French IV Term Papers

A Carolina Day School Library Resource Guide

I've prepared this handout based on the topics you originally chose for your papers (French painters, Napoleon, the Enlightenment/salons, Louis XIV, XVI, Marie Antoinette and abuses of power, Charlemagne, Medieval France, France and the war with Iraq). If you've changed your topic and can't find material or can't find enough material for your paper after using these resources, or want to see if I can come up with any other more specialized or unusual resources, come see me. You know where to find me! Your friendly librarian.

Reference: General French Information

Cultural Atlas of France. REF 944 ARD 1991

"An authoritative and highly readable account of French history and culture from earliest times to the present day," according to the publisher.

Fodor's France, 2002. REF 914.4 Fod 2002

Travel guide with some historical tidbits.

Fodor's Exploring France. REF 914.404 RUC 1999

                            Travel guide with "history and anecdotes."

Reference: French History

Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment. REF 940.25 Rei 1996

Find those salons under the heading "Social institutions of the Enlightenment." Check the index for other relevant articles.

Great Events from History: Ancient and Medieval Series. REF 909 GRE 1972

Great Events from History: Modern European Series. REF 940 MAS 1973

The Great Events series has short articles on various events listed in chronological order in the front of each volume. The index for each 3-volume set is in the back of the 3^rd volume.

World Eras: Medieval Europe, 814-1350. REF 940.1 Med 2001

What was going on in world events, geography, the arts, communication, transportation, exploration, the economy, social trends and life, politics, law, the military, daily life, the family, religion, philosophy, science, technology, health, etc. Plus a timeline. Check the table of contents and the index.

The Middle Ages (4-volume set). REF 909.07 MID

Check the index in volume 4.

History of the Modern World (10-volume set). REF 909.08 HIS

Take a look at the titles of each volume. Volume 4, for example is "The Age of the Enlightenment."

Historical Atlas of Empires. REF 911 Far 2002

"The Angevin Dynasty" is in Chapter 7 and Chapter 10 has sections on Napoleon and French Colonialism.

Reference: Biographies (Charlemagne,Napoleon, French painters, Louis & Marie)

General encyclopedias: Britannica, World Book, Americana are in REF 031

Biographical encyclopedias and dictionaries: Encyclopedia of World Biography. REF 920 ENC

There are also other biographical dictionaries in the Reference section in the REF 920s.

Biographies in the circulating collection (do a keyword search on your person, then sort by clicking on the "Call Number" button on the upper left).

For artists: Try a keyword search on your artist's name for chapters in art books or entire books on your artist. Remember also that you may find good pieces of information in general art books (such as a book on Impressionism), so look for those and check for your artist in the book's index.

Art reference:

Dictionary of Artists and Art Terms. REF 700 RAN

Oxford Companion to Art. REF 703 OSB

Encyclopedia of Art. REF 703 PRA

Circulating Materials

Don't forget to check the library catalogue for full-length books or chapters in books after you've exhausted your reference possibilities!

Current Events

Go to the library's subscription databases, The Student Resource Center and Opposing Viewpoints for magazine and newspaper articles (the war with Iraq won't show up for a while in reference materials although you'll be able to find some good background information). Link from the CDS Library web page. Be sure to get the passwords at the library if you plan to use these at home!

Internet sites

Profile of France - http://www.france.diplomatie.fr/france/gb/

Brought to you by the French Foreign Ministry. Areas of the site include: France in Brief, The Country, History, Political Life, France in the World, Society, The Economy, Science, Technology, Culture and Media.

Academic Info: European History: France. http://www.academicinfo.net/histfrance.html

Links to many French web resources such as Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the French National Archives.

WRL Resources

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The Web Resource Library web sites are annotated, reliable web sites that appear after a search in the library’s online catalogue. The call number is WRL. Click on the Web Connect tab, then double click on the URL. The Internet browser will automatically open and you will be taken to the web site.

French Connection - http://www.howard.edu/library/subjects/french_Connection.htm

Selective, organized list of links to sites (in French) in the areas of French history, current events, media; language & literature; libraries, e-texts, publishing; art & culture; tourism; industry & trade; government; gateways; and search engines/tools. Maintained by the library director at Howard University.

Tennessee Bob's French Links - http://www.utm.edu/departments/french/french.html

Lots of links! Includes: Finding New Francophone Sites, Books and Literature, Art, Music, Film and General Culture, History of France and the French-Speaking World, Virtual Francophone Tourism, The French Language, Press, Radio/TV, Telephone, Education in French-Speaking Schools, French across the Curriculum and in Everyday Life

The following web site annotations are from Internet directory, The Librarian’s Index to the Internet <http://lii.org/>. Visit them for more French connections.

 

EuroDocs  -  http://library.byu.edu/~rdh/eurodocs/

Descriptive directory of links to Western European (mainly primary) historical documents. Selected transcriptions, facsimiles and translations. Ordered by country and chronologically within each. Also sections on Medieval and Renaissance Europe and Europe as a "Supernational" region.

Hanover Historical Texts Project - http://history.hanover.edu/project.html

Links to ancient, medieval, early modern and modern European works that exist on the web. Find links to Sophocles, texts from the Crusades, the Italian Renaissance, World War II, and more.

Medieval Technology Pages - http://scholar.chem.nyu.edu/tekpages/Technology.html

This Web site provides referenced information on "technological innovation and related subjects in western Europe during the Middle Ages." Agricultural tools, silk, windmills, and horizontal loom are among the subjects covered. The articles are organized by subject or in chronological order of 200-year intervals. The articles can also be accessed from the references. It also provides estimates of the population of the larger urban areas.

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