Barnard College Library Research Guide
BC3159x: Junior Colloquium
Skepticism and Affirmation
Professor Maire Jaanus
Conversion of St. Paul The development of modern concepts
of subjectivity and authority.
The rise of art and the artist.
Humanism, rationalism, and empiricism.
Sadism and evil.
The exploration of limits, and the limitless.

Lady with an Ermine

Conversion of Saint Paul, 1600-1601
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio,
Scan by artchive.com Mark Harden
Lady with an Ermine, 1483-1490
Leonardo da Vinci
Scan by artchive.com Mark Harden

Contents
Works Available On-line | Film Versions in the Barnard or Columbia Libraries
Using Reference Books to Find Background Information
Using CLIO | Using Indexes | Using the World Wide Web
Classes on Research Skills | Consultation Request Form
CUBBoard for this class

 

WORKS AVAILABLE ON-LINE

Many of the works on the syllabus can be found in one of the following collections of on-line books:
   Bartleby.com
   Bibliomania
   Columbia University Institute for Learning Technologies
   Concordance.com  (Full text along with searchable word indexes)
   The Internet Public Library
   LION: Literature Online (Only available on Columbia campus or via Columbia dial-in modem pool)
   The On-Line Books Page (University of Pennsylvania)
   The Reading Room (University of Maryland)
   Project Gutenberg
  

These works are not included in the on-line collections listed above, but are available at the URLs indicated:

 

WORKS WITH A VIDEO VERSION AVAILABLE AT BARNARD OR COLUMBIA

 

  • Marlowe, Doctor Faustus.  1967 movie with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. 
    BARNARD MEDIA PR2664 .A1 1987g and BUTLER MEDIA PR2664 .A1 1987g.
  • Middleton, The Changeling.  1993 BBC production with Bob Hoskins, Elizabeth McGovern and Hugh Grant.  
    BUTLER MEDIA PR2714 .C5 1998b

 

OTHER RELEVANT VIDEOS AT BARNARD AND COLUMBIA LIBRARIES

 

