1. Research Sources and Strategies for Classics Margaret Forrest Academic Liaison Librarian

2. Library, museum and gallery essentials Searcher Library catalogue via AquabrowserAquabrowser eJournals Literature searching guidelines Databases for Classics Classics Subject Guide Library Databases A-Z Outline

3. URL Link

4. Literature searching: 6-step guide 1.Describe your research question 2.Highlight key concepts or topics 3.Consider alternative keywords 4.Decide how you will combine search terms 5.Select an appropriate database 6.Limit or expand your search results

5. 1. Describe your research question In what way has the treatment of slaves contributed to our understanding of the development of the Roman household from the first to the second century?

6. 2. Highlight key concepts or topics In what way has the treatment of slaves contributed to our understanding of the development of the Roman household from the first to the second century?

7. 3. Consider alternative keywords Roman Empire Household Family Slaves Slavery Unfree Labour First Century Second Century

8. Records contain both A and B Record contains A but not B Records contain either A or B 4. Combine search terms Using Boolean Operators

9. 4. Combine search terms Example using Boolean Operators #SearchResults #1 Roman Empire 3,793 #2 Slaves OR Slavery OR Unfree labour 10,517 #3 Household OR Family >100,000 #4 #1 AND #2 AND #3 6

10. 5. Select an appropriate database From MyEd to Launch Library Resources > Databases A-Z > Arts and Humanities Citation Index From ISI Web of Knowledge Indexes 1100 arts and humanities journals from 1975 to date.

11. 6. Limiting or expanding your search results Too many results? Add additional keywords with AND Use more specific keywords Use thesaurus terms Limit by particular fields (e.g. date) Too few results? Check your spelling Use all possible synonyms for topic Use alternative spelling (UK/US) Combine keywords using OR Use truncation

12. Truncation? If you have too few results, truncation can help widen your search… Truncation allows you to look for all forms of a keyword….plurals, variant endings Type in the beginning of a word plus the truncation or wildcard symbol ($ * ? #) depending on the database e.g. in AHCI Rom* - will find Rome, Roman, but also romance and romantic wom?n – will find women, woman

13. Snowballing Just one useful reference can lead you to more… Search for other publications by the same author Follow up on references listed at the end of an article or book Note keywords assigned to this article in databases - use these to run a new search Use “cited by” or “more like this” links –e.g. Lookout for the hypertext link Times Cited in AHCI

14. Databases for Classics Arts and Humanities Citation Index Brill's New Pauly Dyabola L'Annee philologique Patrologiae Graecae Patrologia Latina Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG)

15. URL Link

16. Classics Subject Guide Looking for more information? Try the Classics Subject GuideClassics Subject Guide Links to open access websites Guide to finding academic literature Information about Inter-Library Loans Library news

17. Library Databases A-Z Bookmark this page!

18. ARTstor Education Image Gallery SCRAN Image Databases

19. margaret.forrest@ed.ac.uk Academic Liaison Librarian School of History, Classics and Archaeology