Use the following types of reference sources to look up information related to French Studies:

Dictionaries, Thesauri and Quotations • Biographical Sources • Encyclopedias and Almanacs • Atlases, Maps and Gazetteers • Web Portals

General and subject specific dictionaries in any language, dual language dictionaries, thesauri, dictionaries of quotations, and acronym lists.

*Blue asterisk indicates that the resource was recently added to the guide.

Online

• Dictionnaire d'autrefois (ARTFL)
• Dictionnaire de l'Académie française - includes a selection of articles from 8 editions of the dictionary, from 1694 to 1935 (University of Toronto)
• Occitanet - introduction to the Occitan language, a translation service and a huge database of links
• Sigles, Acronyms, Abréviations, etc. (Globe-Gate Project)

Print

Argot & français populaire / Jean-Paul Colin. Nouv. ed., enrichie et mise a jour / par Jean-Paul Colin. Paris: Larousse, 2006.
Doe Reference PC3741.C64 2006 Dictionaries

Le dictionnaire culturel en langue française / sous la direction d'Alain Rey. Paris: Le Robert, 2005.
Main Stacks PC2625 .D445 2005 v.1-4

Dictionnaire de l'ancien français jusqu'au milieu du XIVe siècle / A. J. Greimas. Paris: Larousse, 1969.
Graduate Services PC2889.G76
Bancroft Reference PC2889 .G76 1977 2e éd., rev. et corr.

Dictionnaire de l'argot français et de ses origines / Jean-Paul Colin, Jean-Pierre Mevel. Nouv. éd. mise à jour et enrichie. Paris: Larousse, c2001.
Main Stacks PC3741.C65 2001

• ARTFL: American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language
  Thousands of fully searchable texts in an array of databases (many freely accessible, others restricted to UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff). Contents range from classic works of French literature to non-fiction prose and technical writing from the 12th to the 20th centuries.
  
• Godefroy, dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue francaise (IXe-XVe siecle)
  The Godefroy is "the essential element" of old French lexicography of more than 20 million words. This electronic edition provides detailed etymological analyses, basic and advanced searching, export and email functionality.
  
• Larousse Dictionaries
  Free access to 21 monolingual and bilingual dictionaries for Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. The principal Dictionnaire Francais permits cross-searching across Un Dictionnaire de francais, Un Dictionnaire des synonymes et contraires, Un Dictionnaire des expressions, Un Dictionnaire des homonymes, and Un Dictionnaire des citations.
  
• Le Grand Robert electronique
  Based on the 12th edition of Le Grand Robert de la langue francaise (2001), it is the most complete French dictionary.
  
• Oxford Language Dictionaries Online (OLDO)
  Bilingual dictionaries (English plus French, German, Italian and Spanish) published by Oxford University Press.
  
• Oxford Reference Online - Bilingual Dictionaries
  More bilingual dictionaries published by Oxford University Press including English to French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Latin. Includes several bilingual business dictionaries.
  
• Tresor de la langue francaise informatise (TLFi)
  Freely available electronic version of the Tresor de la langue francaise: dictionnaire de la langue de XIX et du XX Siecle(1789-1960), a 16-volume etymological and historical dictionary of 19th and 20th century French.
  

Online

• Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne...Paris: Michaud frères, 1811-62. (Hathi Trust)
• Dictionnaire des auteurs de langue française en Amérique du Nord
• Encyclopédie Larousse

Print

Biographical Dictionary of French Political Leaders Since 1870 / edited by David S. Bell, Douglas Johnson, Peter Morris. New York: Simon and Schuster, c1990.
Doe Reference DC342 .B56 1990

Dictionnaire biographique des femmes célèbres et remarquables de notre histoire / Marie-Paule Desjardins. Montréal: Guérin, c2007.
Doe Reference CT3270 .D47 2007

Dictionnaire biographique et géographique du nationalisme français (1880-1900): boulangisme, ligue des patriotes / Bertrand Joly. Paris: H. Champion, 1998.
Main Stacks DC342.1.J65 1998

