Georgetown University Library - Subject Guide for French


Articles

Discipline Specific

FRANCIS   RefWorks Enabled

http://0-www.csa.com.library.lausys.georgetown.edu/htbin/dbrng.cgi?username=hoya&access=hoya202&db=francis-set-c&adv=1.If

FRANCIS is a multilingual, multidisciplinary citation index produces by the CNRS. It contains more than 1 million citations for publications on archaeology, geography, linguistics, philosophy, religion, and sociology. Its coverage of articles and books on French language and literature is particularly strong.

MLA International Bibliography   RefWorks Enabled

http://0-collections.chadwyck.com.library.lausys.georgetown.edu/initCritRefSearch.do?listType=mla

1926- .

The MLA International Bibliography, produced by the Modern Language Association of America, provides access to worldwide scholarly research in over 4,400 journals and series pertaining to literature (including drama), language, linguistics, folklore, film, radio, television, and theater. Provides citations to journal articles, books, book chapters from multi-author works, dissertations, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, and bibliographies. Does not include book reviews. MLA International Bibliography represents all national literatures.

Help using this Resource

General/Many Subjects

Academic Search Premier   RefWorks Enabled

http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library.lausys.georgetown.edu/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&profile=ehost&defaultdb=aph

1965- (varies).

Provides full text for 4,486 publications (3,718 peer-reviewed) covering academic areas of study including social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, language and linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, and ethnic studies. A total of 8,224 titles are abstracted and indexed, of which 7,132 are peer-reviewed.

CNRS - Revues  

http://www.revues.org/

Full-text access (with embargo) to French social science and humanities journals published by the CNRS. Includes titles such as Anthropology of Food.

JSTOR   RefWorks Enabled

http://0-www.jstor.org.library.lausys.georgetown.edu

Contains the full text of articles from a range of core journals in various fields of literary criticism, humanities and social sciences including art, music, and performing arts. Search can be limited by language, and French is one of the selections. NB: does not offer access to the most recent, or current issues of the journals

Background Information

Biographical Sources

Banque de Données d'Histoire Littéraire  

http://phalese.univ-paris3.fr/bdhl/bdhl.php

Concise biographical entries for French authors, including lists of works, and timelines. The search interface allows users to search by name, date, period, location, school, or affiliation.

Biographie universelle ancienne et moderne  

To 1865

Since the monumental "Dictionnaire de biographie française" remains incomplete (in 2008, it had reached 'Lefevre' in vol. XX: 3), this work remains a primary source of reference for individuals born well before 1865, and with surnames beginning L-Z. Even the earlier volumes (A-L) may afford useful information to supplement the entries in DNF.

Location: LAU Ref Biography CT143 .M5

Dictionnaire de biographie française  

Covers: A-Lefèvre (t. XX: 3 [2008])

"Chronologiquement on se limite aux temps historiques - pas d'homme de Tautavel ou de Cros-Magnon -, la période d'histoire envisagée s'étendant de l'antiquité à nos jours; les figures de l'ancienne Gaule, peu nombreuses, il est vrai, ne sont donc pas exclues du dictionnaire, pas plus que les personnalités décédés ces dernières années.

Géographiquement, les limites sont plus délicates à fixer. Les territoires d'outre-mer ne sont étudiés que depuis leur attachement à la France; de même, les anciennes colonies ne sont prises en considération que pour la période où elles lui ont été unies. Pour la Corse et l'Alsace, ce n'est aussi que depuis qu'elles entrent dans le cadre du dictionnaire... avec quelques exceptions cependant. Par contre, la Flandre française, la Franche-Comté, la Lorraine, la Provence, la Savoie et le Comtat Venaissin, qui ne sont jamais demeurés entièrement hors de la sphère d'influence française et dont l'histoire fut de tout temps liée à celle de la France de façon si intime, sont étudiés depuis leurs origines.[...]

