| |
| |
| |
| |
This guide was designed to assist researchers at the University of North Florida who are looking for research materials (books, videos, sound recordings, magazine articles, journal articles, etc.) that focus on the civilization of Ancient Greece.
Where you begin your search will depend largely on how much you already know about the topic and what types of materials you would like to locate.
Specialized Subject Encyclopedias -- If you are fairly unacquainted with the subject matter, you might try starting with a specialized subject encyclopedia. Subject encyclopedias will provide you with a comprehensive overview of the different aspects of your subject, with specialized vocabulary, with names of key people associated with the subject, and with a historical framework. This should help to put things into perspective for you and might help you to choose a researchable topic.
Some basic works in the UNF Library's Reference Collection are:
| Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition. London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2000. Call number: DF757 .E53 2000 |
| Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World, by David Sacks. New York : Facts on File, 1995. Call number: DF16.S23 1995 |
| Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Classical World. New York : Harper & Row, 1975. Call number: DE5.I44 1975 |
| The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. Chicago, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1952. Call number: AC1.G72 v.14 |
Keep in mind that these are only starting places that can help you to identify people, terminology, and time periods and possibly help you identify an area of interest for further research. Once you have better acquainted yourself with the area and have chosen a more specific interest, it is time to move into doing more detailed research.
Books in the Thomas G. Carpenter Library -- To find what is available in the Carpenter Library, you will need to search the library's online catalog by topic. The most organized way to search is by Library of Congress Subject Heading, but you first must determine what subject heading to use. Not just any combination of words will work, so you might want to begin with a simple keyword search in the catalog, browse the results that appear in your title listing, and then review the book descriptions to find out what subject headings to use.
Some LC Subject Headings that will get you started in the catalog are:
| greece--antiquities |
| greece--civilization |
| greece--civilization--to 146 b c |
| greece--history |
| greece--history--athenian supremacy 479 431 b c |
| greece--history--macedonian expansion 359 323 b c |
| greece--history--peloponnesian war 431 404 b c |
| greece--history--persian wars 500 449 b c |
| greece--history--spartan and theban supremacies 404 362 b c |
| greece--history--to 146 b c |
| greece--history--281 146 b c |
| greece--intellectual life |
| greece--kings and rulers |
| greece--politics and government--to 146 b c |
| greece--religion |
| greece--social life and customs |
| greek literature |
| greek literature hellenistic |
Any of the above will work in the Carpenter Library catalog as long as you choose the "Subject" browse and enter exactly as shown above, including hyphens. These are by no means all the possible relevant headings. For example, if you plan to focus your search on Plato, then you will want to search his name directly as a subject in the catalog.
Keyword searching in the catalog is another option, but the results are not very precise. If you can identify the correct subject heading, you will have a more organized experience of the library's catalog.
Books in Other Florida University Libraries -- You might also want to see what is available in the other Florida public university libraries, especially if UNF doesn't seem to cover your chosen topic very well. The larger and older university libraries, such as those at the University of Florida and Florida State University, might well have just what you need to develop your topic.
Searching works exactly the same as it does in the Carpenter Library catalog, since all the state schools use the same WebLUIS system. You can use the same subject headings that you use in the Carpenter Library catalog or use a combination of keywords and subject headings to fine tune your search. Since you will be dealing with larger collections of materials than are available at UNF, the more precise the search the better.
The state university catalogs can be searched collectively or individually by school. From the Carpenter Library catalog, just click the link for "SUS Libraries" to move into a system-wide search. The SUS Catalog provides links to the individual schools if you prefer to choose each school individually.
Once you identify materials at another state university, use the Carpenter Library's ILLiad system to request that the materials be shipped to UNF. (A link to ILLiad is provided in the section of this page.)
Books in Other Libraries -- Your search might require that you go beyond the confines of Florida's university library system. If that is the case, you can easily search library catalogs worldwide by using OCLC's WorldCat system. (A link is provided in the section of this page.)
Searching WorldCat is not a whole lot different than searching the Carpenter Library catalog. Keyword will give you a start, but it is not the best way to search. Use the same techniques suggested above -- start with keyword, look at a few relevant items, jot down the subject headings, and then launch a subject search of WorldCat. You'll get much better results.
