ESL Resources

This guide has information about reading and writing resources at CCSF Libraries, and basic research materials! Contact your subject librarian or the reference librarians if you need more help. For an overview of how to research efficiently, see Steps of the Research Process.

Finding Materials in the Library

Search CityCat to find books, e-books, disks and more. There are many ways to search, such as Title, Author and Keyword.

Books in the library are organized by call number according to the Library of Congress classification system which groups items by subject, so you can often simply browse the shelves. Here are some relevant subjects and their call numbers:

TOEFL Guides  (PE 1129.9)

(Test of English As a Foreign Language)

English Grammar  (PE 1128.6)

English Composition (PE 1408, PE 1128)

English Vocabulary (PE 1128)

English Listening (PE 1129.3)

English Pronunciation  (PE 1129.3)

Reference Sources

Reference books are great for short overviews and background information. There are also reference resources in our database section.

  •  Longman Dictionary of American English (PE 2835 .L6 2008)
  • World Book Encyclopedia (AE5 .W55 2010--reference)
  • World Almanac and Book of Facts (AY67 .N5 W7 2009--reference)
  • Atlas of the World--National Geographic (G1021 .N38 2007--reference)
  • Roget's Thesaurus (PE1591 .R738 2007)
  • Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (PN 6081 .B27 1980)
  • Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia of Literature (PS21 .B46 1991--reference)
  • Timetables of History (D11 .G78 2005--reference)

Databases

Use databases for specialized and the most up-to-date information, especially academic (scholarly) sources that are not available for free on the Web. See the Articles & Databases page for a full list of databases available.

Web Sites

Use Web sites for government information, statistics, and current events. It's very important to carefully evaluate Web sites for accuracy, currency, bias and credibility.

Google Books (free online books and free previews of books)
Grammar and Writing Help for ESL Students
Internet Public Library
Sample Research Papers
ESL Librarian's Website