Spanish

Most of the print books on the Spanish language are classified within the call number range PC4001-PC4900. Books on Spanish literature are classed within PQ6001-PQ7079.2  while those on Spanish American literature are within PQ7081-PQ8929. All are shelved on the 9th floor.

Keyword Searching in the Catalogue

Keyword searching can be very fruitful.

Search examples:

• shakespeare translation* spanish
• caribbean literature spanish
• cuban literature
• hispanic-american
• hispanic american authors
• hispanic literature
• latino fiction
• latino poetry
• latinx
• puerto rican literature

Browsing Library of Congress Subject Headings in the Catalogue

Browsing the Library of Congress subject headings index in the catalogue can be effective.
For critical works about specific authors, search by subject by the name in inverted order (last name first) with a subdivision such as Criticism and interpretation:

• Borges, Jorge Luis, 1899-1986--Criticism and interpretation
• Garcia Márquez, Gabriel, 1927-2014

For critical works about a specific genre or period of literature, use the name of the genre etc. with the subdivision History and criticism:

• Spanish literature--19th century--History and criticism
• Caribbean fiction (Spanish)
• Chilean literature--History and criticism
• Mexican literature
• Women authors, Spanish

More Tips on Searching the TMU Library Catalogue

Most of the bibliographical descriptions and subject headings in the catalogue are created in the English language. Some bilingual items (English and French) MAY also have subject headings in the French language. Since we import catalogue records from many sources, there may be a few records for items including videos in French that have only subject headings and description in French.

For best, most comprehensive results, use the English language terms when searching subject headings.

When performing keyword searches, use whichever language seems most appropriate since titles are transcribed in the language of publication provided that the language is derived from the Roman alphabet. Some contents notes may be in Spanish.

Getting More from E-books

Increasingly, the Toronto Metropolitan University Library is acquiring books in electronic only formats.  These can be found in the main library catalogue and when using the Search Everything box.  Many of the e-books have virtual call numbers so you can link on the call number field and see both print and electronic books.  This will give you a more accurate understanding of our collection than just browsing the printed books in the library stacks.

Many of the e-books that we have access to can also be found in Scholars Portal Books, along with large numbers of books published prior to 1922 that are presumed to be out of copyright, and other works created using a Creative Commons License that allows free access.

The Internet Archive has many more freely accessible books, videos and sound recordings. It is especially good valuable for works printed in English prior to 1923.  The Hathi Trust Digital Library is another large digitization initiative with a lot of books and magazines that are no longer protected by copyright.

Use to find brief background information.

Encyclopedias and dictionaries remain valuable sources of bio-bibliographical information and concise critical commentary on authors and types of literature. Consider keyword searches such as:

• spanish literature dictionaries
• caribbean literature encyclopedias
• latin america encyclopedias
• spanish encyclopedias

Language Dictionaries

• Spanish language--Dictionaries [using Library of Congress subject heading]
• Spanish language--Conversation and phrase books

Language Dictionaries, Bilingual

From Oxford Reference:

Oxford Business Spanish Dictionary: English-Spanish

Oxford Business Spanish Dictionary: Spanish-English

Pocket Oxford Spanish Dictionary = Diccionario Oxford compact: English-Spanish

Pocket Oxford Spanish Dictionary = Diccionario Oxford compact: Spanish-English

TERMIUM Plus: The Government of Canada's Terminology and Linguistic Data Bank [you can toggle to the interface en français]
This site "gives you access to millions of terms in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. You can find terms, abbreviations, definitions and usage examples in a wide range of specialized fields. The data bank is an essential tool for understanding an acronym, checking an official title, finding an equivalent in another language, and much more."

Subsection: Glossaries and Vocabularies
Many of the glossaries, vocabularies, terminology bulletins and lexicons were once issued in print and are now online. Many are becoming increasingly dated.

From the Library Catalogue
Use Library of Congress Subject terms such as:

Spanish language -- Dictionaries -- English 
English language-- Dictionaries -- Spanish 

Try some keyword searches such as:

spanish language business

The Toronto Public Library has an excellent collection that supports the study of English literature. Many scholarly works are only available at the Toronto Reference Library located on Yonge Street one block north of Bloor Street. These items generally must be used in the library. Some material is part of the vast circulating collection. Online databases and books are becoming more common.

Literature Criticism Online covers contemporary and classical literature, drama and poetry as well as children's literature.
Literature Resource Center is a database that is also available through TMU.
A TPL account is required for log-in.  All members of the TMU Community are eligible for TPL borrowing privileges.