Skip to Main Content
width =

University of Denver

University Libraries

Research Guides

Finding Quotations: Home

Resources to use to search the source of a specific citation, or to find one on a topic.

Accuracy in Quotations

As Abraham Lincoln once said, "It's important to verify the accuracy of quotations that you've found on the Internet or some other third-party source." This research guide contains search tips and electronic resources you can use to check where (or if) your life-affirming or paper-completing quote originates from.

Search Tips

For Known Authors
Compass Catalog: Search author’s name + “works” or “papers” (e.g., Thomas Jefferson); concordance (e.g., Shakespeare), “letters”, “diary”, “writings”, “lectures”, or “essays”.

  • For concordances, try a catalog keyword search “concordance” AND the author (e.g. Shakespeare or Chaucer), or subject (e.g. Bible).  

For Known Quotations
If you have a complete quotation and you'd like to discover who said (or wrote) it, try using our broad interdisciplinary databases. These electronic resources can usually be searched for the quotation, in whole or in part (in case it is not quite correct). Try using Google Scholar, Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, or Project Muse.

  • Other key discipline-specific databases can be found by navigating through our Databases by Subject.

For Foreign Languages
Try a Compass catalog search with your "quotation(s)" AND [language].

Poetry

Academic and Institutional Resouces

General Educational Resources

Research Center

Profile Photo
Research Center Desk
Contact:
Visit our "Make an Appointment" page to schedule a research consultation with a reference librarian.

You can also get in touch with the Research Center Desk during our operating hours at (303) 871-2905.