Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

Encyclopedia articles, written by subject authorities, provide information useful for gaining a basic understanding of a topic and getting started with a research project. Typically, a bibliography, or list, of "classic" books and articles for further research follows each article. Students will find also these encyclopedias useful for brushing up on topics related to their central area of investigation. [Note: See the Research Guides for sources that deal with narrower sub-fields within the discipline.]

Encyclopedia of Contemporary French Culture. Edited by Alex Hughes and Keith Reader.
Publisher : London ; New York : Routledge, 1998. 

CALL NUMBER: Ref DC 33.7 .E53 1998

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Chris Baldick, editor. [ Online ] Oxford University Press, 1996. Available: http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/BOOK_SEARCH.html?book=t56&subject=s13 (Accessed 20 January 2003).

Contains over 1,000 literary terms, fully updated to include terms that have become prominent in the last few years, and includingt erms from languages and literature other than English.

Oxford Reference Online: Modern Languages. [ Online ] Oxford University Press, 2002. Available: http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/SUBJECT_SEARCH.html?subject=s16 (Accessed 20 January 2003).

A searchable and browsable collection of modern languages dictionaries from Oxford University Press.

yourDictionary.com> Language Dictionaries. [ Online ] Available: http://www.yourdictionary.com/languages.html. [Accessed 20 January 2003].

A website devoted to links to various online dictionaries.

Background Information & Country Studies

Area Handbook Series.
Foreign Area Studies, American University. Washington, D.C. For sale by the G.P.O. 1986—

The Country Studies/Area Handbook Series presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world and examines the interrelationships of those systems and the ways they are shaped by cultural factors. "Chapter 2. Society and Its Environment" includes a section on religion or religious life. County studies for 86 different countries are available within Schaffer Library, with links to the full text online. They are also available in full text directly from the Library of Congress Country Studies Website.

Countries and Their Cultures. Melvin Ember and Carol R. Ember, editors. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, c2001.

Each country's entry includes information on "Orientation" (geography, demographics, language), "History and Ethnic Relations," "Urbanism, Architecture and the Use of Space," "Social Stratification," "Political Life," "Social Welfare and Change Programs," "Nongovernmental Organizations and Other Associations," "Gender Roles and Statuses," "Marriage, Family, and Kinship," "Socialization," "Etiquette," "Religion," "Medicine and Health Care," "Secular Celebrations," "The Arts and Humanities," and "The State of the Physical and Social Sciences." A highly selective bibliography and list of Websites are included as well.

CALL NUMBER: REF ROOM  [Ref] GN307 .C68 2001 — v. 1–4

The Europa World Yearbook. Edited by Arthur S.Banks and Thomas C Muller.  41st edition. Binghamton, New York: Europa Publications, 2000.

Basic information on the organization, activities, finance, and publications of international organizations (including the EU, NAFTA, and WTO) plus a country-by-country overview of the geography, history, government, defence, economic affairs, social welfare, and education system for each country. Each entry also provides a range of statistical data and directory information.

CALL NUMBER: Ref JN 1 .E85 2000

The World Factbook. [ Online ] Washington, D.C. : Central Intelligence Agency : Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., [distributor], 1981-

Includes country profiles, reference maps, and a glossary. The current volume online is for 2002.

Reference Desk  PrEx 3.15:    Gov Doc

Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998.

Call number:  Ref GN333 .W67 1998

Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations. Detroit: Gale Research, 2001.

Basic political, geographic, and social information. Volume 1 covers the United Nations and Volume 6 provides biographies of world leaders.

Call number: Ref G63 .W67 2001 v. 1–6

Citation Guides and Style Manuals

Style manuals and citations guides illustrate how to cite book, journal, and other research sources, including materials found in online databases and on the Web according to the conventional format of a particular discipline. Subject-specific citation guides are listed below, and a complete listing appears at Reference Sites: Citation Guides and Style Manuals.

MLA Style Guide. [ Online ] Available: http://www.lib.usm.edu/~instruct/guides/mla.html

Online! A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources. [ Online ] Andrew Harnack and Eugene Kleppinger. http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/

Books in Schaffer Library are arranged by Library of Congress Class number. Class numbers are searchable in the Web Catalog and browsable in the Stacks and Reference Collection.

DC 1 - 947	France (History)
PC 2001 - 3761	French Language
PQ 1 - 3999	French Literature

The New Acquisitions List  (residing on the Library Catalogs page) is generated on the 10th of each month and includes items added to the library's collections for the previous calendar month.