Materials identified through WorldCat can also be ordered through ILLiad, but the time required to receive materials from out of state might be prohibitive if you haven't started your project early enough in the semester. A word to the wise: START ON YOUR PROJECT AS SOON AS IT IS ASSIGNED. That way you can check for available materials and determine if you will need to use ILLiad as a means of procuring items not available at UNF or elsewhere in the state system.
Using Research Databases to Identify Journal Articles -- While library catalogs will help you to identify books on your topic, they will not help you to identify articles that have been published in journals. This is where the lbirary's collection of research databases comes in handy. The Carpenter Library subscribes to over 200 research databases that can help you to find articles published in magazines, newspapers, and journals. History topics developed at the university level are usually best researched in journals. Magazines and newspapers that were published at the time an event was developing can often times be quite useful as primary sources of information for a topic, but scholarly analyses of the events are invaluable to researchers who need to go beyond the historical record and analyze what other researchers have discovered about a topic.
Links provided in the section of this page point to the category listings of the library's databases that are most likely to provide researchers with the best sources of information on Ancient Greece. For example, the listing of Anthropology and Archaeology databases includes a link to the Anthropology Plus database, which can be invaluable for tracking down information on ancient civilizations. This isn't by any means the only database that can be useful, so be sure to check for other related databases.
No single database will give you everything that you will need for the successful completion of a project, just as no single database covers every journal published in a particular field. For this reason, your search is not complete when you have gone through a single database. In reality, it is likely just beginning, since articles discovered in one database might possibly provide leads that can be pursued in other databases. In short, don't sell your project short by limiting your search to only one database.
Of the databases referenced by the shortcuts in this guide, some of the best are:
Some of these databases may also include references to book chapters, to entire books, and to other materials such as dissertations and manuscripts, but much of the coverage is devoted to articles.
Article Search Strategies-- Every database is different in how it presents information and in its user interface. This could present researchers with a nearly insurmountable problem, except that almost all databases are structurally similar. In other words, though the look of the databases may vary widely, the way information is stored and retrieved is remarkably similar. Most databases offer a BASIC search mode that allows a researcher to plug in nearly any key words and retrieve at least some information. The key is to begin with a fairly simple search to determine what might be available and then to narrow it down step-by-step until you find the specifics that you need. Narrowing the search is usually best accomplished in an ADVANCED search, another feature shared by most research databases. Typically, the ADVANCED search allows for the easy combination of multiple search terms and for searching in specific parts of the article descriptions, for example in the article titles or in the article abstracts or even in the journal titles. Further limits can be placed, usually by date and by language. Again, the key to success is to begin with a simple search, browse, review, and then revise.
Don't let failed searches frustrate you. Searches typically fail because the researcher is not using the same terminology used in the database. This is where a preliminary reading of background material in a specialized encyclopedia can be invaluable; this may be all it takes to come up with the same terminology that experts writing in the field are using. And, again, browse whatever results you retrieve with an eye toward discovering other key concepts and terms to use in a new search. The first search you do is likely not going to be the best nor the last, and you may need to vary your terminology and strategies as you move from one database into another.
Finding the Articles -- Articles from journals may or may not be directly available from the Carpenter Library. While the library has over 2500 print subscriptions and over 13,000 electronic accesses to journals and magazines, there will often be periodicals that you need that are not available either in print or online. In those cases, remember that the library can order materials for you; you need only make the request through ILLiad.
Checking to see what journals are available at UNF is quite simple. If the library subscribes to the journal in print, it will be listed in the library's catalog. To search, use the "Journal Title" option in the catalog's BASIC search. If the library has electronic access to the journal, it will be listed in the library's E-journal listing, available for searching directly from the library's home page. If the library has either the print or the electronic journal, getting the article will be a snap.
Using SFX to Determine the Availability of
Journal Articles -- The quickest way to locate an article is through
SFX 
. New to
UNF in Fall 2003, SFX offers a quick means for locating an article online,
in the library's local collection, and in other libraries' collections.