Dictionnaire biographique illustré de la Commune de Paris de 1871 / Gerald Dittmar. Paris: Dittmar, 2004.
Main Stacks DC317.D577 2004

Dictionnaire critique de biographie et d'histoire. Jal, A. (Augustin); errata et supplement pour tous les... 2. ed. cor. et angm. d'articles. Paris: H. Plon, 1872.
Main Stacks DC36.J2 1872

Dictionnaire de biographie française / sous la direction de J. Balteau, M. Barroux, M. Prevost, et al. Paris: Letouzey et Ane, 1933.
Doe Reference DC36.D5 v.1-20, fasc. 115-117-

Dictionnaire des auteurs de langue française en Amérique du Nord / Reginald Hamel, John Hare. Montréal: Fides, 1989.
Doe Reference PQ3897.A12.H36 1989 & online

Dictionnaire des écrivains de langue française. / Jean-Pierre de Beaumarchais. Paris: Larousse, 2001.
Doe Reference PQ41.B412 2001 v.1-2

Dictionnaire des femmes belges: XIXe et XXe siècles / sous la direction d'Éliane Gubin ... [et al.]; avec la collaboration de Marie-Sylvie Dupont-Bouchat et Jean-Pierre Nandrin. Bruxelles: Racine, c2006.
Main Stacks HQ1652.5.A3 D53 2006

Dictionnaire des intellectuels français: les personnes. les lieux. les moments / Jacques Julliard and Michel Winock, eds. Paris: Seuil, 2002, c1996.
Doe Reference DC33.7 .D48 2002

Dictionnaire des orientalistes de langue française / François Pouillon (éd.). Paris: IlSMM: Karthala, c2008.
Main Stacks DS32.6 .D53 2008

Dictionnaire des personnages de la Révolution / Roger Caratini. Paris: Le Préaux Clercs, c1988.
Main Stacks DC147 .C35 1988

Dictionnaire des philosophes / Denis Huisman, ed. 2ème éd. revue et augmentée. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1993.
Main Stacks B42 .D521 1993 v.1-2

Dictionnaire des rois et reines de France: quinze siècles de pouvoir royal / Françoise Guerard. Paris: Vuibert, c2005.
Main Stacks DC36.6.G84 2005

Dictionnaire historique et biographique de la Suisse, publié avec la recommandation de la société générale suisse d'histoire et sous la direction de Marcel Godet, Henri Türler [et] Victor Attinger, avec de nombreux collaborateurs de tous les cantons. Neuchâtel: Administration du Dictionnaire historique et biographique de la Suisse, 1921-33.
Doe Reference DQ51 .D55 v. 1-7 (1921-1933) + supp.

Dictionnaire littéraire des femmes de langue française: de Marie de France à Marie NDiaye / Christiane P. Makward et Madeleine Cottenet-Hage. Paris: Karthala, c1996.
Doe Reference PQ149.M35 1996

L'encyclopédie maghrébine / Achour Cheurfi. Alger: Casbah éditions, 2007.
Main Stacks DT184.C44 2007

Les Français qui ont fait la France / Philippe Boitel. Bordeaux: Sud Ouest, c2009.
Doe Reference DC36 .B658 2009

Index biographique français = French Biographical Index / Tommaso Nappo, comp..3ème ed. cumulée et augm. Munchen: K. G. Saur, 2004.
Doe Reference DC36.I52 2004 v.1-7
Microfiche shelved under Microfiche28631 DREF.

