Subject Guide: Modern Languages
If you need any help with subject resources (books, journals or databases), click here to contact the Academic Liaison Librarian with responsibility for Spanish, French and Translation.
If you want to recommend the library buys extra copies of a book or report an item from a reading list that isn't on the library catalogue or you wan to recommend a link that should be included on this page, click here.
Helping you discover ... Modern Languages (printable PDF)
Electronic Resources
As well as the books and journals in the library, there are a number of resources that can be accessed via any computer with internet access. The library facilitates access to e-journals, e-books, bibliographic and full-text databases, past exam papers and more. A majority of resources require an Athens login for off-site use. Some resources might require you to use the Athens password when you are on campus and a very few journals or databases require a different password all together. For details on how to access a particular resource from where you are, check the Online Resources link on the Library and Learning Services web pages
Electronic Books
We subscribe to a number of e- book platforms . Just search using any keyword or phrase.
Image Database
Art Museum Image Gallery (Athens password required off campus)
The collection currently consists of 155,00 images from 21 museums and galleries that can copyright cleared for use in assignments and coursework.
Reference Materials
Many key items for Modern Languages students are housed in the Quick Reference Collection of the Library. In particular you will wish to consult the monolingual and bilingual dictionaries which are classified at 440 for French and 460 for Spanish. In addition the following items will be of especial interest:
For French
La grande encylopedie. Larousse. Quick Ref 034.1 LAR
Encyclopedia Universalis. Encyclopedia Universalis Quick Ref 034.1 UNI
Dictionnaire des journaux 1600-1789. Universitas/Voltaire Foundation, 1991 Quick Ref 074.03 SGA
New Oxford companion to literature in French. OUP, 1995 Quick Ref 840.9 FRA
Oxford history of world cinema. OUP, 1996 Quick Ref 791.4309 NOW
International dictionary of films and filmmakers. 5 vols. St James P. Quick Ref 791.43 THO
Oxford Reference Online: Modern Languages Collection An Athens password is required for off-campus access
For Spanish
Diccionario enciclopedico Espasa. Espasa Calpe Quick Ref 036.1 ESP
Grijalbo diccionario enciclopedico. Grijalbo. Quick Ref 036.1 GRI
Diccionario Espasa cine. Espasa Calpe, 1996 Quick Ref 791.4303 TOR
Enciclopedico del cine Espanol cronologia. 2 vols. Ediciones del Serbal, 1996 Quick Ref 791.430946 CEB
Diccionario Oxford de literatura Espanola e Hispano-Americana. Critica, 1984 Quick Ref 860.3 WAR
Dictionary of contemporary Spain. Hodder, 1998 Quick Ref 946.0803 TRU
Please Note:The library collection is arranged according to the Dewey classification system. The list below indicates the main places (shelfmarks) in the Library to look for material on specific subject areas.(Click on the link below to download the list).
Spanish Media and Society: Where to find material in LRCJournals and Newspapers
Print Journals are kept on the 4th floor of Library. Some older issues are kept in our reserve stack. Check OPAC for full details of holdings.
Electronic Journals Finder This lists over 7000 journals that are available online. It can be searched by journal title, keyword or subject area.
Nexis A major source of news and business information. This full text database covers approximately 12,000 international, national and local publications, including UK newspapers. You can access El Pais and Le Monde articles through this database.
Project Muse Arts & Humanities Collection Full text access to over 200 electronic journals in the arts and humanities.
JSTOR Arts & Sciences I, II,III & IV The JSTOR archive holds the complete digitised back runs of core scholarly journals, starting with the very first issues, some dating as far back as the 1600s.
Le Monde. The latest issue is available on the ground floor of the Library. Back issues for the previous 3 months are kept in the 4th floor print news paper collection.
Le Figaro The latest issue is available on the ground floor of the Library daily. Back issues for the previous 3 months are kept in the 4th floor print news paper collection.
Sud Ouest Regional online news
El Pais newspaper archive covering full text articles and multi-media content since 1976.
El Mundo Searchable on-line edition of El Mundo
Finding Journal Articles
Bibliographic databases that you can use in order to find journal articles that are relevant to the particular topic you are studying are listed below. For more details on how to search for journal articles quickly and effectively, look at our web page: Finding Articles in Journals.
