Example of a citation to an essay in a book:

Scharfman, Ronnie. "Narratives of Internal Exile: Cixous, Derrida, and the Vichy Years in Algeria." Postcolonial Theory and

Francophone Literary Studies. Ed. Adlai H. Murdoch. Gainesville: U. of Florida Press, 2005. 87-101.

To obtain this book, you may have to check up to three catalogs:

1. Begin with SIMON. Remember to search by the title of the book, not the title of the chapter.
2. If the book is not in SIMON or is in SIMON but is checked out, go to SUMMIT. If the book is available through SUMMIT, you can request it by entering your name and ID number. It takes two to four business days for SUMMIT books to be delivered to the Circulation Desk.
3. If the book is not available in SIMON or SUMMIT, go to WorldCat. If you find the title there, click on the ILL (Interlibrary Loan) icon and fill out the required information. Books requested from WorldCat usually take a minimum of two weeks to arrive.

TIP! When you find a useful book in SIMON or SUMMIT, take a look at that title's subject headings. You can click on these subject headings to find more books on the same topic.

 

Journal Articles

Example of a citation to a journal article:

Krause, Virginia, and Christian Martin. "Topoï et utopie de l'amour dans les Lais de Marie de France." Dalhousie French Studies 42 (1998): 3-15.

To obtain this article:

1. First search the Journal Locator by the title of the journal, not the title of the article. (Do not use the "journal title" search in SIMON anymore; it is no longer accurate for full-text availability.) If the article is available full-text, a link to the appropriate database will be provided. If the journal is available in microform or paper format, a link to the SIMON record will be provided. Current periodicals are located on the first floor of the library and bound periodicals and microform are located in the basement.
2. If the Journal Locator returns zero results, there is no need to search any other database. Simply log onto ILLIAD and submit your article request. An electronic copy of the article usually will be provided to you in less than a week, although occasionally the lending library mails a photocopy instead. In either case, you will be notified by e-mail that the article is now available.
3. NOTE: If the article you are requesting via ILLiad is in FRENCH, you will need to change the default setting from "English only" and indicate the other language in the "Notes" field:
   :

Practical Matters

Context

Databases

Context

At some point in your research you may wish to either verify or learn more about a variety of contexts surrounding the work(s) you are analyzing. Or, you may wish to consult the library's French language resources. Although these reference materials are not acceptable as academic sources for your final paper, you may find them useful as starting points.

Literary Reference Resources

• Dictionnaire des oeuvres littéraires de langue française / PQ 41 B42 1994 Reference
• Guide to French Literature / PQ 226 L48 1992 Reference
• Literature Resource Center -- This full-text database offers biographical essays as well as excerpts from selected criticism.

French Language Reference Resources

• Abracadabrantesque! Dictionnaire des mots inventés par les écrivains... / PC 2630 R45 2004 Reference
• Dictionnaire des difficultés du français / PC 2460 C58 1978 Reference
• Le Grand Robert de la langue française / PC 2625 R552 2001 Reference
• Oxford Reference Online - This full-text resource contains bilingual French-English, English-French dictionaries.
• Turlupinades & Tricoteries: Dictionnaire des mots obsolètes de la langue française / PC 2667 D832 2004 Reference

Historical and Cultural Reference Resources

• Dictionnaire d"histoire de France (Perrin) / DC 35 D53 2002 Reference
• Encyclopedia of Contemporary French Culture / DC 33.7 E53 1998 Reference
• Encyclopedia of Modern French Thought / DC 33.7 E55 2004 Reference
• Francoscopie: Pour comprende les Français 2005 / DC 415 M47 2004 Reference
• Histoire de France (Larousse) / DC 38 H57 2002 Reference

 

Practical Matters

Context

Databases

Databases & Indexes

Depending on your topic, you will need to consult one or more of the following databases or indexes:

Lexis-Nexis Academic -- This is a massive, full-text newspaper database. Once you enter the database, select the "news" tab, and then select "toute la presse--français" for sources. You may wish to select just specific publications out of the complete list to search. Note that the coverage for most newspapers and magazines is approximately the most recent five to ten years.

MLA International Bibliography -- This is the preeminent database for literary studies, although it also includes some citations to film scholarship. If you are researching a literary text, MLA must be your first stop. Note: The MLA Bibliography is structured differently from other databases you may have used and accordingly requires different search strategies. Consult this guide for the most effective use of the MLA database.

French XX Bibliography -- These annual paper publication indexes articles, books, and book chapters on all aspects of 20th-century French literature and culture. It indexes many materials that are missed by MLA. It can be searched by author or by genre, literary themes, etc. Each volume is NOT cumulative, meaning that you may need to search several volumes. The volumes are located on the third floor of the library, call # PQ 305 F7.

Historical Abstracts -- Indexes books and journals covering all aspects of world history, excluding the United States and Canada. The scope of historical coverage is 1450 to the present; article citations date from 1955.

Sociological Abstracts -- Indexs books and journals covering sociology and related fields in the social sciences. You may find this database useful for locating materials related to experiences of integration, racism, immigration, etc., in modern France.

 

 

 

Content contact: Peggy Burge ~ Collins Library ~ University of Puget Sound ~ last updated October 31, 2008