Nouvelle biographie générale depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours, avec les renseignements bibliographiques et l'indication des sources à consulter; publiée par MM. Firmin Didot frères, sous la direction de M. le Dr. Hoefer. Paris, Firmin Didot fréres, fils et cie, 1858-78 [v.1, 1862].
Main Stacks CT143 .N6 v.1-9, 11-46 (1858-78)

Nouvelle biographie nationale. Bruxelles: Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique: Diffusion P. Mardaga, 1988-
Doe Reference DH513.A3 1988 v.1-10 (1988-2010)

Le Robert des grands écrivains de langue française / Philippe Hamon et Denis Roger-Vasselin, eds. Paris: Dictionnaires Le Robert, 2000.
Main Stacks PQ41.R634 2000

Who's Who in France / Paris: J. Lafitte, c1955-
Doe Reference DC705.A1.W5 latest year only
Main Stacks DC705.A1.W5

Library Databases

• Benezit Dictionary of Artists
  Over 190,000 entries on artists from antiquity to the present. Searchable via Oxford Art Online along with Grove Art Online, The Concise Dictionary of Art Terms, etc.
  
• Biography Reference Bank
  Contains biographical information on approximately 500,000 individuals from antiquity to the present.
  
• Grove Art Online
  Online version of The Grove Dictionary of Art (1996, 34 volumes).
  
• Grove Music Online
  Includes the full text of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera and The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz.
  
• Literature Resource Center (LRC)
  Indexes biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of more than 120,000 novelists, poets, essayists, journalists, and other writers.
  
• Marquis Who's Who
  Features brief profiles on over 1.4 million individuals from all fields including government, business, science and technology, the arts, entertainment, and sports. Equivalent to the print versions of Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in Business and Finance, and many other Who's Who volumes.
  
• World Biographical Information System
  Indexes the complete contents of K. G. Saur's microfiche set Biographical Archives, providing short biographies on more than 3.6 million persons from all periods, countries and regions worldwide.
  

General or subject-specific encyclopedias, almanacs, and other collections of factual information. 

Online

• Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, par une Société de Gens de lettres (ARTFL)

• Larousse.com - Larousse's free and collaborative online encyclopedia

Print

Encyclopedia of Contemporary French Culture / edited by Alex Hughes and Keith Reader. London: Routledge, 1998.
Doe Reference Hall DC33.7 .E53 1998 & via ebrary
Moffitt Reference DC33.7 .E53 1998

Encyclopaedia universalis. Paris: Encyclopaedia Universalis France, c1985.
Doe Reference AE25.E4 1985 v.1-22 + supplements v.1-2 (1990)
8th edition also available on CD-ROM at Doe Reference Desk
Doe Reference AE25.E4 2002 compu/d Discs 1-7

Encyclopédie du dix-neuvieme siècle: répertoire universel des
sciences, des lettres et des arts, avec la biographie et de nombreuses gravures. 3e ed. Paris: Au Bureau de l'Encyclopédie du XIXe Siècle, 1867.
Main Stacks AE25.E5 1867 v.1-25

Encyclopédie nouvelle / publiée sous la direction de P. Leroux et J. Reynaud; avec une introduction de Jean-Pierre Lacassagne. Geneve: Slatkine Reprints, 1991. Reprint (facsim.) Previously published as Encyclopédie nouvelle, ou, Dictionnaire philosophique, scientifique,littéraire et industriel... -- Paris: C. Gosselin, 1836-1842.
Doe Reference AE25.E485 1991 v.1-8 (1991)

La Grande encyclopédie, inventaire raisonné des sciences, des lettres et des arts, par une societé de savants et de gens de lettres; sous la direction de mm. Berthelot... Hartwig Derenbourg [etc.] ...
Paris, H. Lamirault et cie, 1886-1902.
Doe Reference AE25.G7 v.1-31 (1886-1902)

Le Grand Robert des noms propres: dictionnaire universel alphabétique et analogique des noms propres: illustré en couleurs / sous la direction de Paul Robert; redaction générale, Alain Rey et Josette Rey-Debove. Nouv. ed. Paris: Le Robert, c1984.
Doe Reference AG25.G7 1984 v.1-5

Also included in the electronic version of the Le grand Robert de la langue française.

