French 280  Introduction to French Language, Linguistics & Culture

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Library & Internet Resources

Where to Start Searching the UA Library Web Site Library Resources for your Fren 280 Citation Guides

RECOMMENDED LIBRARY RESOURCES FOR YOUR FREN 280 PRESENTATION

Encyclopaedia Britannica
Concise as well as scholarly articles on a wide range of subjects.Use for preliminary information on your given country.

Ethnologue: Languages of the World
Catalog of 6,912 languages spoken in 228 countries. Use for preliminary information on your given country. Provides brief language information as well as languages spoken by country. Use in conjunction with other sources listed here. Choose Web Version. [Online, and at P371 .E83 2000 Main Ref]

Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics 2nd Edition
Online encyclopedia which covers all of the basic concepts used in studying language and linguistics. Tabs at the top of the page lead the user to: Classification, an alphabetical list of general subjects; Authors; Article Titles; Languages, brief information only; Glossary, definitions of terms used in linguistics; Subject Index.

International Encyclopedia of Linguistics
Multi-volume set for language and linguistics. Use to find further information on languages including dialects. [P29 .I58 2003 Information Commons]

Facts on File World News Digest
World News Coverage from Facts on File News Service and Reuters, including the complete Facts on File World News Digest, 1940 to present. Includes editorials, obituaries, government leaders, country profiles, plus additional special features including maps, photographs, historic documents, and overviews of key issues, newsmakers and events since 1940. Use for broader information on your given country. Entries in Facts on File: Country Profiles are for the most part based on current census information.

CIA World Factbook - General guide to countries of the world, including maps and flags.

 

Nationmaster
Compilation of data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, United Nations, World Health Organization, World Bank, World Resources Institute, UNESCO, UNICEF and OECD. You can generate maps and graphs on all kinds of statistics with ease. Example of use: Under Facts & Statistics, choose Language category, select French Speakers (per Capita). Above results list, select Pie Chart or Map.

Chronology of World History
A year-by-year record of human events from prehistory to the present. Covers social, political, artistic, and technological events. Indexed by name, title, place and event.Use for at-a-glance information on historical events for your given countries. [D11.M39 1999 Information Commons Reference ]

ELECTRONIC  DATABASES/INDEXES

TIP: Searching for articles in the indexes/abstracts is commonly a 2-step process: Identify relevant documents (using databases or web search engines). Sometimes the documents are available full-text from the database you're using (i.e., Academic Search Complete (EBSCOhost). If the document is not available in full-text, determine if the Library owns the source (i.e. journal, book). Sometimes, it is necessary to go one more step. If the Library does not subscribe to the source of your document (i.e. journal), you can request a copy through Interlibrary Loan (use Interlibrary Loan link on the Library's Web Site, main page under Services) PRACTICE:  Try searching the suggested topics (or choose one of your own) under each database. Send the results to your e-mail account.

Academic Search Complete (EBSCOhost): Covers all subjects. Some articles available full-text. Internet Connection (available to UA faculty, students and staff only.)

Excercise: Search the following topics: French culture; French language; French language and policy; French language and history.

ERIC (EBSCOhost) : The ERIC database is the primary index in the field of education. It indexes articles in 1,300 journals. It also indexes more than 400,000 ERIC Documents, which include research reports, curriculum guides, and conference papers, and other unpublished material. Many ERIC Documents are available in full text, and some journal articles have full text links. Tip: Use Limits - Limit to

Excercise: Search the following topics: Quebec and Education; French language and Quebec

Humanities International Complete (EBSCOhost): A comprehensive database of humanities literature including language and linguistics, with coverage of over 1,900 titles dating as far back as 1925. Internet Connection (available to UA faculty, students and staff only.)

Excercise: Identify relevant terms using some of the ones suggested above.

Modern Languages Association Bibliography (MLA) (EBSCOhost): Indicates the citation and subjects covered in articles from periodicals and books on literary criticism, linguistics, and folklore. Also covers relevant monographs, working papers, proceedings, bibliographies, and other formats. (1963-present). Internet Connection (available to UA faculty, students and staff only.)

Excercise: Search the following topics: Francophone countries; Patois; French dialects; French language history; French language characteristics; french language trends.

Sociological Abstracts (CSA Illumina) . Sociology, marriage, family and social issues, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and related disciplines. Internet Connection (available to UA faculty, students and staff only.)

Excercise: Search the following topics: French culture and language; French language and Africa; French dialects

Google Scholar: Google Scholar provides access to scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from many disciplines. It seems to be strongest in science and technlogy and weakest in the humanities. Although you are encouraged to use Google Scholar, please keep in mind that it is still in Beta mode which means that you may find inconsitencies and pecularities in the search results. Also keep in mind the following:

1. Although much of the information is availble in full-text, you may find that some of the results will give you only brief citations or abstracts. Search the Library catalog to determine if the library has the item you seek.
2. In some cases, especially in the case of articles, you will be directed to pay in order to access a document. Please be sure to check the library's catalog to see if the library owns or has access to the item before you pay.
3. Google Scholar includes only a portion of the scholarly literature produced. Use it in conjunction with library subscibed databases for a more thorough search.

For more information go to About Google Scholar.

Exercise: Search: census french language; census french language quebec; census french language senegal

Linguistics Subject Guide

History Subject Guide

 

Last updated by vreyes 3/07