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Short stories appear in a variety of places such as literary magazines, anthologies, author collections and websites. Locating a short story can be done a number of ways, but a good place
to begin is Pegasus, UCSB's online catalog, or MELVYL, the catalog of all the University of California's Libraries.
If you know the title of a short story, use a keyword search and enter the title of the story. Add the author's name if you know it or if the title isn't very distinctive:
- tobermory
- brokeback mountain
- death of the cool boyle
You can also use keyword searches to look for anthologies and collections:
- collections and science fiction
- literary collections and african americans
- short stories and collections
If you know or suspect that a short story is one of many in a book by the author, do an author search in Pegasus.
If you know the title of the anthology or collection in which a story appears, do a Title begins with… in Pegasus for the name of the anthology.
If you'd like to browse short story anthologies, try using the Advanced Search in Pegasus and type "short stories not criticism" as a subject. You can continue to limit this by adding keywords to your search in the next pull down menus:
If you cannot find your short story in Pegasus or Melvyl, use an index to determine:
- If, when, and where the short story was published
- Whether the UCSB Library owns that source
- Short Story Index
Main Ref Z5917.S56
- This is the standard tool for locating short stories. It indexes stories written in or translated into English that have appeared in collections or periodicals, and can be searched a number of ways, including by subject, author, or story title. Volume 1 Includes stories published before 1949.
- Humanities Index
Main Ref Z1035.H85
- Look under "short stories" for a list of stories published that year. Or, search under Author’s name and look for the [story] next to a citation.
- Index to Best American Short Stories and O. Henry Prize Stories
Main Ref Z1231.F4 W52 1988
- Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature
Main Ref AI3 .R4
- Readers' Guide is a standard index to popular magazines, many of which contain short stories. Search Readers' Guide by story title, author, or subject. Or, look under “short stories” for a list by title of short stories published that year. The Library has the print volumes from 1900-1995; after 1995, try Expanded Academic Index (see below).
- Short story writers and their work: a guide to the best
Main Ref PN3373 .H6 1992
- Readers’ Guide Retrospective
- Index to popular magazines published in the United States from 1890-1982.
- Expanded Academic
- Coverage from 1980-present. Use the Advanced Search and enter author or title, then add the keyword "story".
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You can search Google for your story, but be aware that, as with all free websites, it may be difficult to confirm the accuracy and authenticity of the material.
Check the following websites and databases for full text versions of selected short stories:
- LION (from UCSB Library's Indexes and Databases)
- Early American Fiction (from UCSB Library's Indexes and Databases)
- Bartleby.com
- Internet Public Library: Books.
- Online Books Page
- ALEX catalogue of Electronic Texts
- Eserver Fiction Collection
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