German Language & Literature 

Finding books at Yale  /   Finding books not at Yale  /    Indexes to plays and short stories  /    Major microform sets  /    CD-ROMs   /   Collection description and collecting levels   /  Call number ranges  /   Locations

Finding books at Yale
For books at Yale, search Orbis. Remember to eliminate the first word if it is a definite article (der, die, das, des).

Finding books not at Yale

Books not held at Yale may be requested by members of the Yale community through Interlibrary Loan. Readers are not responsible for determining which institution the Library will borrow the book from. However, other catalogs are useful in verifying bibliographic information and identifying materials Yale doesn't own in specific subject areas or by particular authors.

The principles of searching Orbis apply to searching other online catalogs, but the syntax varies among catalogs.

Other Library catalogs: Local and worldwide - provides a general list of online catalogs.

RLIN/Eureka (included in that list) - contains records from some foreign national libraries, including the Deutsche Bibliothek and the Schweizerische Landesbibliothek. Interlibrary loan requests can be placed directly through Eureka with the "Request" button.

German Studies Web: Library catalogs and other library information - a long list of library catalogs in the German-speaking countries, including direct links to their national libraries.

Indexes to plays and short stories

Inter-Play

Major microform sets
To locate microform sets, use a keyword search in Orbis setting a limit for the Medium Type to microform
Examples:
"german literature"
Gustav Freytag

Bibliothek der deutschen Literatur
Extensive collection of literature in German and other languages, based on the Taschengoedeke and covering all periods from the Middle Ages to the Modern period.

CD-ROMs

Collection description and collecting levels -
The Yale University Library has a long tradition of collecting materials in Germanic languages and literatures, and the Sterling Memorial Library's collection is among the most comprehensive in the United States. The collection encompasses Old Germanic, Old and Middle High German, early New High German, and dialects of the German speaking areas, as well as Scandinavian, Dutch, Flemish, and Frisian literature. Virtually all periods are covered, including the Reformation and Counter Reformation, Baroque, Enlightenment, and Classical, and the 19th and 20th centuries (Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism). The Sterling collections are augmented by the rich collection of German Literature at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

The current course offerings of the Yale University Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures include Medieval literature, German literature and culture from the Reformation to the twentieth century in the Federal Republic, the German Democratic Republic, Austria, and Switzerland; literary theory; literary sociology, and film. The Library aims to meet the research needs of current faculty and students researchers in those fields, as well as the future needs of scholars. Current collecting for the Sterling Memorial Library includes fiction, theory, criticism, and aesthetics, comparative literature, general literature, folklore, reference works and bibliographies, anthologies, and works on humanism and scholarship. Some translations are also collected. In recent years, collecting in ethnic literature has increased.

In addition to the extensive collection of Germanic literatures, Sterling houses a rich array of resources related to Germanic languages, including reference works, bibliographies, works on the philosophy, psychology, and origin and history of language, lexicographical works, and comparative language studies. Old Germanic dialects (Gothic, Vandal, Burgundian, etc.), Old and Middle High German, New High German (including dialects), Scandinavian languages (including Icelandic), and Dutch and Frisian languages are included.

The Library also collects materials in Germanic languages related to other disciplines (history, political science, etc.) at varying levels. Collection development responsibility for Germanic languages and literatures rests with Interim Selector Jeffry Larson. You may also consult a list of the library's subject specialists.

Call number ranges -
Materials in Germanic Languages and Literatures are distributed among a number of classes in both the Library of Congress (LC) and Yale (Yale) classification systems. To locate an item in the stacks, consult the Sterling Memorial Library Stack Directory.

Locations of materials -
All locations refer to the Sterling Memorial Library stacks, with the exception of the Yale W class, which is housed at the Mudd library, and anything appearing in Orbis with the location "LSF." LSF materials are housed in the off-campus Library Shelving Facility and may be requested through Eli Express for delivery within 24 hours.