. Try the following sources linked below.

Requesting things from other libraries

Can't find what you need? There may be an option to get it!

InterLibrary Loan (or ILL) is a service offered by Holman Library for borrowing books and articles from other libraries. 

• Books and other items that require mailing may take 1-2 weeks.
• Articles and other digital items may arrive within 2-5 days. Be sure to include your email as your contact info.

To request an item, use information you find in the tools below  to fill out the Student Interlibrary Loan form. If you need help filling out this form, call the library reference desk at (253) 931-6480.

InterLibrary Loan requests are free to students, faculty and staff.