Foreign Languages & Literature

Welcome to the DFL Guide

Welcome to the USMA Library’s research guide (LibGuide) for help in Foreign Languages. 

This guide has been created to help you get started with your library research.  We are eager to help you with your research for papers you’re tasked to write, special projects, and most basic questions.

If you would like to meet for assistance, please use the Schedule Appointment feature, or contact me so we can arrange a time when we’re both available. I look forward to hearing from you! 

In the meantime, check out some of the resources suggested in this guide. 

What does an academic department liaison do?

Reference & Research Consultant

• Support for thesis students
• Provide reference & research support, or appropriate referral to other experts or service providers
• In-person, phone, email, and chat support available

Teaching and Learning

• Orientations to new faculty during FDW, participate in FDW
• Updates to returning faculty
• Understand libraries’ potential role in providing content or support for department
• Topical workshops (Zotero citation management, Wikipedia)
• Create instruction support material including research guides LibGuides: online research guides
• Attend departmental seminars, meetings, and subject-specific conferences and collaborate with faculty to support their research

Integrate library resources into course development

• Incorporate use of library collections and research based learning as an integral component of courses
• Collaboratively build framework for understanding research processes, using library resources, and designing in-person and online learning environments to support project development
• Support curriculum to integrate information fluency concepts and research skills into the curriculum, assist with project development to assess these skills

Collection development

• Resource purchase requests
• Access to databases
• Training on foreign language and culture focused databases
• Scholarly Communication – Recruit content for the institutional repository – USMA Digital Commons

Enrichment

• Celebration of West Point Authors Event
• Support to departmental special events (Special Collections and Archives exhibits)
• Library hosted exhibits (Display for the Inaugural West Point Conference on Language, Culture, and Military)
• Student & Campus engagement (National Poetry Month, National Libraries Week)

Suggested Databases

These Databases are subscribed to by USMA Library. If you are having any difficulty in accessing content, please contact the Liaison Librarian listed for assistance.

Suggested Web Resources

These resources are outside of USMA, but they still contain valuable information. They can be searched for a variety of topics; results can then be narrowed by language, area, or country.

• AEI China Global Investment Tracker
• Center for Strategic and International Studies
• Council on Foreign Relations
• European Union: Country Profiles
• Foreign Affairs
• Foreign Policy Research Institute
• Human Rights Watch
• Institution for Economics and Peace
• National Defense University
  • Institute for National Strategic Studies
  • Joint Force Quarterly (JFQ)
  • PRISM
  • Press Publications
  • Regional Centers
    • Africa Center for Strategic Studies
    • Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies
    • William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies
• Official Documents of the United Nations
• Organisation for EconomicCo-operation and Development
• United Nations Treaty Collection
• U.S. Department of State: Countries and Areas List
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• World Nuclear Association: Country Profiles
• World Trade Organization: Resources

Please note that the resources listed in this section are hosted by groups separate from the USMA Library. The USMA Library can NOT guarantee access or resolve connection issues to these resources.

Instructor Resources

These resources are not limited to instructors, though instructors may find them more useful than Cadets.

• Applied Language Learning
• CALICO Journal (equinoxpub.com) (Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium)
• Computer Assisted Language Learning Journal
• Digital Commons Network: Linguistics
• Digital Commons Network: Translation Studies
• Dimensions: Language, Communication, and Culture
• DOAJ the Directory of Open Access Journals
• FLTmag IALLT's Free Language Technology Magazine
• IALLT or International Association for Language Learning Technology
• Language Learning: A Journal of Research in Language Studies
• The Language Learning Journal
• Linguistic Bibliography Online
• U.S. Think Tanks - Think Tank Search - Research Guides at Harvard Library
  • Non-U.S. Think Tanks by Region - Think Tank Search - Research Guides at Harvard Library
  • These sites are affiliated with universities, governments, advocacy groups, foundations, and non-governmental organizations. Inclusion is based upon the relevancy of subject area to HKS coursework and scholarship, the availability of the think tank’s research in full-text on the website, and the think tank’s reputation and influence upon policy making. The list represents a mixture of partisan and non-partisan think tanks.
• World Trade Organization: Resources
  • Trilingual Linguistic Resources

West Point Center for Oral History:

• Assessing and Countering the Threat of Terrorism
  • Liam Collins
• A Hungarian Officer on Leadership, Service, and Multinational Operations
  • Sándor Farkas
• Doing "Lawrence of Arabia" Stuff: A Non-Traditional Career Leads to the USMA Department of Foreign Languages
  • Greg Ebner
• "Hold the Door Open for Others": A Conversation on Immigration, Identity, and Success in the Army
  • Brigid Osei-Bobie
• International Cadet Experiences:
  • Changing the World: Opportunities for Growth Through Exchange
    • Thomas Koizumi and Kiana Stewart
  • "It's Good": The Bright Side of West Point for a Cadet from Kosovo
    • Ylli Daladaku
  • "People, Relationships, Family, Traditions": Appreciate the Little Things
    • Arelena Shala
  • Pursuing Diverse Experiences at West Point and in Life
    • Aaron Li
  • The Making of an American: A Pakistani Immigrant's Journey Through Citizenship to West Point
    • Aaqib Ayed

Please note that the resources listed in this section are hosted by groups separate from the USMA Library. The USMA Library can NOT guarantee access or resolve connection issues to these resources.

Other Beneficial Resources

These resources may require you to log-in or create an account, instructions are linked.

• Overdrive/ Libby for eBooks and magazines - Instructions.
• Kanopy for video streaming and more!
• Mango Languages 
  • Use a browser other than Internet Explorer. Create a profile/account while in the desktop version. Download entire lessons to access while offline. Logging in to your profile will sync your progress.
• New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Etc.  -  Instructions

Other Institutions

• Modern Language Association
  • NEMLA Northeast Modern Language Association
• New York Public Library
  • SimplyE app linked to NYPL account has eBooks and Audiobooks in a variety of languages.
  • Naxos Music Library app includes over 2 million musical tracks that you can stream to your device.
  • Projectr a streaming platform for watching independent films from around the world.
  • World Literature Festival shines a spotlight on books, writers, artists, and thinkers from around the globe and reflects some of the many languages spoken in NYC's diverse communities.
• DOD MWR Libraries -  Instructions.

Please note that the resources listed in the "Other Institutions" section are hosted by groups separate from the USMA Library. The USMA Library can NOT guarantee access or resolve connection issues to these resources.

English as a Second Language Resources

Other Language Resources