Writing a term paper on Jane Austen? Book report on Animal Farm? Have to read something by a Jamaican author?

Try Bloom’s Literary Reference Online, a new database offered by the library. It’s available at all seven libraries and remotely from wherever there’s an Internet connection.

The database includes thousands of author biographies searchable in various ways including nationality, type of writing, genre and time period; overview, synopses, analyses and literary criticism of thousands of works including prose, poetry and plays; in-depth articles on topics and themes; some 38,000 analyses of literary characters; and literary timelines.

Also included are all the essays by literature maven Harold Bloom from his Western Literary Canon.

Another feature of the database is a well-designed search capability that allows users to track down needed information quickly.