D'autre part, bien qu'il s'agisse de biographie française, il est fait une place aux personnages nés à I'étranger mais dont l'activité soit politique, soit scientifique, soit littéraire et artistique, voire criminelle, s'est exercée principalement en France. Mazarin, Law, Moréas apprennent à l'histoire de la France et doivent figurer dans sa biographie nationale. De même y prennent place les personnages d'origine française qui ont longtemps et quelquefois toujours vécu à l'étranger et y ont acquis une grande notoriété, explorateurs, missionnaires, protestants émigrés… [...]

Location: LAU Ref Biography CT143 .D5

Le Robert des Grands Ecrivains de Langue Francaise  

Compact work of reference on 150 French-language writers. Each entry includes a brief biography, a bibliography, an analysis of the writer's work, and selected quotations. Covers writers from the Middle Ages through the twentieth century.

Location: Ref. PQ 41 .R57 2000

Literature Resource Center (LRC)   RefWorks Enabled

http://0-infotrac.galegroup.com.library.lausys.georgetown.edu/itweb/wash43584?db=LitRC

Full-text biographical, bibliographical, and critical analysis of more than 100,000 world authors and works throughout history and across all literary genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, and journalism). Enables you to search by literary movement (e.g., Dadaism), gender, or author nationality (e.g., Algerian)

Book Reviews

Vient de paraître  

http://www.culturesfrance.com/publications-et-ecrit/revues/po25.html

A bibliographic newsletter with short reviews of new publications in France. Distributed through the portal Cultures de France as PDF download.

Country Studies

Country Profiles (EIU)  

http://0-db.eiu.com.library.lausys.georgetown.edu/index.asp?layout=publications&publication_type_id=30000203&eiu_publication_id=2000000800

1996/97- .

Annual analysis of major trends in economies of over 180 countries. Includes forecasts for the upcoming year and evaluations of foreign trade data and background data on political developments in each country.

Dictionaries

Dictionnaire de l’Académie française  

http://www.academie-francaise.fr/dictionnaire/index.html

The ninth edition of this magnum opus by the Académie française. The editors have prefaced their work with these words of wisdom:

"La confection d’un dictionnaire, surtout quand il doit être de référence pour des centaines de millions d’usagers d’une langue de par le monde, est une marche de longue haleine, où chaque pas rencontre une embûche, une rigole, un caillou. La langue, comme la mer, toujours recommence.[...] L’Académie ne refuse jamais la modernité. Elle ne refuse que ce qui peut menacer la pérennité de la langue."

Dictionnaires d'autrefois   Authentication Required

http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/ARTFL/projects/dicos/

French dictionaries of the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries
This subset of the ARTFL project site offer a search engine that can be used to query simultaneously the following dictionaries:

The same site also offers the following:

Lexilogos  

http://www.lexilogos.com/francais_langue_dictionnaires.htm

An interface to multiple free online dictionaries. Includes historic dictionaries, modern ones, and even a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms. Try Alexandria (direct link) for rich content and related links.

Trésor de la Langue Française  

http://atilf.atilf.fr/tlf.htm

A detailed and scholarly monolingual dictionary, far superior to the online dictionary of the Academie. Includes citations and etymology.

Handbooks

Guide to French Literature: Beginnings to 1789  

Contains substantial entries for individuals and literary movements. Includes comprehensive bibliographies of works and selective lists of largely book-length studies. Also see: Guide to French Literature: 1789 to the Present.

Location: Ref. Biog PQ 41 .L47 1994

Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism  

http://0-litguide.press.jhu.edu.library.lausys.georgetown.edu/

Alphabetically arranged entries on literary critics and theorists, critical and theoretical schools and movements, the contributions of specific countries and historical periods, and nonliterary fields of inquiry shaped by literary theory and criticism. Entries consist of a critical essay addressing the subject's historical and philosophical importance and a selective primary and secondary bibliography.

