Reinventing Literary History – The Legacy of the Mediterranean – Library Research Fall 2009

Professor Alexis Soloski

•REFERENCE BOOKS:

Dictionary of the Middle Ages. D114.D5 1982
Medieval England: an Encyclopedia. DA129 .M43 1998
Oxford Classical Dictionary. DE5 .09 2003 & online
Civilization of the Ancient Mediterranean. DE59 .C55 1988
Medieval Italy. DG443 .M43 2004
Dictionary of Literary Themes and Motifs. PN43 .D48 1988
Encyclopedia of European Social History. PN501 .E9 1983 & online
Women and Gender in Medieval Europe: an Encyclopedia. HQ1147 .E85 W66 2006
Ancient Writers: Greece and Rome. PA3002 .A5 1982
Feminist Encyclopedia of French Literature. PQ149 .F47 1999 & online
Dante Encyclopedia. PQ4333 .D36 2000
Cervantes Encyclopedia. PQ4333 .D36 2000
Oxford Companion to Chaucer. PR1924 .O99 2003g
Plays of Shakespeare: a Thematic Guide. PR2987 .M43 1998 & online
Dictionary of Literary Biography. PS129 .D5 & online
Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages online

•CLIO: Columbia University Information Online
  The library catalog for Columbia University, including Barnard College. CLIO can be searched by title,
  author, subject, keyword, and other options

 TITLE SEARCH:

*try:     title:  canterbury tales

*note: *retrieves all books that begin with the phrase “canterbury tales”  

             *note: capitalization is not necessary.

             *note: different editions, multiple locations, visuals and sound recordings.

JOURNAL TITLE SEARCH: 

*note:  journals are also listed in CLIO

*try:     journal title: greece and rome

*note: *locations; both Barnard and Butler own this journal

             *holdings: must click on the record or link to see what the library owns

             *note: full-text electronic journals are also listed in CLIO; journal articles are not listed in CLIO

AUTHOR SEARCH:

*try:       author: chaucer geoffrey

*note:    chaucer’s works are listed alphabetically

KEYWORD SEARCH:

*try:       keyword:  odyssey penelope

               keyword:   (myth? OR magic) AND quixote

               keyword:   homer odyssey AND (power OR politic?)            

SUBJECT SEARCH: must use LC (Library of Congress) subject headings

*try:       subject: greece—politics and government--   

*try:       subject: women--france--history

*try:       subject: dante alighieri (note “criticism and interpretation” division)

  •DATABASES AND INDEXES: from the A-Z listing of Databases can be searched from both the Barnard

  and Columbia University libraries’ home pages. The Database list includes library catalogs, reference

  books and more. Databases relevant   for this class project are: MLA Bibliography, Humanities Full Text,

  LION, JSTOR and Project Muse. You may also want to try additional databases such as ProQuest and

  Gender Studies.

•MLA BIBLIOGRAPHY:

  This database is a comprehensive literature and language database and includes folklore. Includes

  citations to journal articles, books, and articles in books. Use keywords. * is the truncation symbol.

 *try: dante inferno

 *try: dante AND (hell OR underworld)

 *try: hamlet AND (love OR erotic*)

•HUMANITIES FULL TEXT:

This database can help locate articles in the humanities including literature, history, art, classics, music, religion and other humanities topics.  Use “and” between keyword terms. * is the truncation symbol.

*try:  dante AND inferno

*try:  “margery kempe”

*try:   “canterbury tales” AND (gender OR body)

•LION: Literature Online:  

Primarily criticism on literature in English. Many full-text articles. * is the truncation symbol.

Literatures other than English language are now being included. Includes a library of literary texts online.
*click on: “criticism and reference box”.

*type “hamlet AND politics” in “keyword” box and “shakespeare” in “author/subject” box

•JSTOR: Searchable e-journal collections. Full-text articles; excludes recent years. Includes literature, history, African American Studies, Latin American Studies, sociology and other areas of study.

*use advanced search for more precise searching.  & is the truncation sign.

*choose all journal categories by not selecting any category

*type: "virgil rome” in the “all of the words box” and perform a search

•PROJECT MUSE:
  Searchable collection of journals full text; includes current years only. Multidisciplinary.

  Includes literature journals such as Marvels and Tales, Modern Fiction Studies, as well as the Journal of

  the History of Sexuality and more. *is the truncation symbol.

 *try: “euripides AND (theology OR religion) (using all journals)

•PROQUEST DIRECT:

  Multidisciplinary database which includes many full-text articles. Some literature journals are included.

  After doing a search, retrieving results, find scholarly journals by clicking on “scholarly articles” tab.

  *tip: put “and” between search terms or put terms in separate boxes. *is the truncation symbol.

  *try: shakespeare AND (race OR racial)
  *try: chaucer AND (trade OR commerce OR merchant)

•GENDER STUDIES DATABASE:

   This is a database which can help locate citations to articles in the social sciences including

   anthropology, psychology, politics and sociology. Includes Women’s Studies. Use “and” between

   keyword terms.

   *try:   “princesse de cleves

   *try:   feminis* AND shakespeare
*note: try various searches and multiple databases                10/21/09 kdd   kdobrusk@barnard.edu