Spanish Culture and Civilization

This guide lists library resources that can help you in all phases of your research on Spanish culture and civilization. In addition to the reference books described here, the Pace Library has many circulating books that may be of interest.  Please see the section below on finding books in the Pace Library for help in locating circulating books. 

General Background Sources General Country Information People of Spain Spanish History Politics and Political Systems Philosophy and Religion Literature and the Arts

Finding Books in the Pace Library Finding Journal Articles Web Sites Citing Your Sources

General Background Sources

The following sources provide useful background information on topics related to Spanish culture and civilization.

General Country Information

Country Studies: Area Handbook Series    http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html

Country studies from the Federal Research Service of the Library of Congress. 

Europa World Yearbook    Ref JN1.E85 2001 (vols. 1-2)

Gives the recent history and governmental structure of the world's countries, and includes a statistical survey. 

The New Encyclopaedia Britannica    Ref AE5 .E5 1998

Lengthy articles with bibliographies make this an excellent place to start your research. Consult the index to find information on your topic. See also Britannica Online, accessible from the library's Databases page.

Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations    Ref G63 W67 1998 (vols. 1-65

This encyclopedia has standardized entries for all countries. General demographic, social, political, governmental, geographical, and business information are given for each country included.

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People of Spain

Culturegrams    Ref GT150 .C85 2002 v.1-2

This two-volume work covers the culture and traditions of more than 170 nations.

Countries and Their Cultures    Ref GN 307 .C68 2001 (vols. 1-4)

A four-volume set arranged alphabetically by country. Included are cultural summaries, country maps, photographs, and an index.

Encyclopedia of Contemporary Spanish Culture    Ref DP233.5 E63 1999

Short articles on all aspects of Spanish culture since 1939, with a particular emphasis on the post-Franco years.

Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life    Ref GN333 .W67 1998 (vols. 1-4)

A Companion volume to the Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations. This four volume set is arranged by geographic region and explores the ways of life among 500 or more culture groups. Among the issues covered are: clothing, rites of passage, living conditions, cultural heritage, and folk crafts.

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Spanish History

Chronology of World History    Ref D11.M39 1999 (vols. 1-4)

A chronology of world history in four volumes: The Ancient and Medieval World (Prehistory-AD 1491), The Expanding World (1492-1775), The Changing World (1776-1900), and the Modern World (1901-1998).

The library also has a number of circulating books on Spanish history.  To locate these items, use the Pace Library Catalog.  Try a Word search using the search statement "Spain and history."  For more information, see the section below on Finding Books in the Pace Library.

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Politics and Political Systems

 

Political Handbook of the World    Ref JF37.P61

Brief entries describe the history, political structure, and political parties of each included country.

World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties    Ref JF2011.W67 1999 (vols. 1-3)

Summarizes the governmental systems and major political parties of the world's countries.

Philosophy and Religion

Encyclopedia of Religion    Ref BL31.E46 1987 (vols. 1-16)

Fifteen volumes covering religions of the world.  Consult volume 16 (the index) to locate your topic.

Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions    Ref BL31.M47 1999

Single-volume encyclopedia of the world's religions, with a select bibliography in the back.

New Catholic Encyclopedia    Ref BX841.N44 1967

History of Catholicism and the Catholic Church, and much more.  Check the index (volume 15) for your topic.

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Literature and the Arts

 

Historia de la Literatura Española    Stacks PQ 6032.V3 (many editions)

A history of Spanish literature from the middle ages to the 20th century.  Available in both Spanish and English.

Oxford Companion to Spanish Literature    Ref PQ6006.O95

Short biographies of Spanish writers in many disciplines, and descriptions of major works written in Spanish.

Dictionary of Art    Ref N31.D5 1996 (vols. 1-34)

Lengthy articles on topics related to art and art history.  Check the index (volume 34) for your topic.

Encyclopedia of World Art    Ref N31.E4833 (vols. 1-17)

Older, but still useful, essays on topics in art history.

 

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Finding Books in the Pace University Library

You can find other books on your topic by searching the online Pace Library Catalog by subject or keyword. Subject searches target the specific Library of Congress Subject Headings that have been assigned to the books that the Pace Library owns.  Unless you know the subject headings that pertain to your topic, you may want to begin with a Keywords search.  Once you have found a source that you find useful, look at the Library of Congress Subject Headings towards the bottom of the catalog record to determine the best terms to use in a Subject search for further materials.  Some examples of subject headings include:

For additional tips on searching the catalog, see the library's guide to Using the Pace Library Catalog.

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Finding Journal Articles

To find references to journal articles on your topic, and in some cases the articles themselves, use one of the library's databases.  To access Pace Library databases, go to the library home page (http://library.pace.edu), click on Databases, and use the pull-down menu labeled "Subject Research Area" to select the subject area most appropriate to your topic.  You may also choose a specific database from an alphabetical list.  Use the databases listed below to find citations and abstracts, and in some cases full-text journal articles.

Academic Search Premier
Full Text database of humanities, social sciences, non-technical general sciences and current events.

Historical Abstracts

Annotated references to historical writings (journals, dissertations & books) covering the years 1450 to the present. Over 499,000 entries from more than 50 languages. 

JSTOR

Contains back issues of scholarly journals.  For a list of journals included in JSTOR, visit our E-journal List.

Lexis-Nexis Universe

Lexis-Nexis Universe offers full-text publication of news, business, legal, and medical information.  See especially the World News section. 

Literature Resource Center

In-depth information on the lives and writings of nearly 100,000 authors along with critical reaction to their works. 

MLA Bibliography

Modern Language Association International Bibliography for literature in modern languages. Indexes articles from 1963 to the present.  Does not include full text articles.

Research Library

Contains citations, with abstracts, to more than 1,800 general-interest periodicals. Included are over 500 periodicals related to the social sciences, nearly 400 related to the humanities, more than 150 in the general sciences field, and approximately 200 business titles. More than 200 of the journals are available in full text. 

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Web Sites

Be sure to check out the complete list of Spanish Culture & Literature Internet Resources, available in the Reference Resources section of the Library web site.
 

Iberian Language and Literature Web    http://www.library.yale.edu/wess/iberianlanglit.html

A list of scholarly Iberian Language and Literature resources on the Web for the Yale University Western European Studies section.  This is part of a larger Iberian Studies Web.

La Página del Idioma Espanol: Portada    http://www.el-castellano.com/

This page is oriented toward language sites, but includes a directory of Spanish language news sources (click on "Prensa") and also includes links to literary sites ("Literatura").

Recursos - A Guide for Spanish Studies    http://www.bton.ac.uk/edusport/languages/recursos/recursos.html

A large guide to Spanish resources on the Web from the University of Brighton.  The resources listed are primarily in Spanish.

Terra - Buscador    http://buscador.terra.es/

A large Spanish search engine and web directory.

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Citing Your Sources

Once you have finished your research and written your paper, you will need to prepare your bibliography and cite any sources you have referenced within the text. The library has prepared some information on citation styles for print and electronic resources. You can access it on the Pace Library web site at http://www.pace.edu/library/pages/instruct/citing.html.  Please check with your instructor if you are unsure of which citation style to use.