Subject Guides: German Studies: Reference Works

Reference Works for German Studies

Language Dictionaries & Guides

Oxford Language Dictionaries Online This link opens in a new window Oxford Language Dictionaries Online (OLDO) features fully searchable, completely comprehensive bilingual dictionaries, and unique study materials that provide extra help with learning and using an expanding range of languages. Offering over 4 million words, phrases and translations in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. OLDO also features native speaker audio pronunciation - allowing you to hear how words actually sound. More than just a dictionary, OLDO offers a complete suite of language learning support materials for users of all levels: click-through verb tables and pronunciation charts, explanations of grammatical terms, hundreds sample letters, CVs and resumes, notes on life and culture, guidance on grammar and idiomatic usage, extensive links to other sites for further research, and more.

Deutsches Wörterbuch - Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm Linguistic masterwork of the Brothers Grimm, including meaning(s), variants, etymology, historical usage, etc.

Pronunciator This link opens in a new window Pronunciator is a fun and easy way to learn any of 80 languages. Register for free and start learning at your own pace! Pronunciator features speech recognition, a virtual coach, downloadable audio lessons, virtual conversations, and free apps!

Literary Reference Works

The Oxford Companion to German Literature A great English-language reference work for German literature, its authors, works, literary movements, genres and terminologies.

Literary Encyclopedia This link opens in a new window The Literary Encyclopedia is a reference work written by scholars and university teachers around the world. It is also a unique digital environment designed to integrate current knowledge of literature and culture and facilitate the understanding of historical contexts and connections.
Dictionary of Literary Biography (Gale) This link opens in a new window Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online provides more than 16,000 biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of the world's most influential literary figures from all eras and genres. DLB Complete Online includes the DLB main series, the DLB Documentary Series, and the DLB Yearbook Series.
Literature Resource Center (LRC)(Gale) This link opens in a new window Provides access to biographies, bibliographies, critical analysis, and Web resources of authors from every age and literary discipline. Covers more than 90,000 novelists, poets, essayists, journalists and other writers, with in-depth coverage of 2,000 of the most-studied authors. Search by Author Name, Title, Genre, Literary Movement or Literary Themes.
Literature Criticism Online LCO (Gale) This link opens in a new window Essays in literary criticism that represent a range of modern and historical views on authors and their works across regions, eras and genres.
Drama Online This link opens in a new window Complete digital library of the most studied and performed plays from the last 2,500 years. Contains scholarly notes, annotated texts, contextual information, synopsis, biographical entries, and material on acting, directing, and lighting. Features drama titles from the Methuen Drama, Arden Shakespeare lists, and the LA Theatre Works. Includes epics, monologues, and one-person plays in all time periods, as well as translations of major foreign works. Features play tools with character grids, words and speech graphs, and over 500 images.

Oxford Companion to German Literature
- Hum Ref PT 41 .G3

Historical & Political Reference Works

Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window Oxford Reference Online brings together language and subject reference works from one of the world's biggest reference publishers into a single cross-searchable resource. The Core Collection contains over 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. It is a fully-indexed, cross-searchable database of these books, giving subscribers unprecedented access to a comprehensive information resource. Also includes access to Oxford Digital Reference, a collection of 17 ebooks covering The Renaissance, Dance, Global Change, The Reformation, Byzantium, Theatre and Performance, The Enlightenment, Economic History, Evolution, Ancient Egypt, Food and Drink in America, The Middle Ages, American Literature, Latinos and Latinas in the United States, British Literature, Linguistics, and Children's Literature.

- Historical Dictionary of Germany
  Soc Sci Ref DD 84 .T48
- Historical Dictionary of Austria
  Soc Sci Ref DB 35 .F53
Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz

Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) This link opens in a new window Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) is a database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. These reference materials once were accessible only in the library, but now you can access them online from the library or remotely 24/7. Because each library creates its own eBook collection, the content you see may vary if you use the database at different libraries (your school, your public library, or your office).

