Subject Guides: Italian Studies: Reference Works

Reference Works for Italian 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.

Dizionari - Corriere della Sera Dizionari: Italiano; Sinonimi e contrari; Modi di dire; Citazioni, Si dice o non si dice?; Inglese, Spagnolo, Francese, Tedesco.
Treccani: L'Enciclopedia Italiana Abstracts from La Piccola Treccani, with keyword searching and secondary browsing by broad subject categories.

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

Oxford Companion to Italian Literature A great English-language guide to Italian literature, its works, authors, 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.

General, Historical & Political Reference Works

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).
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.

Dizionario storico della Svizzera

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.

Atlases & Map

Google Maps Google Maps is an online service that allows users in the U.S. and Canada to find location information, navigate through maps, and get directions quickly and easily.

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

Corriere della Sera Digital version of Corriere della Sera
European News

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

Relevant Scholarly Websites

ESS Italian Studies Guide
ItalNet Projects in Italian Studies ItalNet is an international research consortium whose mission is to make available scholarly Internet resources of literary and historical materials relating to Italian studies.

Finding a Job

MLA Job Information List

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.

Important for spoken language is the ability to "engage" with the computer and improve pronunciation through speech-recognition software.

Current languages available for self-study or supplementing coursework
(in 50 different language interfaces) include:

- 80 different languages from Afrikaans to Welsh and Xhosa -

After connecting to the database using the link above, sign up for your own individual account.

Then log in, choose your level of language proficiency and conversational topic, and enjoy your language-learning experience!

Once you are a registered user, you can go directly to
www.pronunciator.com
and start learning (a login box will appear after you use it for a bit)

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