# Is there some way I can locate a short story by title? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-some-way-i-can-locate-a-short-story-by-title/231548 "2004-02-27T23:25:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-some-way-i-can-locate-a-short-story-by-title/231548/1 "2004-02-27T23:25:11Z")
Suppose I have read a particular short story in the past, in a multi-author anthology, and I want to find it again, in a local library or bookstore. I cannot remember the author of the story, nor the name of the anthology; I only remember the title of the story. Library catalogs list whole books, not individual stories in anthologies or collections. Is there any database, index, catalog, or resource where I can look up a short story by title? ---
**Author:** ![msklystron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@msklystron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msklystron)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-some-way-i-can-locate-a-short-story-by-title/231548/2 "2004-02-27T23:41:47Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Suppose I have read a particular short story in the past, in a multi-author anthology, and I want to find it again, in a local library or bookstore. I cannot remember the author of the story, nor the name of the anthology; I only remember the title of the story. Library catalogs list whole books, not individual stories in anthologies or collections. Is there any database, index, catalog, or resource where I can look up a short story by title? That’s a toughie. Don’t hesitate to ask a librarian at your local library. I would suggest doing a search on the net by the title if you haven’t already. Also try a search on [Bartleby.com](http://Bartleby.com). Good Luck. Oh, sometimes publishers change story titles… hopefully this is not the case for the tale you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-some-way-i-can-locate-a-short-story-by-title/231548/3 "2004-02-27T23:42:29Z")
Do a google search on the title. If that’s not helpful…I’m tapped out. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-some-way-i-can-locate-a-short-story-by-title/231548/4 "2004-02-27T23:45:13Z")
I’m going to be annoying and suggest you type the whole title into [alltheweb.com](http://alltheweb.com) or Google. Barring that, if you tell me the title I might be able to help Julie ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-some-way-i-can-locate-a-short-story-by-title/231548/5 "2004-02-27T23:51:32Z")
Damn. Hit submit before I finished my thought. If you tell me the title I might be able to help, using a database I can access called “NoveList.” Some anthologies have all of their stories listed on it, and a search can pull them up. The site might be available to you as well, through your library. My link makes me put in my library card number, etc. to get online. Julie ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-some-way-i-can-locate-a-short-story-by-title/231548/6 "2004-02-27T23:58:01Z")
If it’s in an anthology, you can search for it at [www.bookfinder.com](http://www.bookfinder.com) or [www.abebooks.com](http://www.abebooks.com) and you might get a hit there. I found a bunch of obscure articles by Anthony Burgess that way. ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-some-way-i-can-locate-a-short-story-by-title/231548/7 "2004-02-27T23:59:04Z")
Why don’t you give US the title, and a synopsis of the story… maybe one of us knows it and can tell you the author. We dopers are awful smart, we are. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-some-way-i-can-locate-a-short-story-by-title/231548/8 "2004-02-28T00:48:46Z")
If you didn’t have the internet or SDMB you could still find the answer - Most libraries have a reference source called the Short Story Index. Published annually, with cummulative indexes, you can look up a story by title, author or theme and find the titles of the anthologies it has been printed in. The high school library I work in even has a copy of this resource. Remember - the reference librarian is your best friend (after the Straight Dope, of course). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-some-way-i-can-locate-a-short-story-by-title/231548/9 "2004-02-28T02:26:25Z")
In this computerized age, it’s not at all true that library catalogs list only whole books. My local library lists every story in every anthology (and even every track on every record). These are searchable through the full text search just like anything else. Have you even checked your library’s computers, or your librarians? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-some-way-i-can-locate-a-short-story-by-title/231548/10 "2004-02-28T23:58:05Z")
Well, when I first started this thread I was thinking of an alternate-history story called “The Vatican Outfit.” (A Catholic priest’s uncle, who is in the Mafia, tips off John Paul I about the plot to assassinate him; after a couple of failed attempts, the pope decides to fight fire with fire and run the Holy Mother Church like a cosa nostra crew.) But then I remembered that I had an easy way to find it: Since it’s an alternate-history story, I could look it up on Uchronia: The Alternate History List ([www.uchronia.net](http://www.uchronia.net)). (Turns out it’s by Laura Resnick and was published in the anthology _Alternate Warriors,_ Tor 1993, ed. by Mike Resnick). But the original question remains relevant. If there’s not a database out there for finding short stories in general, there should be. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-some-way-i-can-locate-a-short-story-by-title/231548/11 "2004-02-29T19:57:44Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > But the original question remains relevant. If there’s not a database out there for finding short stories in general, there should be. Yeah, but… What we’re trying to tell you is, there is one. Several, in fact! I typed just “The Vatican Outfit” (with quotes) into a Google search and Laura Resnick was named by name in the first several entries. Google is your friend! Resistance is futile!