French 215

Textes et contextes: Introduction à la culture et la littérature françaises et francophones

Fall 2008

Professor: Elissa Gelfand
Librarian: Shaoping Moss

Encyclopedias & Dictionaries	Print sources	Evaluating Info.
Databases	Websites	Writing and Citing

 

1.   Online Sources:
Online Encyclopedias & Dictionaries - for general or background information or overviews of a topic

• The Concise Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary (French-English). 2nd ed. 1998
  Also available in paper: Ref. PC 2640.83 1997

• Encyclopedia Britannica Online
  An enhanced version of the Encyclopedia Britannica, including Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.  Its content includes long and short articles from two encyclopedias, media database, magazine articles, the Web's best sites, and videos.

• Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages
  Provides 3,000 concise and detailed articles on all aspects of the period from the fifth to the fifteenth century.

• Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment
  Covers the “long” Enlightenment, from the rise of Descartes' disciples in 1670 to the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in 1815.

• Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance
  This encyclopedia provides authoritative and up-to-date information about theatre and performance from ancient Greek theatre to the latest developments in London, Paris, New York, and around the globe.

• Grove Art Online
  Combines the full text of the Dictionary of Art (1996, 34 vols) and the Oxford Companion to Western Art (2001).  A good source for finding biographical info. about artists and their work.

Electronic databases - for books, journal citations, full-text articles and images

• Five Colleges Libraries Catalog - to find books on a particular topic, or by title or author, search the Library catalog

• ArtStor
  ARTstor is a digital library of nearly one million images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences.  It does not cover current journal articles.

• Academic Search Premier (EBSCO)
  Provides multi-disciplinary coverage from the mid 70s to present, containing full text for nearly 4,500 journals, including more than 3,600 peer-reviewed titles. In addition to the full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for all 8,144 journals in the collection.

• Expanded Academic ASAP (Thomson Gale)
  Provides more than 3,500 indexed and full-text titles of journals and magazines across disciplines, including 2,100 peer-reviewed titles since 1980s; and covers a wide-range of topics including social sciences, humanities, education, science and technology.

• Art Abstracts (EBSCO)
  Provides citations to articles and book reviews in periodicals, yearbooks and museum bulletins published primarily in the U.S. and Europe since 1984 to present. Covers archaeology, architecture, city planning, crafts, landscape architecture, film, fine arts, folk art, graphic arts, industrial design, interior design, and photography.

• Art Index Retrospective  (WILSON)
  Similar in scope to the title above, providing coverage from 1929 to 1984.

• Film and Television Literature Index with Full Text (EBSCO)
  Subject coverage includes film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews. The database will provide cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for more than 300 publications (and selected coverage of 301), as well as full text for more than 90 journals.

• JSTOR
  Complete full-text coverage includes core scholarly journals in anthropology, Asian studies, ecology, economics, education, finance, history, mathematics, philosophy, political science, population studies and sociology. The most recently published issues (past 3-5 years) are not available.
  
  
• E-Resources A-Z at the MHC library
  

• Persée
  The main goal of the Persée project is to widely disseminate the intellectual output of francophone specialists in social and human sciences on the Internet. It provides free access to full-text articles in English or French.

2.     Print sources :

• The Concise Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary (French-English). 2nd ed. 1998
  Ref. PC 2640.83 1997
  
  
• Contemporary Authors. 266 vols. 1981-
  A bio-bibliographical guide to current writers in fiction, non-fiction, poetry, journalism, drama, films, TV, and other fields.  Check the CA cumulative index for an author’s entry.  This index is located at the  reference desk in the library
  Ref.  PN771 .C62

• Medieval France, An Encyclopedia. 1995.
  Provides fairly short entries on all aspects of medieval France; each entry includes a short bibliography. Examples of entries are: “Charroi De Nime ,” “Angers,” and "Gothic Architecture ."
  Ref. DC 33.2 M44 1995

