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French Language and Literature

This guide suggests resources and strategies for research on French language and literature.

Contents of this research guide

Background Information  |  Facts & Figures  |  Find Articles  |  Find Books  |  People  |  Organizations  |  Web Resources  |  Additional Resources 


Background Information (Overview Sources)

Encyclopedias and other reference works are an excellent place to start a research project or simply learn more about a particular topic.  They provide topic summaries, context, and bibliographies for further reading.

Cyclopedia of World Authors (R 809 C9924)
Dictionary of Literary Biography (928.1 D561)
European Writers (R 809.894 Eu74)
Grand Larousse Universel (034.1 G7624)
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama (R 809.203 M178)

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Facts & Figures (Fact Sources)

Use dictionaries, statistical works, atlases, handbooks and similar works to find and check facts about topics, people, or events.

A Book of French Quotations
(848 G982b)
Cassell's French Dictionary
(R 443 N42)
The Concise Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary (English-French)
The Concise Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary (French-English)
Dictionnaire de la Langue Frencaise Lexis
(R 443 D5617)
Harrap's New College French and English Dictionary
(R 443 H2353)
The Oxford Companion to Literature in French
(R 840.90003 N42)
The Oxford (English-French) Business French Dictionary
The Oxford (French-English) Business French Dictionary
The Oxford-Hachette Concise French Dictionary
(R 443 Ox26)
Le Petit Larousse Illustr (R 443 P445)

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Find Articles

Search indexes, abstracts, and databases to find journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.  For a complete list of Kent Library's online indexes and databases, see the Find: articles page (http://library.semo.edu/find/articles.asp).

To find historical/source materials, such as newspaper and magazine articles, use the following print sources:

Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 1900+
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Humanities Index, 1974+
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Social Sciences and Humanities Index, 1966-1974)
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
International Index to Periodicals, 1907 - 1965
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
New York Times Index, 1851+
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)

To find recent articles and scholarly/peer-reviewed articles use the following online databases:

Academic Search Premier
ERIC
JSTOR
MLA
  
Project Muse
ProQuest Research Library
Wilson OmniFile

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Find General Collection Books

Use the Kent Library Catalog (http://library.semo.edu/find/books.shtml) to find books, periodicals (journals, magazines, & newspapers), videos, government documents and other materials.

Keyword searches allow you to use your own words as search terms.
Subject heading searches use Library of Congress subject headings. Printed volumes of these headings are located near the Reference Desk on the main floor.

Some French language and literature subject headings include:

French drama
French language
French poetry
French literature
French-Canadian drama
French-Canadian fiction
French-Canadian literature
French-Canadian poetry
 

Browse the shelves by call number.  Use the Dewey Decimal chart (http://library.semo.edu/learn/guides/dewey100.shtml) to get you in the right subject areas or try the following:

French and related languages 440s
French and related literatures 840s

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People

Learn about important people, such as authors, researchers & historical figures related to this topic or field.

Biography Index (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Contemporary Authors (928 C7672)
Dictionary of Literary Biography (928.1 D561)
Literature Resource Center (available on the library's web page)

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Organizations

Professional organizations and/or societies often provide very useful topic related information.

American Association of Teachers of French
   (http://www.frenchteachers.org/)
Modern Language Association
   (http://www.mla.org)

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Web Resources

The ARTFL Project
   (http://humanities.uchicago.edu/orgs/ARTFL)
Foreign Language News and Newspapers
   (http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/types/flnews)
French Language Resources
   (http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/french.html)
French Resources (Language Links)
   (http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/lss/lang/french.html)
French Studies Web
   (http://lotus.libs.uga.edu/erms/wess)
Ressources Internet Francophones
   (http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/deanhum/langlit/french)
Tennessee Bob's Famous French Links
   (http://www.utm.edu/departments/french/french.html)

For a list of Web searching tools, see the Find: web resources page (http://library.semo.edu/find/webpages.html).

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Additional Resources

Dissertation Abstracts
   (available on the library's web page)

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page developed by Information Services/ cp
last updated: 5/9/08