Finding resources for your dissertation: Classics & Ancient History

Richard Holmes & Kathryn Stevens

February 2015

Aims of the session

To help you:

• Find relevant resources for your dissertation

• Make the most of the Library’s tools and resources

• Know who to contact for further help

Format of the session

The session will involve:

• A brief overview of finding quality academic material on your subject

• A demonstration of some key resources

• A chance for you to begin searching for information for your dissertation

• An opportunity to ask for help and advice when researching

Starting Point: Subject Page

Remember…You must use a range of resources. No one database covers everything!

Encyclopaedias are a good starting point, introducing key concepts and potential search terms

Full text databases search the articles within them in great detail, but are limited in breadth

Bibliographic databases do not have (or search) the full articles, but have broader coverage and should contain all relevant keywords

Commercial databases are maintained by human hand (and intelligence), unlike Google/Scholar

The Library Catalogue – What is it?

• Collection of records describing the Library’s holdings

• Each record contains bibliographic/descriptive information about a specific item

• ‘Bibliographic’ = e.g. title, author, publisher, publication year

• Description = e.g. number of pages, physical dimensions, additional notes

• Many feature an abstract/summary (containing relevant keywords)

• Does not search or contain full text

The Library Catalogue – Limitations

Consequently:

• Good for finding articles?

• Good for finding relevant book chapters?

• Good for finding theses/conference papers?

• Good for finding other libraries’ holdings?

The Library Catalogue – Benefits

• Getting started with your research

• Performing a ‘scoping’ search

• Checking local holdings & availability

Mainly useful for checking local availability of materials you have already identified elsewhere.

‘Discover’• Searches inside several of our full text collections in one go• Searches a number of our specialist bibliographic databases

in one go• Option to search a broader index of material we don’t

own/subscribe to

But…

• Searches can still be overwhelming. Better to target your searches to niche databases

• Such databases offer custom interfaces designed to search the respective material efficiently.

Obtaining items outside Durham

• Use UK-wide COPAC catalogue

– http://www.copac.ac.uk

• Visiting other universities e.g. Newcastle and Northumbria

– Check their catalogues: http://www.dur.ac.uk/library/resources/online/catalogues/

• Access to other libraries

– SCONUL Access Scheme

– http://www.dur.ac.uk/library/otherlibraries/

• Document Delivery Service

– http://www.dur.ac.uk/library/using/borrowing/dds/