  • The Age of Faith to the Age of Reason.  Lectures on medieval, Renaissance and early modern philosophy.
    BARNARD MEDIA VIDEO B73 .G732 1992g Pt. 2
  • Artemisia.  1997 movie about Artemisia Gentileschi, the daughter of one of Italy's greatest painters.  French dialogue; English subtitles.  
    BARNARD VIDEO PN1997 .A763 1997g
  • Art of the Western World.  An introduction to and study of artistic masterpieces from the Western world.
    BUTLER MEDIA RESERVES VIDEO N5300 .A783 1989g
    BARNARD MEDIA VIDEO N5300 .A783 1989g
  • Blaise Pascal.  1971 movie directed by Roberto Rossellini about the mathematician and philosopher Pascal.
    BUTLER MEDIA VIDEO PN1997 .B585 1991g
  • Caravaggio.  1986 film by Derek Jarman about the life of the painter Caravaggio. 
    BARNARD VIDEO ND623.C26 C262 1987g
  • Dangerous Beauty.  Drama based on the life of Veronica Franco, a courtesan in 16th century Italy.
    BARNARD VIDEO DG678.24.F73 D25 1998g
  • Dante, the Journey of our Life.  Documentary about the life and work of Dante Alighieri. 
    BARNARD VIDEO PQ4335 .D35 1991g
  • The Draughtman's Contract.  1983 movie by Peter Greenaway with Anthony Higgins and Janet Suzman, set in 1694.
    BARNARD VIDEO PN1997 .D735 1990g
  • Film Form / Art Form: Leonardo's Deluge; a Mosque in Time; Sainte-Genevieve, the Pantheon of Domes.  Presents three short documentaries, along with discussion on the making of films which interpret works of art.
    BARNARD MEDIA VIDEO PN1995.9.A73 A7 1991g
  • God's Outlaw: the Story of William Tyndale.  Documentary about the early English reformer who was pursued by King Henry VIII, Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas More across Europe for his efforts to translate the Bible into English.
    BARNARD VIDEO BR350.T8 G6 1987
  • Great Philosophers: a History of Western Philosophy.  Bryan Magee interviews several contemporary philosophers on the great philosophers of the past.
    BUTLER MEDIA RESERVES VIDEO B72 .G735 1997g
  • A Man for All Seasons.  Movie version of Robert Bolt's play about Thomas More. 
    BUTLER MEDIA RESERVES DVD0320;  BARNARD MEDIA DVD PR6052.O39 M3 1998g; BARNARD VIDEO PR6052.O39 M3 1985g
  • Michel de Montaigne "Que scais-je?"  Film (in French) examining Montaigne's life and work. 
    BARNARD VIDEO PQ1643 .M548 1996g
  • Paradise Lost: the Bible and History.  Documentary on the history and influence of the Bible from the Reformation to the present day.
    BARNARD VIDEO BS635.2 .T47 1991g
  • The Reformation, Age of Revolt.  Documentary film describing the political, social, and religious conflicts of early sixteenth century Europe, and their consequences for the modern world
    BARNARD VIDEO BR305.2 .R375 1973
  • The Renaissance.  1993 documentary series of five films depicting the lives of well known people of the Renaissance and their ideas on art, science, government, nature and religion.
    BARNARD VIDEO CB359 .R46 1993g
  • Romance and Reality; Man, the Measure of All Things; The Hero as Artist; Protest and Communication; Grandeur and Obedience; The Light of Experience.  Programs 3 through 8 of the 1969 TV series Civilisation by Kenneth Clark.
    BARNARD VIDEO CB68 .C54 1993g
  • Rome Revisited.  1995 documentary about Renaissance and Baroque Rome. 
    BUTLER RESERVES VIDEO NA1120 .R66 1995g
  • Return to Glory: Michelangelo Revealed.  1986 TV documentary about the restorations in the Sistine Chapel.
    BARNARD VIDEO ND623.B92 R47
  • Shakespeare, Plays.  Various productions. 
    BARNARD MEDIA and BUTLER MEDIA
  • The Way of the World.  1978 BBC production of William Congreve's Restoration comedy.
    BARNARD VIDEO PR3364 .W3 1978g
  • Where Luther Walked.  1992 documentary about Martin Luther. 
    BARNARD VIDEO BR325 .W53 1992g
  • Yo, la Peor de Todas (I, the Worst of All).  Historical drama about Sister Juana Ines de la Cruz, based on "Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, o, las Trampas de la Fe" by Octavio Paz.
    BARNARD VIDEO PQ7249.J6 Z7249 1990g

 

FINDING BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON YOUR TOPIC USING REFERENCE BOOKS

When you are beginning to research your topic, encyclopedias, dictionaries and other reference books can provide useful background information and bibliographies that can lead you to relevant books and articles.  The reference books in this list are available in the Barnard Library reference area on the second floor.

    Title Barnard Reference
Call Number
General Dictionary of Italian Literature                      PQ4006 .D45 1996
Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory            PN41 .C83 1998  
Dictionary of Literary Themes and Motifs             PN43 .D48 1988
Oxford Companion to English Literature PR19 .D73 1985b
Encyclopedias Dictionary of Art                                      N31 .D5 1996
Encyclopedia Britannica (Renaissance Science in Vol. 27)  AE5 .E363 1990
Encyclopedia of the Renaissance        CB361 .E52 1999
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy        

B51 .R68 1998 

World Philosophy: Essay-Reviews of 225 Major Works    B29 .W68 1982    
Criticism British Writers                                           PR85 .B688
LC: Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800              PN86 .L56 
SC: Shakespearean Criticism PR2965 .S43
Biographical DLB: Dictionary of Literary Biography                    PS129 .D5  
European Writers                 PN501 .E9 1983 
Bibliographies The Essential Milton        PR3581 .K54 1989
Marlowe Criticism: A Bibliography          PR2673 .C52 1978

 

USING CLIO TO FIND BOOKS AND JOURNALS

You can enter CLIO from the Barnard Library home page or from the Columbia University LibraryWeb.    
CLIO (Columbia Libraries Information Online) is the on-line catalog for materials added to the Columbia University Libraries since 1981; for older materials, use the card catalogs.

