Newman University Library: English: Websites

Useful websites for English

English resources

BBC Shakespeare Archive
The site contains hundreds of TV and radio programmes from the BBC’s Shakespeare collection, as well as more than a thousand photos from classic Shakespeare productions.

The programmes on this site are only available for streamed playback in an educational setting, such as in a classroom, lecture theatre or for academic research.
British Library: Discovering Literature
Discovering Literature brings to life the social, political and cultural context in which key works of literature were written. Enjoy digitised treasures from our collection, newly commissioned articles, short documentary films and teachers’ notes.
British Library Sounds
The British Library’s extensive collections of unique sound recordings come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound: music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds.
British Theatre Guide
News, reviews, features and podcast on theatre across the UK.
The Oxonian Review
The Oxonian Review features essays and reviews of recently published work in literature, politics, history, science and the arts. It is published by graduate members of the University of Oxford, although it welcomes contributions from other University members and non-Oxford affiliates.
Poetry Magazine
Monthly magazine published by the Poetry Foundation. Poetry was founded in Chicago in 1912 and is the longest running continuously published magazine devoted to verse in the English language.
William Blake Archive
A free, online international public resource for the visual and literary works of William Blake (1757-1827).

Guidance on using Internet resources

With millions of resources available on the internet, it can be difficult to find relevant and appropriate material even if you have good search skills.

The following tips will help you to develop your website evaluation skills for your reading, assignments and research. They're also handy for assessing any information you come across, online or offline, in your studies or in your life outside of university.

Use the CRAAP Test developed by the Meriam Library in California. CRAAP stands for ‘Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy and Purpose’.
Ask your Academic Service Librarian for help with improving your information evaluation skills. They offer one-to-one support tutorials and workshops throughout the year.

Your librarian recommends...

Literary Encyclopedia This link opens in a new window
If you're on campus - use our quick log in

A rich reference resource for any students of literature and culture. Articles in LE are written by specialists and frequently updated. Use it if you need a quick overview of an author or a work, to check facts, or to get you started on more in-depth reading for your assignment.

The British Library website is an extremely rich resource for students of English. We suggest you begin exploring the online collections using the links below.

British Library: Discovering Literature
Discovering Literature brings to life the social, political and cultural context in which key works of literature were written. Enjoy digitised treasures from our collection, newly commissioned articles, short documentary films and teachers’ notes.
British Library Sounds
The British Library’s extensive collections of unique sound recordings come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound: music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds.

TV and Radio programmes

Box of Broadcasts National This link opens in a new window
Use the Sign In option and select Newman University

Box of Broadcasts is an online streaming and archive service for TV and radio programmes for universities.

You can view and record over 2 million TV and radio programmes including off-air recordings from the BBC going back to 2007. You can also record programmes up to 30 days after broadcast from over 60 TV and radio channels.

Box of Broadcasts also allows you to create clips from programmes and share these with other users. You can keep your recorded programmes and clips for as long as you need them. You can also search other users’ content.

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