Librarian/Curator for Slavic, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Related Library Guides
Getting Started
This guide serves as a portal for electronic resources relating to the Czech Republic. It contains links to various scholarly e-resources, including reference sources like online dictionaries, encyclopedias, and bibliographies; databases and indexes; e-book and journal collections; and online archives, image repositories, and maps. Please note that while some resources are freely available, others are subscription services provided by the UCLA Library, so remote access may be necessary when accessing from off-campus.
Ansicht der Stadt Prag, gezeichnet vom Belvedere. Vue de la ville de Prague prise du Belvedere. Österreichische Nationalbibliothek - Austrian National Library.
Country Facts
BBC Country Profiles Czech Republic
"Part of Czechoslovakia until the "velvet divorce" in January 1993, the Czech Republic has a robust democratic tradition, a highly-developed economy, and a rich cultural heritage.
It emerged from over 40 years of Communist rule in 1990, and was the first former Eastern Bloc state to acquire the status of a developed economy. It joined the European Union in 2004.
Communist rule had lasted since 1948, when the restored pre-war democratic system was overthrown in a Soviet-backed coup. The "Prague Spring" of 1968, when Communist leader Alexander Dubcek tried to bring in liberal reforms, was crushed by Warsaw Pact tanks.
In 1989, as the curtain was coming down on communism in the Kremlin, the dissident playwright Vaclav Havel emerged as the figurehead of the country's "velvet revolution" and became the first president of post-communist Czechoslovakia."
- BBC Country Profile Czech RepublicA contemporary country profile including a timeline and information about key political figures
- Library of Congress: Czechoslovakia - A Country StudyFederal report on Czechoslovakia from 1987 in digitized book form
Newspapers and Magazines
- NewsBank This link opens in a new window
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NewsBank is the parent site for four separate databases: Access World News, Archive of Americana, Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports, and World Newspaper Archive. - World News Connection This link opens in a new window
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Translated and English language news compiled from foreign media sources. Coverage includes political, environmental, scientific, technical, and socioeconomic issues and events from 1995 through 31 December 2013. Includes FBIS Reports from 2002-2005.
- Aktualně.czPopular Czech daily online
- Human Rights Watch Czech RepublicNews on human rights abuses
- Lidové novinyFounded in 1893, Lidové noviny is the oldest Czech daily newspaper. This paper has a center-right, conservative orientation. It covers national political, cultural, and economic news. This newspaper is recommend for serious news coverage in the Czech Republic.
- MF DnesIndependent Internet portal of MF Dnes, a widely read Czech daily. Although the paper started as a serious newspaper, over the years it has become more tabloid-esque.
- Prague Daily MonitorEnglish language daily newspaper from Prague
- Prague Post MagazineEnglish language magazine focusing on Central Europe as well as the Czech Republic
- Reporters Without Borders Czech RepublicNews on press freedom
Television and Radio
- Czech TelevisionPublic service broadcasts from the Czech Republic, with an English page.
- Radio Prague InternationalEnglish language online radio broadcasts based in Prague.
- Radio TVCzech radio broadcasts
Czech Language
- Czech-English Online DictionaryUse this global dictionary to search in 275 dictionaries on the Internet. Translate from 69 source languages into 73 target languages - 400 language combinations.
- The Czech LanguageThis website was created by the Institute of Formal and Applied Linguistics at Charles University Prague, the Institute of Czech National Corpus and other institutions for foreigners who want some brief, but serious information about the Czech language. It includes sections on grammar, syntax, alphabet and pronunciation, and spoken Czech.
- University of Wisconsin Madison Czech Sounds Tutorial (Česká abeceda)The Czech Sounds Tutorial (Česká abeceda) provides pronunciation for individual letters and examples of each letter in common words. Additionally, there are sound tutorials on common vowel clusters, Czech names, adjectives, and common phrases used in the Czech classroom.
- University of Wisconsin Madison Outline of Czech GrammarDavid S. Danaher, professor of Czech languages at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, created this useful website for quick grammar reference questions. The outline ranges from the basic principles of Czech grammar to the more advanced.
A Frequency Dictionary of Czech by Call Number: YRL: PG4640 .C39 2011ISBN: 9780415576611Date: 2011-01-19A Frequency Dictionary of Czech is an invaluable tool for all learners of Czech, providing a list of the 5,000 most frequently used words in the language. Based on data from a 100 million word corpus and evenly balanced between spoken, fiction, non-fiction and newspaper texts, the dictionary provides the user with a detailed frequency-based list, as well as alphabetical and part of speech indexes. All entries in the rank frequency list feature the English equivalent, a sample sentence with English translation and an indication of register variation.
Czech-English/English-Czech Practical Dictionary by Call Number: YRL: PG4640 .K86 2011ISBN: 9780781811071Date: 2011-01-01This useful dictionary provides businesspeople, travelers, and students with all the words they need to learn and communicate in Czech. Each entry includes practical information on genitive case ending, gender, and pronunciation of nouns and adjectives. It features: alphabet and pronunciation key; concise grammar of the language; and over 42,000 total entries.
Czech Libraries and Publishers
Libraries in Prague
- Czech National Library of Technology"The National Library of Technology (NTK) is the largest and the oldest library of science and technology literature in the Czech Republic, with a collection of over 1.5 million volumes. Its primary function is to provide specialized information resources and services to students, teachers, and researchers in the fields of engineering and applied sciences, as well as to educate members of the general public interested in STEM information."
- Dictionary of Czech Publishing HousesThis dictionary spans the Czech publishing period between 1849 and 1949. Entries are supplemented by brief biographies of individuals with emphasis on their publishing activities.
- Historical Strahov Library in PragueThe library in the Strahov Monastery in Prague played an important role in Czech history. There are about 200 000 old prints, mostly from the period between the 16th and the 18th century, around 3000 manuscripts and 1500 first prints.
- Libri ProhibitiThis research library located in Prague collects samizdat and exile literature.
- National Library of the Czech RepublicThe National Library's collection includes over 6.5 million volumes and yearly, it acquires about 80 thousand of new titles. Site includes access to catalog and some digital collections. In Czech and English.
- Slavonic Library in PragueThe Slavonic Library in Prague is a research library for the field of Slavic Studies, which contains more than 850,000 volumes of library documents, a collection of maps, posters, visual and artistic materials, and numerous collections of special documents.
Libraries in Brno
- Moravian LibraryThis research library is located in Brno.
Libraries in Olomouc
Czech Universities
- Central and Eastern European Education Directory - Czech RepublicProvides links to Arts and Humanities schools and universities in fields of Arts, Language & Literature, Culture, Design & Technology, History, Journalism, Law, Music, Pedagogy, Pre-School Education, Philology, etc.
- Masaryk University - Brno"After the First World War Brno became the second city of the Republic of Czechoslovakia in both size and significance. In 1919 three institutions of higher learning were founded here, among them Masaryk University, which soon became a hub of activity for students, teachers, and researchers."