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

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 928 C9924)
Dictionary of Literary Biography (928.1 D561)
Enciclopedia Hispnica (036.1 En16)
Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature (R 860.099803 En19)
European Writers (R 809.894 Eu74)
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama (R 809.203 M178)
El Pequeo Larousse Ilustrado (036.1 P399)

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

Cassell's Spanish Dictionary (R 463.21 C272)
The Concise Oxford Spanish Dictionary (English-Spanish)
The Concise Oxford Spanish Dictionary (Spanish-English)
Larousse Gran Diccionario (R 463.21 G762)
Masterpieces of Latino Literature (R 860.9 M393)
Modern Latin American Literature (R 860.9 F812M)
The Oxford Spanish Dictionary (R 463.21 Ox28)
The Oxford (English-Spanish) Business Spanish Dictionary
The Oxford (Spanish-English) Business Spanish Dictionary

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

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 Spanish language and literature subject headings include:

Latin American drama
Latin American fiction
Latin American poetry
Latin American literature
Spanish drama
Spanish fiction
Spanish language
Spanish literature
Spanish 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:

Spanish and Portuguese languages 460s
Spanish and Portuguese literatures 860s

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)

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

American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
   (http://www.aatsp.org)
Modern Language Association
   (http://www.mla.org)

The Cervantes Project
   (http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/cervantes/english)
Foreign Language News and Newspapers
   (http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/types/flnews)
Hispanic Reading Room: Library of Congress
   (http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic)
Iberian Language and Literature Web (Western European Studies Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries)
   (http://www.library.yale.edu/Internet/iberianlanglit.html)
Iberian Languages and Literatures (Peninsular)
   (http://www.library.yale.edu/Internet/iberianlangit.html)
Language and Culture
   (http://www.sispain.org/english/language/index.html)
LANIC: Hispanic/Latino
   (http://Lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/hispanic)
Latin America, Caribbean, Spanish and Portuguese Studies
   (http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/rr_gateway/research_guides/latin/latin.shtml)
Spanish Resources (Language Links)
   (http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/lss/lang/spanish.html)

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

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