Spanish

TMU Libraries Omni Search
For optimum use, sign in. This search engine searches for journal articles (many are available electronically), books, e-books, theses and dissertations, and newspaper articles from some recent and a selection of archival newspapers. It indexes digitized content such as out-of-copyright books and journals that are available from sources such as The Internet Archive and The Hathi Trust. Omni facilitates discovery and borrowing of print books from other universities in Ontario excluding the University of Toronto.

Refine your search using the filters on the left.

For more advanced searching across a more targeted set of resources, you may want to try a discipline specific indexing/abstracting database or collection as listed in the next boxes.

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. 

Omni replaces the traditional catalogue that used to search for books, e-books, dvds, and other resources except for journal articles. Now, Omni can be used to look for known books, or when using the default (a keyword) search to find some relevant titles for an assignment. Whether using a Simple or Advanced search, you can use the filters on the left to limit to Resource Type: Book chapters, or, Books & eBooks. You can use the Browse Search with the drop down option for Library of Congress Subject Heading. This type of search is ideal for finding Books and Ebooks in our collection. It will display a selective index of subject headings most relevant to your search When you find book records, you can use the Subject terms in the record to link to similar items. If you want to find books, e-books and articles at the same time, consider using Omni, Advanced Search and Subject Contains ...

Keyword Searching in the Catalogue

Keywords searched in Omni Advanced, Subject contains ...

Search examples:

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

The Name of a person searched as a subject (using Omni, Browse by LC Subject Heading)

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

Some topical subject headings

• Spain History
• Spain Social life and customs
• Spain Politics and government
• Tourism Latin America

More Tips on Searching for books and e-books in the TMU Libraries and Omni partner libraries

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. Expect to see increased use of French language subject headings and descriptions of books/e-books that are issued in French only now that we have joined the Omni collaborative finding tool.

At this time, for best, most comprehensive results, use the English language terms when searching subject headings.

When performing general keyword searches, use whichever language seems most appropriate since titles and contents notes are often in Sjpanish and uniform titles may be used for items that have been translated.

With Omni search, you can choose to see library holdings restricted to TMU Libraries, or you can select to view TMU Libraries AND our Omni partners. When you find print books not held by TMU, you can request the title from a partner library using the automatic fulfilment or interlibrary loan options.

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 Libraries are acquiring books in electronic only formats. These can be found using the Omni search box and limiting by the filters on the left for Books & eBooks, and Availability Online.

Omni search is supposed to include out-of-copyright material from the Internet Archive  and from the Hathi Trust Digital Library in addition to Open Access titles that have been made available to the public free of charge.

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 Omni, Advanced, Subject contains ...:

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

Language Dictionaries

• Spanish language Dictionaries [Omni Browse search, 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.

Omni, Browse by Library of Congress Subject heading:

Spanish language Dictionaries English 
English language Dictionaries Spanish 

Try some simple 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 Resource Centre / Gale Literature 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.