HH215 PAGE

The West in a Global Context

Here are some suggestions for doing research for HH215.  Be sure to talk to a Reference Librarian for additional assistance.

Background Resources - These books may help you choose a topic or provide overview information.  Most listed here are in the Reference collection on the first floor.

Library Catalog - Use the Library Catalog to find books or audiovisuals on your person or topic.  Remember to search people's names as both authors and subjects to find works they wrote as well as books about them. 

Unlike some subjects, Western Civilization topics tend to be interdisciplinary and books you identify are likely to be in several locations in the Library.  In particular, these call number areas will be especially useful:

• B and C on the ground deck are philosophy, religion, and civilizations in general.
• D on the second deck is world history, so medieval England, for example, will be in DA, ancient Greece in DF, and ancient Rome in DG.
• PA on the third deck is classical literature.
• U on the third deck is military science, including warfare and weapons.

Databases - Search databases to identify scholarly journal articles.  Sometimes you can retrieve an article electronically from the database.  If not, it's a good idea to check both the Library Catalog and the Electronic Journals page because the article you want may be available another way.

Probably the best database to start with is:

Humanities Full Text, which includes a variety of scholarly journals in all disciplines of humanities.  Only partly full-text.

Other possibilities are:

• Academic Search Premier - the most general database with a wide assortment of publications. Only partly full-test.
• Historical Abstracts - the major database for scholarly history journals but coverage is primarily for more modern time periods.  Only partly full-text.
• JSTOR - all scholarly journals and all full-text in a variety of disciplines
• Philosopher's Index - the major indexing source for philosophy journals and related fields, but not full-text.
• Project Muse - full-text access to the scholarly journals published by Johns Hopkins University

Another kind of database is the authoritative source on the origins and meanings of English words. It is called the Oxford English Dictionary and the 20 volumes in print are in the Library's Reference collection under call number PE1625.O87. Or click here to access the online version: Oxford English Dictionary online.

Examples of Scholarly Journals - These journals to which the Library subscribes are the kinds of publications where you are likely to find scholarly articles.  Check the Library Catalog for specific holdings or electronic availability for these or other journals you identify.  Besides these that we own, the Library has electronic access to many other titles.

• Classical Quarterly
• Early Medieval Europe
• Exemplaria
• Historical Research
• Journal of Hellenic Studies
• Journal of Medieval History
• Journal of Roman Studies
• Journal of the History of Philosophy
• Mediaeval Studies
• Religious Studies
• Renaissance Quarterly
• Speculum
• Transactions of the American Philological Association

Primary Sources - Generally, primary sources are required for any history research paper and you may be surprised to realize you will find them even for people and topics from so long ago.  You will not actually see the original letter or publication or artifact, of course, but a translated or reprinted copy of it is also a primary source.

One especially useful collection of primary source material for the Greek and Roman time period is the Loeb Classical Library series of books.  There is a green set for Greek writings and a red set for Roman writings.  For most of the volumes, the original language is on the left page and the English translation is on the right.  These books are on the third deck in the call number section PA3000-6700.

For other time periods, look for any people who lived then and wrote about it or a copy of some document, coin, map or artifact that has survived from the time that you could interpret.  Also look in other books near the ones you plan to check out to see if you can find additional sources.

Here are a few Primary Source Tip Sheets from other colleges:

Georgetown University
http://www.library.georgetown.edu/guides/primary/

University of California, Berkeley
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/PrimarySources.html

University of North Carolina, Wilmington
http://library.uncwil.edu/subject/History/Guides/HST290primary.htm

Yale University
http://www.library.yale.edu/instruction/primsource.html

Internet Sources -- If you use the internet as part of the research process, you must use authoritative and reliable sites. Here are a few reputable sites you can check:

• Byzantium—Byzantine Studies on the Internet -- This site on Byzantium is from Fordham University is affiliated with the Internet Medieval Sourcebook (see below).
• Christian Classics Ethereal Library -- This site contains the translated works of many of the early Christian Fathers, as well as encyclopedias and dictionaries of Christianity.
• Internet Ancient History Sourcebook -- This site from Fordham University organizes public domain historical texts on the ancient world and civilizations. The index clearly outlines the arrangement of the documents to allow for easy access to a particular topic.
• Internet Medieval Sourcebook -- Fordham University maintains this site of selected full-text medieval texts, saints' lives, and other documents.
• Literary Sources—Renaissance -- This site is maintained by Jack Lynch at Rutgers University. It has links to literature and authors of the period.
• Medieval and Renaissance Europe: Primary Historical Documents -- Part of the EuroDocs project out of Brigham Young University , this site contains links to the texts of many medieval and renaissance works.
• ORB: On-line Reference Book for Medieval Studies -- Developed as a cooperative effort by medieval scholars, ORB provides an online textbook source for medieval studies on the web. It provides an encyclopedia for overview articles, digitized primary source material and links to other web resources.
• Oxford Islamic Studies Online - A fully integrated resource featuring reference content and commentary by renowned scholars in areas such as global Islamic history, concepts, people, practices, politics, and culture.
• Perseus Digital Library -- Developed at Tufts University, this site describes itself as an "evolving digital library." It has a classics collection of Greek and Roman authors, an atlas collection and a searchable table of contents.
• Society for Late Antiquity -- Besides information about this society, there are numerous links for ancient, classical, Byzantine, and medieval web sites and primary source collections in those areas. This site is from the University of South Carolina.

Remember to cite completely the information you get from a web site just as you would from any other source.

Other tips

1. Read a summary of the person or subject in a Reference book to get the overview of your topic and to confirm dates and facts.
2. Verify the spelling and variations in names.  Try entering a name in a different way if your first attempt gets no hits.
3. Search a person as an Author to find what they wrote, in addition to a Subject search.  Someone's own words or writings are a primary source.
4. Check the bibliography in any book you use or at the end of articles to see additional references.
5. Try several databases, rather than just one,  until you find relevant scholarly journal articles.
6. Think about what kind of primary source might exist on your person or topic besides the person's own words.  This might include artifacts or images on vases or battle descriptions or other people's impressions from the same time period.
7. Ask a librarian for assistance at any time.          

Wrapping It Up

• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Citing Electronic Information in History Papers
• Citing Your Sources

Or, contact the History Librarian, Barbara Manvel, directly at x36925 or manvel@usna.edu.

The links on this page are to sites that are not located at the United States Naval Academy. The USNA is not responsible for the content found on these sites. In addition, the content of these sites does not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards, policy or endorsement of the Naval Academy or the United States Government.

Comments or suggestions?
URL: http://www.usna.edu/Library/History/HH205.html
Last updated: 9 May 2008