German literature

Sources for Background Information

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

• Collins German dictionary
• Kritisches Lexikon zur deutschsprachigen Gegenwarts-literatur .  KGL provides biographical and critical information about contemporary German authors. Entries include short biographies, critical essays, bibliographies for primary and secondary literature, prizes won, bibliographies of the author's works and of secondary resources.
• Literaturwissenschaftliches Lexikon: Grundbegriffe der Germanistik
• Informationshandbuch Deutsche Literaturwissenschaft. Includes annotated entries for major bibliographies; reference books; dissertation indexes; German imprint bibliographies; periodical bibliographies; journals; special collections in German speaking countries; literary archives and writer museums; libraries and electronic databases; academies and research institutions; and literary prizes.

Core and Additional Databases

• Bibliographie der deutschen Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft (BDSL), coverage 1985-to date with some earlier years.
  Use the printed volumes of Bibliographie der deutschen Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft for earlier years (before 1985).
• Deutsche Literatur des 18. Jahrhunderts online. The approximately 2,700 works with almost 4,500 volumes reflect the broad spectrum of German literature from the early stages of the age of Enlightenment to the later part of the period.
• Germanistik Online Datenbank. Approximately 340,000 monographic studies, collected volumes and journals from the areas of literature, theatre studies, media studies, cultural history and linguistics are made accessible bibliographically.
• MLA International Bibliography Published by the Modern Language Association of America. Coverage 1926-
• Literature Resource Center. Criticism, biographies, bibliographies, work overviews and explications, Web sites, periodical articles, compare and contrast pages, full-text author's works.
• FRANCIS, coverage 1984-
  Very large, multi-subject periodical indexes. There is a lot of content dealing with German literature and culture in these databases and very many full-text files. Years of coverage vary greatly.
  • WilsonWeb OmniFile Full Text Mega, coverage mainly 1984-
    For retrospective coverage 1907-1984, go to WilsonWeb, open the database selection area and select "Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retro." To search thousands of collections of essays, open the database selection area and select "Essay and General Literature Index." All three databases can be combined in the same search.
  • ProQuest Research Library - (Years of coverage vary)
  • Academic Search Premier (EBSCO) - (Years of coverage vary)
  • Expanded Academic ASAP (Gale) - (Years of coverage vary)

  Selected Internet Sites

  • Germanistik im Netz The Virtuelle Fachbibliothek Germanistik, sponsored by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main, the Deutschen Literaturarchiv Marbach and the Deutsche Germanistenverband.
  • Voice of the Shuttle: Resources in German Literature Sponsored by the University of California at Santa Barbara.
  • Germanistik.net: Internet Resources for Germanists
    From the University of Wisconsin:Madison German Department.
  • WESS-WEB German Studies Web maintained by the Western European Specialists Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries.
  • German-North American Resources Partnership: Inventory of Language and Literature Resources sponsored and edited jointly by the German-North American Resources Partnership (administered by the Center for Research Libraries) and by the West European Studies Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries. Contains extensive lists and links to full-text resources.
  • Germanistische Fachinformationen im WWW Maintained by the Universitätsbibliothek der Freie Universität Berlin
  • German Resources
    WWW-Virtual Library Guide via the Universität Karlsruhe.
  • Die Erlanger Liste A partner with Germanistik im Netz.
  • Goethe Institut, Montréal

  Searching the Library Catalogue

  Use the basic word(s) anywhere or   advanced keyword search in the library catalogue. You can   search using words like - german, deutsch?, literar?, etc.

  Search tips

Core Databases