This guide is intended to introduce you to resources in the study of foreign languages, literatures, and cultures. Guides for specific languages are located in the sidebar on the left.
General Research Tips:
To browse JMU Libraries' foreign language collections, try starting in the following areas. For more specific browsing areas, see the language-specific guides to the left.
PA: Greek and Latin languages and literatures
PC: Romanic languages | includes French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish
PD: Germanic languages | includes German
PG: Slavic languages | includes Russian
PJ: Oriental languages and literatures | includes Arabic
PK: Indo-Iranian languages and literatures | includes Persian
PL: Languages of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania | includes Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Swahili
PQ: French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish literature
PT: German literature
Use LEO, the library catalog, to find books owned by the JMU Libraries, and WorldCat to find books not owned by JMU Libraries. If you need a book the Libraries don't own, you may request it through Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
Library Catalogs:
| JMU Library Catalog: The JMU Libraries' online catalog includes information about books, films and videos, government documents, music and spoken recordings (CDs, LPs, cassettes), computer software, music scores, special collections, maps and atlases, and online resources. | |
| WorldCat: A union catalog of more than 110 million titles from 69,000 libraries worldwide. This resource includes manuscripts written as early as the 1000 BC, books, audio visual media, and Internet sources. |
When researching literature in a library catalog, subject headings are often the most efficient way of searching the library catalog. Below are examples of several types of subject headings that will be useful to you as you research foreign languages, literatures, and cultures.
Subject Heading Type |
Form/Examples |
Typical search results |
Author as subject |
Last name, first name Bernhardt, Sarah |
Books about the author, her writings, life, and influences. Use for researching authors as well as their works. |
National literature |
Nationality + literature German literature Bolivian literature Caribbean Literature (French) |
Books that broadly discuss the literature of a particular nation. |
Foreign Films |
Motion pictures + language/country Motion pictures – French Motion pictures – France Motion pictures + geographic location + language Motion pictures – Africa – French speaking |
Films in a specific language.You can also search for the subject heading "feature films" and limit to a specific language. |
Language resources |
Specific language + language Spanish language French language Italian language German language |
Books about a particular language. Look for subject headings such as "Spanish language dictionaries" for dictionaries in Spanish. |