On Litgloss, you can get a quick translation into English for unfamiliar words or phrases by simply clicking on the words or phrases. The texts chosen for this site are presented in their original languages (with the exception of Descartes' text, which was originally written in Latin). The annotations should allow you to read the text with little interruption to your train of thought. If you see a speaker icon, you can click it to hear a recording of the text in .mp3 format. Introductory information is presented under the "Context" tab, while suggestions for further reading are included under the "Resources" tab. However, many of the secondary pages have not yet been developed.

No plug-ins are required to view the texts on Litgloss, but your browser should be configured to play .mp3 recordings. Almost all of the pages are UTF-8-encoded, and should display correctly across platforms and browsers.

Litgloss welcomes contributions of annotated texts from those with knowledge of any of the world's languages and literatures. There is no automated mechanism for submission of text contributions, but arrangements can be made by e-mail.

Here is a short sample of the texts for which we seek annotators, meant to be suggestive rather than limiting. Although we can sometimes post excerpts from contemporary or recent authors, copyright laws constrain our options and result in an emphasis on "golden oldies." Diversification of the collection is a project goal.

• Psalm 23
• Marie de France, Lais
• Cervantes, from Don Quijote
• From the Chanson de Roland
• Montaigne, from the Essais
• Bâ, from Une si longue lettre
• Mahfouz, from Midaq Alley
• from the writings of Cicero
• Dostoievski, from Notes from the Underground
• from the poetry of Cavafy