Databases

Bloom's Literary Reference Online features hundreds of essays examining the lives and works of great writers throughout history and the world, as well as thousands of critical articles by noted scholars from the Bloom's Literary Criticism imprint. With an archive of more than 42,000 characters and extensive entries on literary topics, themes, movements, and genres, the database contains thousands of entries and almost 170 video segments. The "Bloom's How to Write about" section contains essays on how to write about literature, including crafting strong thesis statements and conclusions, writing outlines, properly citing sources, and sample essay topics. Links for popularly assigned authors list essays about the authors and their works. "How to Cite" guidance includes full citations in MLA, Chicago, and APA style, and the dictionary tool allows users to look up more than 34,000 words. Author biographies link to a list of major works, and works are linked to a list of principal characters.

Issues & Controversies offers extensive, exclusive, and objective analysis of hundreds of today’s hot topics and conflicts by presenting the key facts, arguments, history, and current context of today’s most important issues, along with a wealth of primary sources, videos, and relevant media coverage, making it an ideal resource for research papers, debate preparation,  and persuasive writing assignments. A cross-curricular resource, Issues & Controversies provides in-depth coverage of hot button issues related to business, culture, education, health, media, politics, science, technology, and much more. Each article presents both sides of an issue clearly and without bias in order to inspire thought-provoking discussions.

Writer’s Reference Center provides users with a convenient one-stop location for all of the tools necessary to write and research effectively. From the mechanics of writing and grammar to style and research, this indispensable online resource thoroughly covers the fundamentals of quality writing, provides a wealth of vocabulary-building dictionaries, and presents a step-by-step guide to writing a good essay. An in-depth grammar section defines grammatical terms and gives examples of use, while another section explores writing style. Writing resources teach users how best to revise their work, and the intuitive design allows users to find relevant information quickly through customizable searches and browsing.