Location: Ref. PN 81 .J554 2005

Books & Library Catalogs

Bibliographies

Bibliographie nationale française  

http://bibliographienationale.bnf.fr/

2001-

La Bibliographie nationale française est une bibliographie courante prévue par la loi sur le dépôt légal, dont l'article 2 commande "la constitution et la diffusion de bibliographies nationales". Elle donne une vue d'ensemble de la production éditoriale française.

La Bibliographie nationale française n'est pas un catalogue : elle ne signale pas l'ensemble des documents qui entrent à la Bibliothèque nationale de France. Pour effectuer une recherche sur l'ensemble de ces documents, il est nécessaire d'utiliser les catalogues de la BnF.

Littérature africaine francophone (LITAF)  

http://www.litaf.cean.org/

"La base de données bibliographique LITAF donne des informations complètes sur la production littéraire en langue française de l'Afrique subsaharienne. [...] Extraite de la base générale, la version Web de LITAF propose près de 8800 notices " à jour " jusqu'à fin avril 2008."

Library Catalogs

Bibliothèque nationale de France - Catalogue BN-OPALE PLUS  

http://catalogue.bnf.fr/

Le catalogue BN-OPALE PLUS est le catalogue en ligne qui contient la majorité des références des documents conservés sur tous les sites de la BnF. Il contient les références :

Catalogue collectif de France  

http://ccfr.bnf.fr

The union catalog of France. Contains some 20 million records for printed books, manuscripts, electronic resources, etc.

WorldCat   RefWorks Enabled

http://0-newfirstsearch.oclc.org.library.lausys.georgetown.edu/autho=100161383;dbname=WorldCat;screen=advanced;done=http://www.library.georgetown.edu;FSIP

WorldCat is a catalog consisting of over 100 million records for books and other materials in over 60,000 libraries. NOTE: Available only to Georgetown University students, faculty, and staff. A publicly accessible version is available at http://www.worldcat.org/.

Data & Statistics

Statistical Resources

Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques  

http://www.insee.fr

The official website of the French bureau of statistics. Offers an exhaustive range of statistics both from the central government and the regions.

Government & Legal Resources

International Resources

France - Portail du gouvernement  

http://www.premier-ministre.gouv.fr/fr/

The French government's web portal. Provides basic information about government ministries and agencies, up-to-date statements on the government's positions and actions, and links to detailed files on current issues.

Internet Resources

Gateways

Les Signets de la BnF  

http://signets.bnf.fr/

A superb annotated gateway to internet resources, with a particular focus on libraries in France, French bibliography, and French literature and culture.

News Sources

Newspapers

LexisNexis Academic   RefWorks Enabled

http://0-www.lexisnexis.com.library.lausys.georgetown.edu/us/lnacademic

Varies by publication.

To conduct full-text searches for articles in current and back issues of French daily and weekly papers:

  1. On the 'sources' tab just below the LexisNexis logo, select the geographic area = France, and topics = General news Sources.
  2. Select individual newspapers from the 'News' folder.
  3. click on "OK - Continue" on the right hand margin to save your selection, and start your search.

Primary Source Materials

Archival Materials

Archives de France  

http://www.archivesdefrance.culture.gouv.fr/ressources/en-ligne/

Provides direct or indirect access to a vast number of archival materials in national, regional, or municipal archives throughout France and DOM-TOM. Resources are browsable by geographic region, or material type, and include parish registers, marriage records, photographs, urban planning documents, maps, etc.

Text Collections

ARTFL  

http://0-humanities.uchicago.edu.library.lausys.georgetown.edu/orgs/ARTFL/

13th through 20th centuries.

Full-text database of French literary, religious, philosophical, political, and scientific works, based on Standard scholarly editions. Contains nearly 2000 texts written between the 13th and 20th centuries, ranging from classic works of French literature to various kinds of non-fiction prose and technical writing. Includes the following:

Gallica  

http://gallica.bnf.fr/

Digital library of French and francophone culture maintained by the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Contains electronic texts, images, maps, animation, and sound files of French and other publications in history, literature, science, philosophy, law, economics, and political science. Almost all "classic" works of French literature are represented.