Arts and Humanities Citation Index
This database fully indexes over 1,100 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals, from 1981 onwards. Available through the Web of Science gateway. Athens password required. Online support materials
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA)
Indexes articles from over 2,000 journals covering all aspects of language. It also covers recent books, technical reports, occasional papers, monographs and dissertations. The period covered is 1973 to the present. Online support materials
Contains references to articles and some books from 1963 to the present. It indexes critical materials on literature worldwide and also includes some coverage of language, linguistics, film and folklore. It indexes over 3,000 journals and is the main source of information for students doing literary topics. Athens password required. Online support materials
Cinema online
Filmotech,com is dedicated to Spanish film. Over 250 films, cartoons and documentaries are available for rent or for sale.
SideReel is a search engine for entertainment . Find your favourites and watch right now online!
Cinequest Online,-You’ll find quality Maverick films, including audience and jury award winners from the top festivals. Both free content as well as PPV downloads and DVDs for purchase.
66Stage is an updated collection of DivX high quality streaming movies, Tv Shows, Documentaries, Comedy Shows, Anime, Cartoons and more from all over the globe.
Useful websites
Internet for Modern Languages This resource takes you on a ‘site-seeing' tour - a survey of online resources useful for study and research. The tutorial then provides advice on finding further resources, and gives tips on planning effective search strategies. The third section teaches techniques for evaluating websites. Finally, the tutorial presents specific examples of how the Internet can meet the needs of individual learners
Voice of the Shuttle This site is another gateway to websites relating to the humanities, including cultural studies, literature, media, history, politics and government etc. Voice of the Shuttle was set up by staff and students at the University of California
British Academy Portal This is the British Academy's gateway to websites in the humanities and social sciences called Portal.
Gabriel [National Libraries of Europe] This site is the gateway to Europe's National Libraries and aims to facilitate access to their services and collections.
EuroTV This is an on-line guide to what's on on a wide range of TV stations in Europe. Simply select your channel and find programmes of interest either by looking at the daily schedule or by searching for particular types of programme, e.g. documentaries.
Online Newspapers Links to thousands of foreign language national and regional newspapers
General Language Links A good starting point for finding sites of interest to the linguist.
i Love Languages Similar to the above but much more wide-ranging, with over 1800 links giving comprehensive coverage of internet sites relevant to the linguist
CTI Centre - Language, Linguistics and Area Studies This site holds information on CTI (Computers in Teaching Initiative) Modern Languages centre, with information on developments in CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning). It also guides you to internet resources of use to the language teacher. You can search these resources by language.
Foreign Language Internet Search Engines
Web of On-line Dictionaries Links to a range of on-line dictionaries.
Granddictionnaire.com Online French, Italian and Spanish Dictionary and Language Forums
Grant & Cutler The site of the specialist bookshop for languages in London, with a catalogue of their stock.
French web sites
Bibliotheque nationale de France The site of the French National Library.
Tennesee Bob's Famous French Links The title of this site speaks for itself.
LEXILOGOS Current and historical online dictionaries and language resources
Grand Dictionaire Terminologique Official French Canadian dictionary. Useful for medical legal and business terminology.
Spanish web sites
Espana Hoy: Noticias Extracts from the Spanish press gathered under 5 headings: Nacional, Sociedad, Cultura, Deportes and Universidad. It is updated twice weekly.
LatinoWeb Gives access to a wide range of periodicals and newspapers published throughout South America.
Biblioteca Nacional Espanola Gives access to the catalogue of the Spanish National Library.
Donde? A regional guide to the internet in Spain, using a clickable map.
RedIRIS Gateway to the Spanish internet which includes access to library OPACs.
LANIC A comprehensive guide to internet resources in Latin America. You can search by country or by subject
Si Spain Website being developed by the Spanish Foreign Ministry's Directorate General of Cultural Affairs. Another excellent site.
CineSpain (film review from Spain)
The Mexican Film Resource Page
El Ojo de Buñuel (site dedicated to Buñuel's films)
Access to other libraries
Roehampton students may use the library at the University of Surrey as well as libraries in the UK Libraries Plus Scheme. Roehampton staff may also use borrow from the libraries of the M25 Consortium. Full information of these schemes plus details of how to access the British Library can be found on our Guide to using other libraries.