Why this guide?
I'm going to point out some tools that you can use for searching your topics that are much more specific than the generic search box that is at the top of the page. Some of these will be subject-specific, some of them may be francophone-specific. Each will have its quirks but in general the clues to look for to search them efficiently are subjects or topic searches or a thesaurus.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me at either wenze075@umn.edu or sgwenzel@uchicago.edu -- whichever you prefer.
Francophone Studies
You will use many different databases for francophone studies. Most of the time, you will be in specialist databases for a particular subject, which may mean searching more than one. For news from francophone regions, you will want to use.
- International Newsstream This link opens in a new windowInternational news from newspapers, newswires, transcripts, and digital-only news sites in full-text format. Over 800 of the world's top news sources.
- FactivaSearch millions of newspapers, business magazines, and newswires with international and foreign language coverage with all editions of the Wall Street Journal. Financial information for publicly traded companies, stocks, funds, currencies, and common market indexes. Limited to 7 simultaneous users.
For scholarly journals that you may search full-text online, try
And for books the library does not own (and this will search libraries in France as well as in anglophone and francophone North America), try
- WorldCatFind books, journals, articles, maps, music scores, sound recordings, films, theses/dissertations, machine-readable data files, and any other materials available in libraries worldwide. All subject areas are covered. Request items through Interlibrary Loan using the ILLiad link on each item's record. A mobile version of this database is available. Limited to 65 simultaneous users.
Linguistics
- Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA)Search journals in linguistics and language sciences from 1973 to the present including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics in journal articles, book reviews, books, book chapters, dissertations and working papers.
- MLA International BibliographyUse the MLA International Bibliography to find scholarly books and articles on modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics. This index has been compiled by the Modern Language Association of America since 1926.
- Le Grand RobertAccess all 6 volumes of the latest edition of this prestigious French language dictionary. Includes editorial supplements and unpublished extras.
History
- America: History and LifeAmerica: history and life provides historical coverage of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present with over 2,000 journals including all key English-language historical journals. Limited to 6 simultaneous users.
- Historical AbstractsFind journal articles covering world history from 1450 to the present. Limited to 6 simultaneous users.
Sociology
- Sociological AbstractsThis core database for the field of sociology contains information on sociology and social policy worldwide. Sociological Abstracts includes citations from the 1952-present. It provides abstracting and indexing of articles and book reviews drawn from thousands of journal publications, plus books, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers, and working papers.
Cinema
- Film and Television Literature Index with Full-TextSearch articles on film and television studies' topics including theory, preservation, restoration, writing, production, cinematography, reviews from "Variety" back to 1914 and more.
- Performing Arts Periodicals DatabaseSearch journals on a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry - including dance, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, circus performance, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, performance art, film, television and more. Formerly the International Index to Performing Arts.