Microfiche copies of Senior honors theses are maintained in the Library. For details on the Library's theses holdings, formats, access, photocopying restrictions, and searching for a thesis in the online catalog, see How to Find a Union College Thesis.

Research Guides supplement the broader Research by Subject pages by focusing on the print and electronic resources that are most useful for a course-specific research assignment. For faculty, the Research Guides provide structured access to the Library and Internet resources relevant to their own work or in advising students on their research projects. For students working independently, it serves as a reminder of services and materials offered within the library while at the same time providing a gateway for information available from remote sites.

French Senior Project

French 489

Faculty using Blackboard are encouraged to incorporate links to Library resources (specifically the Research by Subject pages and the appropriate course-related Research Guides) into the Blackboard course pages. Your Departmental Liaison or Bibliographic Instruction Contacts can assist you.

Schaffer Library provides to range of general and subject specific electronic databases. These databases offer full-text access to articles or library holdings information.

L'Association Internationale des Etudes Francaises.               http://www.aief.eu.org/                                                                              The Association Internationale des Etudes Francaises organizes regular conferences and publishes a journal devoted to French Studies. Their website offers scholarly information about French Studies: the language, culture and  literature.

Centre for Russian Studies' Database http://www.nupi.no/russland/database/start.htm                                             This database covers the current developments in Russia. It is organized according to four main areas: political actors, institutions, administrative units, as well as chronology of current events. It is a reliable source and is easy to navigate.

Duke University Libraries - Japanese Studies Resources http://www.lib.duke.edu/iac/eas/japanesestudies.html                                       This site offers a vast array of useful links to scholarly and non-scholarly resources within the field of Japanese Studies; including encyclopedias, bibliographies, journals and much more.

Hebrew Culture                      http://www.unt.edu/fllc/languages/hebrew/culture.htm                                     This site offers an insight into the Hebrew culture. You can find information concerning Hebrew customs, covering such wide areas of interest, such as food, holidays, and celebrations. There are also links to the arts, including museums.

Internet Resources for Germanists                 http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/german/irfg                                                         This site contains valuable links to specific areas of German studies, literature, linguistics and philology.

Italian Studies Web                              http://www.library.yale.edu/wess/italian.html                                                  This source provides access to academic resources in the field of Italian Studies. These resources are peer reviewed and when appropriate, annotated as well.   

Modern Humanities Research Association.                           http://www.mhra.org.uk/                                                                            This British site offers access to scholarly articles in the field of modern languages. It supports academic publishing and is peer reviewed. The MHRA includes minor languages that are underrepresented in the UK.

Modern Language Association
http://www.mla.org/
Website of the MLA. This site promotes the publication of scholarly articles. It posts job listings, conference calls, the MLA style manual guide, prizes and awards, details of the annual convention, and more. News concerning the MLA is also available to view.

National Center for the Hebrew Language
http://www.ivrit.org/
Includes Study Tools, Literary Corner, Resource Center, IvritNow Newsletter and more.

Nobel Prize Laureates in Literature.              http://www.nobel.se/literature/laureates/                                                      This site contains information about Nobel Prize winners in Literature. It offers biographical information, as well as information concerning the writers body of work.

Russian and East European Network Information Center http://www.utexas.edu/reenic.html                                                               This source comes from the Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at the University of Texas, Austin. The site is divided into different regions: Balkan, Central Asia, Central Europe, the Baltics, Caucasus, and Eastern Europe. Within these regions, the different countries are represented. These countries link to a page containing basic statistics, associations and internet sources. A quick and convenient reference tool.

The Society for French Studies                              http://www.sfs.ac.uk/home.html                                                                  This site for the Society for French Studies is in English and based in Oxford. The society promotes academic research and teaching in French.

UCLA Center for Chinese Studies http://www.international.ucla.edu/ccs/resources.asp                                        This center was founded in 1986, through the UCLA International Institute. The center is focused on research and teaching. This site offers interesting news articles on academic progress in the field of Chinese Studies.                 

Tools for tracking recently published articles.

The New York Times: College > Arts & Humanities > Language and Foreign Languages. [ Online ] The New York Times. Available: http://college.nytimes.com/guests/directory/Arts_&_Humanities/
Language_and_Foreign_Languages/ (Accessed 20 January 2003)
Provides full text access to articles of general interest to students and teachers of foreign languages from The New York Times with links to NYT articles on individual languages.

Departmental Liaison: Annette LeClair
For information on resources, services, collections, and book ordering for your department

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