• A New History of French Literature. 1989
  Essays on French literature arranged chronologically written by leading scholars in each area. The essays cover literary themes and movements, a few highly influential authors and works, and connections between literature and politics.
  Ref. PQ 119 N48 1989

• Guide to French Literature. 2 vols. 1992.
  Vol. 1 covers the beginnings to 1789, vol. 2 covers 1789 to the 1980's. Most of the articles focus on a single author and include a biography, descriptions of the author's works, and a bibliography.
  Ref. PQ 41 L48 1992

• Dictionnaire des lettres françaises. 6 vols. 1992.
  Revised edition of a work originally published 1951-1960. It is arranged by century: v. 1 covers the Middle Ages, v. 2 covers the 16th century, v. 3. covers the 17th century, v. 4 covers the 18th, v. 5 covers the 19th century and v. 6 covers the 20th century.
  Ref. PQ 41 D53 1992

• Dictionnaire des littératures de langue française. 4 vols. 1994.
  A guide to most French and francophone authors, genres, and geographic areas from the 15th-20th centuries.  Extensive indices are included.
  Ref. PQ 41 B4 1994

• The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French. 1995.
  The best one-volume starting point for French and francophone literature.
  Ref. PQ 41 N48 1995Books

• Literature of the French and Occitan Middle Ages: Eleventh to Fifteenth Centuries. 1999.
  Ref.  PQ151 .D42 1999

• Seventeenth-Century French Writers. 2002.
  Ref. PQ 241 S48 2002

• Writers of the French Enlightenment. 2 vols. 2005.
  These are four of many volumes in the series "Dictionary of literary biography" which provides extensive essays on individual authors grouped by period and genre.  Each article includes a chronological list of the author's work, as well as a selected bibliography for further reading.
  Ref. PQ261 .W75 2005

• Historic architecture sourcebook. 1977.
  Ref. NA31  .H56  

3.  Selected Websites:

• Europa World
  Europa World is the online version of the Europa World Year Book, covering political and economic information in over 250 countries and territories, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
  
  The World Factbook
  Compiled by the Central Intelligence Agency and updated periodically.
  
  
• ARTFL Project (ARTFL)
  The American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language Project contains approximately 2,000 French texts (primarily from the 18th through 20th centuries), reference works, and subject bibliographies.
  
  Bibliothègue Nationale de France
  This is the website for the national library of France.  Check this webpage to view a list of databases.
  
  Resources in French
  This Web guide is compiled for French Studies by the library specialist from the George Mason University.

• Google.com in Frence
  

• Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia in English
  

• Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia in French
  

4.  Evaluating Information - concepts and questions to consider:

• Evaluating Quality in Information
  Quality in information comprises several characteristics, including accuracy, scope of coverage, objectivity, timeliness, authority, and verifiability.

• Evaluating Information Found on the Internet (from Johns Hopkins University)

•  Five criteria for evaluating Web pages (from Cornell University Library)
  

• When to Cite Sources? From Dartmouth College's "Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgement"

• What's the difference between a scholarly journal and a popular magazine?
  

5. Writing and Citing Tools

• MLA Citation Guide
  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, provides good examples for citing print and electronic sources.
  Also available in paper: Ref. LB2369  .G53 2003

• Writing Manuals and Style Guides
  

6.  Finding Your Way in Williston Library:
You can also browse the stacks for books on French literature, history and culture. Here are some locations to try:

• DC (French history and culture)
• PC (French Language, including dictionaries)
• PQ (French Literature)

• French Language and literature books are on Level 5 of the Williston wing, call numbers NE – PQ
• French history and culture books are on Level 2 of the Williston wing, call numbers DC – HB

7.  Need more help?
Come to the reference desk, try “Ask a Librarian”  http://www.mtholyoke.edu/lits/8305.shtml
or contact Shaoping Moss (x3034, smoss@mtholyoke.edu)

Last update: 9/15/08