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Finding items in languages other than English

How to find books in languages other then English

Finding books in other languages on our library catalogue

There is a lot more to our collection than what you can find on the shelves. To do a broader search of the items we hold perform an advanced catalogue search:

  1. Search by topic, title or author (e.g. Chinese history)
  2. On the second line of your search, choose Language note from the dropdown menu and type in the preferred language (e.g. Chinese)
  3. After performing the search, limit results to your preferred language under Language (e.g. Chinese)

Below is a screenshot of a catalogue search for ‘Chinese history’ in Chinese:

 

 

Finding books in other languages on the shelf

Australian novels in languages other than English

The Ian Potter Queen's Hall has a browsable collection of Australian literature. This includes translations into languages other than English. These are organised by language.

Children's books in languages other than English

The Pauline Gandel Children's Quarter also has a section devoted to books in languages other than English, including Australian Indigenous languages.

More items in languages other than English

To find more items in other languages on our shelf, perform an advanced catalogue search:

  1. Select Books from the Search scope dropdown menu
  2. Select Language note and type in the preferred language (e.g. ‘Japanese’)
  3. To remove items that are translated from the original language into English, select NOT and type ‘translat*’. This will remove any items including the terms ‘translated’ and ‘translation’.
  4. After performing the search, limit results to find on shelf under Reading room

​To allow for variations in catalogue records, we recommend also performing your search without step 3 to discover all available titles.

Below is a screenshot of an advanced catalogue search for books in Japanese. There are also pre-made searches for other languages provided in the Quick Searches box on the right side of this page.

 

Translation

Choose your preferred language from the dropdown ↓ to translate this guide:

  • Alternatively, you can go to Google translate, click on 'websites', paste in this guide's address and choose your preferred language
     
  • The State Library of NSW also offers a helpful glossary which translates words used by libraries into many different languages.

Quick searches

Here are some quick searches for books in other languages.

Find on shelf means those items are in our open access reading rooms:

You can change the language from the search to find other languages.

Where can I borrow a book in another language?

The State Library is different from other libraries in many ways. One big difference is that our print books can only be read within the Library and cannot be borrowed. We are here to help you though, if you want to find out where you can borrow a book in another language.

Many public libraries in Victoria have books and other items in community languages that you can borrow for free. You can join any Victorian public library if you live in Victoria. You can use these resources to find out which public libraries have books and other items in your community language of interest.

  1. Visit the Public Libraries Victoria webpage, Free and online.
  2. Expand the Community languages dropdown menu.
  3. Choose your language of interest to see a list of libraries where those language items are available.
View Free & online page

 

You can also check this summary table instead to find out which libraries you can visit to borrow other language books:

Sourced from: State of Victoria Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions. (2021). Directory of public library services in Victoria 2021 (PDF).