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Spanish Language Materials

In this guide:
How to Find Spanish Materials in the Library
Dictionaries
Reference Books
Indexes & Databases
Web Resources

If you have any questions, please e-mail
Lisa Klopfer (lklopfer@emich.edu), or chat with a librarian now!


  How to Find Spanish Materials in the Library

Books: Information about all the books in the EMU Library (and other material such as videos, maps and periodicals) is in the Library catalog. Once you have located the record for your book, be sure to note its location, because books are kept in a variety of places in the library.

Books in Spanish: To find books in Spanish, you have to limit your catalog search to Spanish before you do the search.

  1. Go to the Library catalog.
  2. Click on the "advance search" tab.
  3. Click the Language drop-down menu and select Spanish.
  4. As long as the limit is in effect, you can search for any keyword and the catalog will only show you works in Spanish language.

ARC Storage: If your book or journal is listed in the catalog as located in storage, you may request it right from the catalog. It takes only 5-10 minutes for you to get an item from storage:

  1. Go to the record in the catalog of the item that you want
  2. Scroll to the lower part of the page that shows the location of the item and click the "Place Request" link
  3. Type in your E-number and last name as instructed and click "login"
  4. Select the volume you want from the scroll box (if there is the option to do so), and enter your E-number again
  5. In about 5-10 minutes, you can pick up your item at the check-out (Circulation) desk

If you have difficulty getting something out of storage, ask for help at the Information Desk (487-0020 ext. 2100) or go online to Ask A Librarian.


  Dictionaries that can be checked out
There's lots more! (check the catalog or ask a librarian)
The University of Chicago Spanish dictionary, 5th edition Location: 3rd Level
Call Number: PC4640 .U5 2002
Facts on File English/Spanish visual dictionary : look up the word from the picture, find the picture from the word Location: Storage
Call Number: AG250 .C65 1992
Longman dictionary of Spanish grammar and idioms Location: Storage
Call Number: PC4105 .H86 1991
Spanish dictionary plus grammar (Collins) Location: 3rd Level
Call Number PC4640 .S63 2000
Cassell's compact Spanish-English, English-Spanish dictionary Location: Storage
Call Number: PC4640 .D85 1986
Diccionario bilingüe de seguros = Bilingual insurance dictionary Location: 3rd Level
Call Number: HG8025 .D478 1999
Spanish for health care Location: 3rd Level
Call Number: R121 .R957 2003
Diccionario tecnológico inglés-español : de electricidad, electrónica, telecomunicación y materias afines con la física, la óptica y la químca Publisher: Madrid : Alhambra, 1980.
Location: Storage
Call Number: TK9 .F64 1980
Dictionary of statistical, scientific, and technical terms = Un diccionario de términos estadísticos, científicos y técnicos Publisher: Belmont, Calif. : Wadsworth Pub. Co., c1981.
Location: Storage
Call Number: QA276.14 .S23
  Encyclopedias and other Reference Works
There's lots more! (check the catalog or ask a librarian)
Castilian writers, 1400-1500 Publisher: Gale, 2003
Location: Reference Collection - 1st Level North
Call Number: PN451 .D5x v.286
Dictionary of Latin American racial and ethnic terminology / Thomas M. Stephens. Publisher: Gainesville : University Press of Florida, c1999.
Location: Reference Collection - 1st Level North
Call Number: GN562 .S74 1999
Feminist encyclopedia of Spanish literature / edited by Janet Pérez and Maureen Ihrie. Publisher: Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2002.
Location: Reference Collection - 1st Level North
Call Number: PQ6055 .F46 2002
Latin American films, 1932-1994 : a critical filmography / by Ronald Schwartz. Publisher: Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., c1997.
Location: Reference Collection - 1st Level North
Call Number: PN1995.9 .L37 S38 1997
Modern Spanish American poets. / edited by María A. Salgado. Publisher: Detroit : Gale, 2003.
Location: Reference Collection - 1st Level North
Call Number: PN451 .D5x v.283 and v.290
Recommended books in Spanish for children and young adults, 1996 through 1999 / Isabel Schon. Publisher: Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2000.
Location: Reference Collection - 1st Level North
Call Number: PN1009.A1 S387 2000
Twentieth-century poetry from Spanish America : an index to Spanish language and bilingual anthologies / Iliana L. Sonntag Blay. Publisher: Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 1998.
Location: Reference Collection - 1st Level North
Call Number: PQ7082 .P7 S66x 1998
  Indexes Containing Articles in Spanish
Informe (Spanish-language and bilingual journals) Search for articles in Spanish-language and bilingual journals in many subjects, especially Arts and Humanities. To limit to Spanish, type "spanish" in the search box, and change the drop-down box from "keyword" to "Language (lg)" You may use English or Spanish search words.
Clase and Periodica (Index of Latin American journals in Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English) CLASE indexes documents published in Latin American journals specializing in the social sciences and humanities. PERIODICA covers Latin American journals specializing in science and technology. Offers access to bibliographic citations from scholarly journals published in the Spanish, Portuguese, French and English languages. Coverage started: Clase: 1975- , Periodica: 1978- . Updated quarterly. To limit to Spanish, type "espanol" in the search box, and change the drop-down box from "keyword" to "Language Phrase." You may use English or Spanish search words.
MLA Bibliography Index to about 4000 periodicals published worldwide covering literature, languages, linquistics, and folklore. Updated ten times per year. change the dropdown box from KEYWORDS to LANGUAGE, LA= PHRASE and type "Spanish" into the search box.
Art Index Retrospective (1929 - 1984) Database cites articles from 420 art periodicals published throughout the world. Periodical coverage includes English-language periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins, as well as periodicals published in French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Dutch. To limit to Spanish, use advanced search, type "spanish" in one of the search boxes and change the drop-down choice from "all-smart search" to "language of document." In the other boxes you may type search terms in English or Spanish.
InfoTrac Custom Full-Text Newspapers Includes newspapers from the United States, Australia, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Mexico with varying full-text coverage dates.To limit to Spanish, type "spanish" in the search box, and change the drop-down box from "keyword" to "Publication Language."
Factiva Contains about 8,000 local and global newspapers, newswires, trade journals, newsletters, magazines and transcripts. Updated daily. click on "languages" to limit to Spanish
NOTE: Limited to 3 simultaneous users. To allow others to use the database when you complete your work please click "logout" on the right side of the navigation bar toward the top of the screen.
Historical Abstracts Historical Abstracts is your complete reference guide to the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada, which are covered in America: History and Life). Over 2,000 journals published throughout the world are covered in the database. In addition to articles, each year Historical Abstracts includes approximately 3,000 citations to useful historical books as reviewed by the most prestigious journals in the field and citations to abstracts of dissertations completed worldwide of particular interest for historical research. Updated 3 times per year.
go to Advanced Search and in the LANGUAGE box type "spanish"
PsycINFO Index to the contents of about 1400 journals, chapters, books, dissertations and reports on psychology and related fields. Updated monthly.
LexisNexis Academic Access to a wide range of FULL-TEXT news, business, legal and government information sources, as well as company, country, financial, market research and industry reports, biographical and medical and health information. For Spanish articles, select the GUIDED NEWS SEARCH tab. Under Step One, select NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWS. Under Step Two, select SPANISH LANGUAGE NEWS. You may search using Spanish words.

Maintainer of this guide: Lisa Klopfer, Librarian       last updated: September 21, 2009

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