Using Reference Material and the Library Catalog
Reference books:
Reference books, located in the reference area of the first
floor, provide you with background information that can
be helpful in developing a topic or thesis statement. You’ll
find information about people, dates, events, statistics,
places, definitions, terms, and concepts—in all subject
areas. You may find these through our catalog, or better
yet, ask a reference librarian to help you identify useful
reference works in the subject area with which you are working.
Below, I’ve listed a number of useful reference works for
the study of classics and literature:
Ancient Greece and Rome : an Encyclopedia for Students
Ref. DE5 .A57 1998 4 volumes
Ancient Greek Authors
Ref. PS21 .D5x v.176
Dictionary of Literary Biography v. 176
Ancient Roman Writers
Ref. PS21 .D5x v.211 (1999)
Dictionary of Literary Biography v. 211
Atlas of the Greek World
Ref. DF77 .L43 1984
Atlas of the Roman World
Ref. DG77 .C597 1982
The Atlas of World Archaeology
Ref. CC165 .A85 2000
Civilization of the Ancient Mediterranean : Greece and
Rome
Ref. DE59 .C55 1988 3 volumes
Encyclopedia of Modern Greek Literature
Ref. PA5210 .M44 2004
Encyclopedia of Women in the Ancient World
Ref. HQ1127 .S25 2001
The Greek and Latin Literatures
Ref. Z7018.T7 E85 1968
The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd edition
Ref. DE5 .O9 2003
Thesaurus Linguae Graecae Canon of Greek Authors and
Works
Ref. PA3051 .B47x 1990
Using the Library Catalog
Guide to using the Library catalog
http://www.lib.grinnell.edu/research/InstructionGuides/opac.html
What you need to know:
What kind of materials you can find in the catalog
Almost anything: music (scores and recordings), films, printed
material, electronic material including web pages and databases.
You can find almost anything except journal articles.
How to find material that you identify in the catalog
Check status (checked out or not?)
Check location (floor, special area within the library?)
Write down the entire call number
Ask for assistance if you are coming up short
Constructing a search in the catalog
If you are looking for a known item you can do either an
author or a title search. For instance, you are looking
for Essays on Aristotle's Poetics edited by Amélie
Oksenberg Rorty. You can do a title search using the title,
or an author search, last name first: Rorty, Amélie Oksenberg.
These are “exact searches.†The computer wants the words
in the right order. If you are looking for words on a particular
topic you will do either a keyword or a subject search.
Subject searches are also exact searches. A keyword search
can be any combination of words of your choosing. You may
need to know how to do a Boolean search.
See the guide for constructing a Boolean search. You also
have a hand out on this
http://www.lib.grin.edu/research/InstructionGuides/booleanmodule.html
Possible keyword searches include:
Catharsis and hamartia
(Catharsis or hamartia) and aristotle
Aristotle and poetics
Aristotle and tragedy
Exact searches using the Library of Congress Subject Headings
include:
Aristotle, Poetics
Aesthetics, Ancient
Comedy
Greek drama (Tragedy) -- History and criticism
Literature, Comparative -- Greek and English
Mimesis in literature
Poetics
Poetics – History
Tragedy
Tragedy -- Greek influences
Rebecca Stuhr, Grinnell College Libraries. October 2005
Stuhrr/3674