The whole beauty of SFX is that it allows a researcher to link directly from inside a research database to available full-text articles, to check the availability of articles not online, and even to check the Ulrichs International Periodicals database to determine if the article is from a scholarly journal or from a consumer magazine. As you go through article listings in the databases, look for the SFX button as a quick means to help you determine where to find the materials that you identify.
How it works: As you browse article
listings and link to article abstracts, look for the
button. Clicking the button opens a separate availability window that lists
all the possibilities for retrieving or searching for the full text of the
article. Full-text databases will be listed first and will link you directly
to the referenced article. Any full text links will be followed by links to
the Carpenter Library catalog, the state universities union catalog, and to
WorldCat. If no full text is available, the library search links provide a
quick means for determining where the article can be located. A final link
provides access to journal information included in Ulrichs. This can help
you decide if the source of the article is appropriate for academic research
or if it is merely geared toward a popular audience.
Articles that are available through one of the library's full-text databases will be easily retrieved on the spot. Articles available in the library's print Periodicals Collection on the 3rd floor of the library are nearly as easy to retrieve. Articles not available locally, either online or from the library's print collection, will have to be ordered through ILLiad. Remember the previous word to the wise and start the project early just in case you need to order articles from another library. This can take time, sometimes up to a month. As the old adage goes -- the early bird gets the worm.
Requesting Materials Not Available at UNF
Using Interlibrary Loan to Get Materials Not at UNF -- The Carpenter Library participates in a nation-wide system of exchange known as interlibrary loan, which essentially provides library users with access to materials located at any library in the country. The Carpenter Library is only 30 years old, so its collection cannot come close to matching the size and scope of the collections maintained at other larger and older libraries. But the Carpenter Library can borrow from and have photocopies made by other libraries that have materials needed by UNF researchers. Using the library's ILLiad request system, any current UNF student, staff, or faculty can request materials from nearly any other library in the country and have them delivered directly to UNF.
Getting materials from other libraries can take time. The turnaround can be anywhere from a week and a half to over a month, depending on which library has the material and how quickly the lending library responds to UNF's request. For the researcher, this means that materials needed for a project should be identified early in the research process.
Journal articles are usually provided as photocopies, rather than the lending library actually sending the journal itself. Normally there is no charge to the UNF researcher for the copies. Books are normally loaned to UNF for two to three weeks. If you have received a book on loan from another library and need to extend the loan period, make sure to make a request for renewal a few days in advance so that UNF has time to contact the lender and get an extension.
Not having the materials at UNF is not an impediment to completing a research project. All you need to do is request materials not at UNF through Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad).
Dictionaries & General Encyclopedias -- The library's 2nd floor Reference Collection provides users with a number of dictionaries of the English language and quite a few foreign language dictionaries (see the library's guide Selected Languages & Linguistics Resources for a selection of dictionaries available). The Reference Collection also houses a number of general encyclopedias, such as Americana, Academic American, and Colliers. Encyclopedias will be found in the AE call number section of the Reference Collection. Home researchers will find that they have access to Encyclopedia Americana and the Oxford English Dictionary Online through the library's database collection. Links are provided in the section of this guide.
RefWorks -- The library has had a trial subscription since January 2003 to a bibliography management system known as RefWorks and will continue providing access to the service for UNF students, staff, and faculty through calendar year 2004 and hopefully beyond. RefWorks allows researchers to collect article, book, video, Web page, and other citations online, to save the citations in custom folders protected by username and password, and, when the researcher is done researching, to automatically format the collected citations in any of more than 100 citation styles, including MLA, APA, ASA, Chicago, and Turabian. While no computer-generated bibliography will be 100% perfect in format, RefWorks is an impressive step in the right direction. An added benefit, RefWorks directly interfaces with a number of the major UNF research database systems, including ProQuest, FirstSearch, and Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, thus making the process of creating a bibliography a snap. Before using RefWorks the first time, a researcher will need to sign up for a user name and password, a simple process that takes only a minute or so. The service is provided to UNF researchers at no charge, courtesy of the library.
UNF Library Citation Guide -- As a further help to writers, the library maintains a brief citation guide that provides assistance with APA and MLA citation styles. Available online, the guide has recently been updated to reflect the current editions of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.) and the Modern Language Association's Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.). A link to the guide is provided in the section of this guide.