 

USING INDEXES TO FIND CITATIONS TO PERIODICAL ARTICLES 

 

On the Databases (Reference Works & Indexes) list on the Barnard Library homepage, there are over 300 indexes, databases and catalogs which can enable you to find citations for journal articles and books, and also the full text of many articles. 

  • Read the descriptions of the indexes to find out which ones might be the most useful for your research 
  • Search by keyword or subject to find some germane citations
  • In CLIO, look up the titles of the journals in which the articles appear - in the brief view (Web version), or the title index screen (Telnet version), the title of a journal is followed by "serial" 
  • If you are using the Telnet version of CLIO, use the hol command to examine the libraries holdings and find out where the volume you want is located

The indexes and databases listed below will probably be the most relevant to your research.              


Humanities Abstracts

  • Citations and abstracts for articles, book reviews, etc. in archaeology, art, classics, film, folklore, journalism, linguistics, music, performing arts, philosophy, religion and world history and literature, published from 1984 to the present    
  • The journal and volume in which the article appears is given in the "Source" field.  If the link "Search the catalog at Columbia" appears, a CLIO search for the journal is carried out when you click on it. However, the database is not always up to date with the holdings of the Columbia Libraries, so it is best to search CLIO yourself every time.
  • To e-mail results to yourself: click on the "E-mail" button at the top


MLA Bibliography

  • Citations for articles, dissertations, books etc. on literature, linguistics, language, and folklore, published from 1963 to the present
  • Dissertations may be harder to obtain than articles in journals, so it is probably best to limit search to articles


JSTOR

  • A full text database of articles from over 120 scholarly journals, from each journal’s first issue up to 3 to 5 years ago
  • There are no abstracts for most articles, and no subject headings at all, so searching in the title is the most direct search; a full text search will often find too many irrelevant articles

ProQuest Direct
  • Full text database of articles from newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals
  • To select scholarly journals, click on "Collections" at top left, select "PA Research II--Peer Reviewed," then click on "Search Methods - Guided" 

Women's Resources International
  • Citations for articles on women's studies, gender studies, feminist theory and criticism, published from 1972 to the present
  • With an advanced search, you can specify a geographic area, time period, etc.

 

FINDING INFORMATION ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB

Subject Guides to the Internet on the Barnard and Columbia Libraries Homepages
Both the Barnard and Columbia Library homepages have lists of recommended Web pages on various topics.  These make a  good place to start with finding information on the World Wide Web.

The Subject Guides to Online Resources page, available from the Barnard Library homepage, includes subject guides on art, history, literature, politics, ready reference, science, theater, women's studies, etc.

The Subject Guides to Electronic Resources page is available from the Columbia University Libraries LibraryWeb page.

Some Useful Web Pages for this Course

Web Searching    
Click here for a Quick Guide to Web Searching and Evaluating Information from the Web.

Writing, Planning and Researching Help Available on the Web                                       
A Guide for Writing Research Papers based on Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines is available online.
For help with selecting a topic, writing an outline, dealing with writer’s block, etc., consult the MIT Writing Center or the Paradigm Online Writing Assistant.          

 

OTHER LIBRARY SERVICES

Classes on Research Skills
Barnard Library offers classes on CLIO, the World Wide Web, and online databases and indexes throughout the academic year by prior arrangement.  For more information, or to schedule a session, please contact the Barnard Library Reference Desk at 212-854-3953 or refdesk@barnard.edu or come to the Reference Desk on the second floor. 

Research Skills Exercise
Click here for a Research Skills Exercise to print out which will enable you to test and improve your library research skills. 

Consultation with a Reference Librarian
Click here to complete a form you can e-mail to the library requesting a consultation on your research.
Come to the Reference Desk on the second floor.  We'll be happy to help you find additional information.
Contact a reference librarian: e-mail refdesk@barnard.edu or call 212-854-3953.


Last Modified 10/11/01
Lois Coleman
Reference Librarian
Barnard College Library