Spanish Language & Literature

This and other research guides are on the ACC Library web page under
Research Guides & Tutorials: http://library.sunyacc.edu

Adirondack Community College, 640 Bay Road, Queensbury, NY 12804
(518) 743-2260

Books | Reference books | Articles | Web sites

At any point in your research, please consult a reference librarian. Librarians are available whenever the library is open at (518) 743-2200 ext. 2462. Library hours are listed on the ACC Library's home page: http://library.sunyacc.edu.

Finding Books:

To find books or multimedia items, search the ACC book catalog (ACC Library web page > Finding Books > Catalog):

• Reference books, on the library’s main floor, don’t leave the library, so are always available.
• Circulating books, on the upper level of the library, may be checked out for four weeks.
• Videos, DVDs and music CDs may be borrowed by faculty. Students may use equipment near the video/DVD shelves.

Search tip: Start with a keyword search. When you find an interesting book, look for the subject headings in the book's online description. Click on any that refine your search best. We recommend visiting the ACC Library's Research Guides & Tutorials page, which offers a narrated tutorial on searching the online catalog and two tutorials called "Research Steps," offering important search strategies. Here are some subject headings to consider using:

Reference Books:

Reference books, on the main floor, can help you select a research topic. They also offer quick background information and overviews on subjects.

Oxford Spanish Dictionary
Ref. PC 4640 .O94 2003 

University of Chicago Spanish Dictionary: Spanish-English/English-Spanish 
Ref. PC 4640 .U5 1987 

An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl (Aztec/Spanish/English)
Ref. PM 4066 .K37 1983

A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish
Ref. PC 4112 .B88 1988

The Facts On File Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases 
Ref. PE 1670 .M26 2002

Literature and Writers: 

Use search phrases such as "Authors, Spanish American" or an author's name, such as "Pablo Neruda"  to find books such as these:

Also consult the online research guide, Finding Information of Literature and Writers, for more reference books, literature research databases and Web sites.

Language Tapes and CDs:

You can borrow tapes and CDs for two weeks with your student ID card:

Political and Cultural Country Information:

You may also want to use these two U.S. government sources for updated statistics, history and data:

Gale Virtual Reference Library:

You can search thousands of full-text chapters from more than 250 reference books published by Gale Cengage Learning. The ACC Library owns many of these books in printed format also. The Document Title search will search for your term in the chapter titles, giving you full-text chapters from the reference books. The content is the exactly the same as the original printed books. Thisis a subscription database, available from off-campus to ACC students, faculty and staff. Find this database with these links: ACC Library Web page > Finding Books > Reference > Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Among the 80 reference books it searches are: Countries and their Cultures and Geo-Data., as wellas many history and culture encyclopedias.

Finding Articles:

Journal articles offer current and specific information and research. Search for journal articles by subject through any of the ACC Library's dozens of article databases. Many but not all offer full-text links to articles. (If needed, ask a reference librarian about finding an article though another database, print sources or interlibrary loan if it's not full-text.).

Article databases are subscription-only products. ACC students and faculty may search these from home by following screen directions. To get your ACC student username and password, see Lookup Account and Password on the Student Portal page. For a full list of journals ACC Library receives, see the online Periodicals at ACC list or check the card file at the Circulation Desk.

From the ACC Library Web page, go to Finding Articles. Then, choose either:

• General Databases to find articles on a current, popular or multidisciplinary topic and need a mix of newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals; or
• Subject Databases to find specialized articles on one subject only, such as business, science, literature, nursing, etc.

Among the General Databases are:
● EBSCO's Academic Search Premier: Over 8000 journals; about half are full-text.
● JSTOR: full-text; 117 journals covering the arts, sciences and social sciences.
● New York Times: Current (1980-present) and historical editions (1851-2003).
● WilsonSelectPlus: Completely full-text; 1+ million articles from 1400 journals.
● New York State Newspapers: includes New York Times full-text.
● Opposing Viewpoints, CQ Researcher, more.

The ACC Library subscribes to the Spanish-language version of Reader's Digest, Selecciones del Reader's Digest. Issues are kept on the Periodicals shelves for browsing.

Use online article databases to locate magazine and newspaper articles. You can use databases in English, or search the database, Informe, for articles in Spanish.

Informe:
The ACC Library subscribes to the Spanish-language periodical database Informe. Go to: ACC > ACC Library > Finding Articles > Subject Databases > go to bottom of screen under Other > Informe.

Web sites:

Here are some recommended Web sites. Of the billions of Web sites in the world, these are more appropriate for college-level research.

Newspaper Web Sites:

El Pais (Madrid edition)  http://www.elpais.es/

Grupo de Diarios América http://gda.com/

Spanish Language News and Magazines (from MIT's library) http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/types/flnews/spanish.html

More online Spanish newspapers: http://www.multilingualbooks.com/online-newspapers-spanish.html

Online Newspapers: http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/

Spanish Language Web Sites:

Librarians Internet Index: http://lii.org (use subject heading "Spanish language")

Basic Spanish Words with Pronunciation: http://members.aol.com/alvareze/spanish/frame.html

Best Spanish Web sites: http://www.uni.edu/becker/Spanish3.html
A gateway to Spanish language, food, Spanish culture, food, bullfighting, Spanish language tutorials, tourism, and did I mention food? By Jim Becker, Professor Emeritus, University of Northern Iowa.

BBC - Languages - Learn Spanish http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/
Learn Spanish with the BBC

Radio Lingua Network http://www.radiolingua.com
Beginners' Spanish and French offered in an informal way, through podcasts. This site is particularly helpful for tourists.

Searching the Web in Spanish:

MSN Latino http://latino.msn.com/

Yahoo: Mexico version http://mx.yahoo.com/

Google http://www.google.com Search options:
-          Go to Advanced Search, limit search to Language: Spanish
-          Use the translation service: http://www.google.com/language_tools (Note: Your results may vary!)
-          Set search preferences so Google looks only for Spanish language sites :  http://www.google.com/preferences?hl=en

For more information:

Consult a reference librarian at any point in your research. You may also want to see other online ACC Library research guides.

We also recommend consulting these ACC Library research guides:
·         Finding Information on Literature and Writers,
·         Finding Information on Art and Artists,
·         Finding Information on the Mayan Culture,
·         Finding Information on Archaeology and Anthropology,
·         Finding Information on Travel & Tourism, and
·         Finding Travel Information on the Web. 

Created Aug. 2005/JM/BDA/Updated July 2008