English and American Literature

Using the Library’s Online Catalog

The Research Library’s catalog, CATNYP, can be consulted for locating both original texts and works of literary criticism. It is easily accessible via the World Wide Web at http://catnyp.nypl.org. For general instructions on using CATNYP, please consult Using the Library's Online Catalog.

Searches for original texts should be by title or author.  A search for the author as subject might point to reference works listed under a variety of subject headings such as bibliography, biography, criticism and interpretation, etc. In the event that monographs or collections have been devoted to a specific work, there will also be a subject heading for that title.  For instance, while a subject search for Steinbeck John--Criticism and Interpretation currently yields 33 entries, a search for Grapes of Wrath as a subject will narrow the search to 13 entries. A recent subject search for Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns)--Criticism and Interpretation indicates 146 works of general or collective criticism. Searching Waste Land, however, locates 49 titles devoted to that particular work.  Once located on CATNYP, these titles can be requested in the Bill Blass Public Catalog Room and used in the Rose Main Reading Room.