Larousse du XXe siècle / publié sous la direction de Paul Auge.
Paris, Librairie Larousse, 1928-33.
Doe Reference AE25.L28 v.1-6 ([c1928-1933])

Also available via the Networked CD-ROM Database on
Library Public Computers in Doe Reference Only
Doe Reference AE25.L26 2002 compu/d

Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies / edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha. 2nd ed. London; New York: Routledge, 2009.
Doe Reference P306.E57 2009

Library Databases

• Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics
  Covers the topics in contemporary linguistics from fundamental linguistic disciplines such as phonetics, syntax, and morphology to applications in other disciplines.
  
• Europa World
  Provides political and economic information on over 250 countries and territories, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
  
• Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism
  The Guide presents a comprehensive historical survey of literary theory and criticism, providing entries on critical schools and movements, critics and theorists, and terms, along with references and bibliographies for further research.
  
• Oxford Reference Online - Encyclopedias
  Online edition of The World Encyclopedia from Oxford University Press.
  
• Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  Includes the entire content of the 10-volume Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Includes links to web resources
  
• World Almanac
  Over 6,000 records that include biographies, encyclopedia entries, facts, and statistics. Coverage includes 1998 to the present
  

Online

• Earth Sciences & Map Library (UCB)
• France (World Factbook)
• Institut géographique national
• Maps of France & the Dom-Tom (UT Austin Perry-Castañeda Library)

Print

Dictionnaire des pays et provinces de France / Bénédicte et Jean-Jacques Fenie, cartes de Patrick Merienne. Bordeaux: Sud Ouest, 2000.
Main Stacks DC14.B69 2000
Earth Sciences DC14.B69 2000 Reference

Dictionnaire géographique de la France: communes, departements, regions, population, economie, tourisme. Rene Oizon. Paris: Larousse, 1979.
Earth Sciences DC14.O36 Reference

Index atlas de France: liste des localites nomenclature des communes, cartes départementales et plans de villes. Rennes: Oberthur, 1982.
Earth Sciences G1844.21.P8.O3 1982 Reference

Library Databases

• CIA World Factbook
  Provides fundamental and factual reference material on a country or issue including current economic statistics and indicators by country including population, GDP, external debt and birth and death rates. Includes maps.
  
• Columbia Gazetteer of the World
  Geographical encyclopedia of names, descriptions, and characteristics of more than 165,000 places in the world.
  
• Country Studies
  A continuing series of books prepared by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the Department of the Army. This series presently contains studies of 100 countries
  
• David Rumsey Map Collection
  Contains to date over 8,000 maps online and focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North and South America cartographic history materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia and Africa are also represented.
  
• Gallica
  The Bibliotheque Nationale de France's digital library provides free electronic access to one of the world's largest collections of digitized books, periodicals, documents, manuscripts, images and audio-visual resources.
  
• Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative
  Portal for global mapping, imagery, and texts. Presents combinations of data from multiple disciplines visually and immediately.
  
• Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection
  Provides electronic access to approximately 4,000 maps for all regions of the world. Maps cover mostly the 19th and 20th centuries though some represent time periods as far back as 980 C.E.
  

Web sites and subject-specific search engines available without restriction. See also French Libraries and Catalogs under the Research Tools tab.

Online

• ClicNet - un site culturel et littéraire francophone (Swarthmore University)
• Culture.fr: le portail de la culture (Ministère de la culture) 
• French Studies Web (WESSweb) 
• French Web Directories & Search Engines (WESSweb) 
• Littérature française - lots of links, biographical information, etc.
• Tennessee Bob's Famous French Links (University of Tennessee-Martin)
• Toutes les bases de données (Ministère de la culture)

Library Databases

• Europeana
  Europeana the European digital library provides direct access to more than 15 million digital objects, including film material, photos, paintings, sounds, maps, manuscripts, books, newspapers and archival papers.
  
• Gallica
  The Bibliotheque Nationale de France's digital library provides free electronic access to one of the world's largest collections of digitized books, periodicals, documents, manuscripts, images and audio-visual resources.