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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.

Other libraries

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