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Specific Library facilities and resources available for students of linguistics and comparative philology at Oxford University.

Contact details for the Linguistics Librarian:

Johanneke Sytsema (email: johanneke.sytsema@bodleian.ox.ac.uk; tel: 01865 278159) at the Taylor Institution Library

The Linguistics Librarian is here for you. You can:

Using the Library

Linguistics books and journals are held in various libraries or in the closed stack. It is advisable to consult the online catalogue in first instance. Libraries with linguistics collections are listed below.

  • STEP 1: Search the online catalogue SOLO. The catalogue contains records for all books, theses and journals in Oxford Libraries, including college libraries. Select ‘all libraries/collections’ to see Oxford based titles only. Select ‘articles’ for access to full texts of articles that are electronically available. Note: some journals are only available in print and cannot be searched electronically.
    The SOLO guide provides more information about search options. The  Managing your References guide shows how to export titles from SOLO to reference management software and gives a comparison of reference management packages.
     
  • STEP 2: Use databases for more in depth searching. On the bottom right of the SOLO start page there is link to Databases A-Z. For linguistics databases and corpora select subject ‘Linguistics’.
     
  • STEP 3: Cannot find in Oxford what you are looking for? Request titles from other university libraries through Inter-Library Loans.

Need HELP?

  1. Use SOLO Live Help on http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ (right hand side of the screen)
  2. Consult the online Linguistics Library Guide for finding monographs, journals, theses and specific e-resources for linguistics
  3. Contact your linguistics librarian johanneke.sytsema@bodleian.ox.ac.uk or book a research appointment with her to find materials on your research topic.

Which Library to use?

The Taylor Institution Library is the main library for linguistics in Oxford. Most books from the Main Stack may be borrowed. Titles held in the ‘closed stack’ must be ordered online through SOLO and will normally arrive in 24 hrs in the reading room of your choice. Reading list items are available in the Teaching Collection of the Taylor Institution Library (entrance on ground floor). Most journals are available online through SOLO. Journals that are only available in print may be consulted in the Periodicals Reading Room.

Other Libraries

Various other libraries have smaller collections of specific subfields in linguistics. Language libraries provide for linguistics of the language in question. Other libraries with specific linguistics collections:

  • Bodleian Old Library. The Bodleian Library has a large linguistics collection for reference only. Books may be requested from the closed stack for consultation in any of the Bodleian Libraries’ reading rooms and usually arrive the next day
     
  • Weston Library consult the Weston Library for manuscripts, special collections and for paper copies of linguistic theses. Linguistic theses may be ordered to the Weston Library using SOLO.
     
  • Bodleian Art, Archeology and Ancient World Library, St. Johns Street. Use the Art Library for Ancient languages and linguistics. Languages include Latin, Greek, Ancient Egyptian, Sumerian, Acadian, Etruscan, Coptic and early Italian languages such as Umbrian and Oscan.
     
  • KB Chen China Centre Library. The China Centre Library is the specialist hub library for Chinese studies, including linguistics of Chinese.
     
  • Bodleian Japanese Library. The Japanese Library houses the University’s main research and teaching collection for Japanese studies, including linguistics of Japanese.
     
  • Nizami Ganjavi Library. The Nizami Ganjavi Library (aka Oriental Studies Library) covers language materials on the Middle East, North Africa, South & Central Asia, Korea and the Caucasus.
     
  • Humanities Library. The Humanities Library in the Schwarzman Centre houses the collections of former Faculty libraries for English Language and Literature, Film Studies, Music and Theology and Philosophy. Any books from Bodleian Closed Stack may be ordered and returned to the library desk.
     
  • Radcliffe Science Library, South Parks Road. Use the RSL for reading list items and research material on phonetics, language pathology, natural language processing, psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics and child language acquisition.
     
  • Education Library, Norham Gardens. The Education Library serves mainly students of Applied Linguistics with materials on bilingualism and Teaching English as a Foreign Language.
     
  • Bodleian Law Library, St. Cross Road. Official papers and further information with regard to any European Union laws relating to language, education and culture may be obtained from the European Documentation Centre.
     
  • Social Sciences Library. The Anthropological Linguistics collection, formerly in the Tyler Library, is now part of the Social Sciences Library.
     
  • Language Centre Library, Woodstock Road. The Language Centre provides language courses to members of the university and has a library with language learning and course materials on a wide range of languages.
     
  • Oxford Research Archive. The Oxford Research Archive includes books, articles and DPhil theses from the linguistics faculty. A copy of each DPhil thesis needs to be deposited into ORA. Research Data may also be deposited for future preservation and/or to make them available to fellow researchers.