LibGuides: French Resources: Background Information &amp; Reference Material

Background information and reference resources

Background information can help you prepare for further research by explaining concepts related to your topic, especially if you are researching an unfamiliar topic or discipline. Entries in reference resources tend to be short and can help you get started with research on a new topic, identify trends in a subject area, and define unfamiliar terms or people from your readings. Reference resources include encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases and handbooks.

General Reference Databases

Britannica Online This link opens in a new window
Provides a general online encyclopedia
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Provides full text reference articles

Subject-Specific Online Reference Resources

Encyclopedia of world cultures

AtoZ The World This link opens in a new window
Provides information on countries around the world
Biography (Gale in Context) This link opens in a new window
Indexes information and articles on biographical topics from Gale Group resources, journals, and selected Web sites
Literary Sources This link opens in a new window
Provides biographical information, overviews, full text literary criticism and reviews on writers in all disciplines, from all time periods, worldwide

World Factbook
Basic background information for countries around the world, compiled by the CIA

Reference Books

Bibliographies

French XX Bibliography
CALL NUMBER: Ref. PQ305 .F7

Dictionaries

2001 French and English Idioms
CALL NUMBER: Ref. PC2640 .D42 2007

Streetwise French Dictionary/Thesaurus
CALL NUMBER: Ref. PC3741 .P5 2002

Grand Dictionnaire Français-Anglais/Anglais-Français (Larousse)
CALL NUMBER: Ref. PC2640 .G68 1993

Dictionnaire des Synonymes de la Langue Français
CALL NUMBER: Ref. PC2591 .L2 1865

Encyclopedias

Facts on File Companion to the French Novel
CALL NUMBER: Ref. PQ631 .T39 2007

Francophone Women Film Directors
CALL NUMBER: Ref. PN1998.2 .P27 2005

Encyclopedia of Modern French Thought
CALL NUMBER: Ref. DC33.7 .E55 2004

Encyclopedia of Contemporary French Culture
CALL NUMBER: Ref. DC33.7 .E53 1998

Handbooks

French Grammar: A Complete Reference Guide
CALL NUMBER: Ref. PC2112 .C26 2005

French Verbs and Essentials of Grammar
CALL NUMBER: Ref. PC2271 .O93 2008

Chronicle of the French Revolution
CALL NUMBER: Ref. DC148 .C47 1989

Histoire de la Littérature Française
CALL NUMBER: Ref. PQ101 .P5

The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French
CALL NUMBER: Ref. PQ41 .N49 1995