Biographies

World Biographical Information System (WBIS) Online This link opens in a new window World Biographical Information System Online is the most comprehensive biographical database available, providing short biographical information on 4 million people with a historical coverage from the 4th century BC to the present. It contains 3.85 million digital facsimile articles from more than 3,700 reference works, including biographical information on 2.3 million people worldwide. Access to the digitized full-text articles at BYU is limited at present to America, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), and Scandinavia.

Allgemeine/Neue Deutsche Biographie (ADB/NDB Digitales Register) This website combines the facsimile full text of over 26,000 articles from the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (General Germany Biography), published in 56 volumes, with name indexes of the more recent but less complete Neue Deutsche Biographie (New German Biography) in 21 volumes. The search interface is in German, a project of the Bavarian State Library in Munich.
Oesterreischisches Biographisches Lexikon The "Oesterreichische Biographische Lexikon 1815-1950" includes information on important personalities who lived in Austria and/or the Austrian crown lands of the Habsburg Empire who died between the years 1815 and 1950. PDF files of full-text biographies are available for most entries. The biographical dictionary is only complete from A through Schobert at the present time.

Atlases & Maps

Atlas des Deutschen Reichs (Atlas of the German Empire) The Atlas des Deutschen Reichs by Ludwig Ravenstein (1883) helps in tracing the roots of families with origins in any part of the German empire from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. Besides Germany, the maps of this atlas also cover the bordering portions of present-day Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, and Switzerland. Due to the large scale of its maps (1:850,000) and its thorough gazetteer of place-names, one can locate even small towns and villages on the maps in the Ravenstein atlas.

David Rumsey Map Collection - Maps of Palestine This link opens in a new window
Mouse over image to view record Summary. Click on image for greater detail, and for download / printing options.

Handbooks, Guides, Information & Statistics

CIA World Factbook This link opens in a new window Alternate title: World Factbook. Provides a country-by-country listing of basic statistical and factual information. A few miscellaneous areas such as Antarctica and the West Bank are also included. Entries average two pages in length. Updated annually.
Europa World Plus This link opens in a new window Europa World Plus is the online equivalent of paper Europa Yearbook, a mainstay at the Social Sciences/Education Reference Desk; a country-by-country listing with elections, economic, and other infrastructure data;
Global Road Warrior This link opens in a new window GRW is the ultimate business travel guide, providing overviews of the culture and society of 175 nations. Topics include gift giving, holidays, religion, punctuality, greetings, business ethics, attire, etiquette, women in business, communication, transportation, immunization, security alerts, maps, and currency. An excellent alternative to CultureGrams.

Current News

European News

Google News This link opens in a new window Search and browse 25,000 news sources updated continuously.

Relevant Scholarly Websites

ESS German Studies Guide

Deutsches Theater-Lexikon This link opens in a new window

ESS Dutch Studies Guide

Finding a Job

MLA Job Information List

Oxford Dictionaries

Oxford Language Dictionaries Online provide a one-stop site for English to and from Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish. Sound files are provided as phonetic models. Grammatical and cultural resources are an important supplement to the two million words and phrases found in the searchable dictionaries themselves.

Pronunciator

Pronunciator is a language learning software database you can use to supplement your coursework, maintain and improve your language skills, or just learn a new language in ways that can be playful and fun, including a virtual tutor and language learning (for the most common languages) through movies, poetry and music.

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And you can get:
APPS for your handheld device,
PDF lists of vocabulary
and native speakers on sound files for practice.

Jobs in the Profession

What are your plans after graduation? The Modern Language Association (MLA) Job Information List is available online in two versions:

For Foreign Languages

For English and Linguistics

Get Help

Humanities Reference
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German Mormon Studies

"Die Mormonen" (Wiedenroth Collection)
This is a register of one thousand carefully compiled items from the German publishing world found the library's Special Collections. "Die Mormonen" documents the effect and reactions of Germans to the phenomenon of Mormonism within the context of the 19th century American West.