HIST 232: Medieval Lives (Bush): Secondary Sources

Finding Your Way in the Library:

At Holy Cross, we organize our books using a system called Library of Congress Classification or LCC. LCC is based on the subject of the books. Each letter represents a specific subject. Each subject is broken down into more specific letter sections, each of which is further broken down into number ranges for specific topics. Most call numbers have additional  numbers and letters on the end of them, which are used to give each book a unique spot on the library shelves. 

Generally: 

• Reference Books are in the Main Reading Room. These books must stay in the library.

• Books whose numbers begin with letters A through G are on the Mezzanine level (1 floor down from the Main Reading Room).

• Books whose numbers begin with N or TR are in the Visual Arts Wing on the main level. 

• Books whose numbers begin with letters H through Z are mostly on the Ground (bottom) level.

• Books whose numbers begin with M are in the Music Library in Brooks Hall.

• Books whose numbers begin with Q, R, S or T are in the Science Library in Swords Hall.

The Stacks Guide handout attached below has more information about how the stacks are organized, and the best places for you to look. 

You can also watch our Call Numbers tutorial 📺 to learn more about how call numbers work. Or, check out the Library of Congress Classification Outline for a detailed breakdown of our call number system. 

Book Chapters:

Did you know that the Libraries have more than one kind of book in our collections? When we think of books, we are usually thinking of what's called a monograph (a single intellectual work in one volume -- so, a single topic, likely one overall argument, etc.) Chapters in monographs can certainly be helpful to understanding your topic, but you may also want to look at edited collections. Edited collections (also sometimes called anthologies) contain a collection of essays around a topic or idea, typically curated by one or more scholars in the field. Edited collections are valuable for their ability to bring together different takes on and aspects of a topic in a particular volume where they can be read together, but the chapters or essays also stand as their own intellectual works. 

Locating book chapters that you may want to read can take a little more time. Here are some creative ways that you might find book chapters: 

• CrossSearch -- some, but not all, of our books have tables of contents in the catalog that you can check. To look specifically for edited collections, add "edited" to your search terms! 
• Google Books typically have limited previews, but if you can see enough to locate a helpful chapter, we can get you a copy; 
• Similarly, Amazon.com previews; 
• Google Scholar sometimes includes citations for book chapters (and searches across Google Books); 
• Databases (some, but not all, include book chapter citations specifically; IMB is one). 
• Citations in bibliographies of articles, e-books, or other books that you may have checked out

You can also try searching WorldCat, which searches the collections of libraries around the world (including ours!). Sometimes the information about a book is listed differently in WorldCat, allowing you to find sources that you would never have pulled up in our own catalog. 

Requesting Book Chapters:

For instructions on how to obtain book chapters that you would like to use, see the Access Options page on this guide. 

Edited Collections

When we think of books, we're typically thinking of monographs -- a single intellectual work in one volume (i.e., one topic, likely one overall argument, etc.). You might find that an individual chapter or section of a monograph contributes substantially to your understanding of a topic. 

Edited collections (also sometimes called anthologies or edited works, among others) contain a collection of essays around a topic or idea, typically curated by one or more scholars in the field. These scholars, called the editors, have usually determined the topic of the collection, solicited papers on relevant topics, and selected the papers for final inclusion in the volume; they may have taken on other roles in the publishing process as well. Edited collections are valuable for their ability to bring together different takes on and aspects of a topic in a particular volume where they can be read together, but the chapters or essays also stand as their own intellectual works. 

Whereas monographs are quite broad, chapters in edited collections are more similar in depth and length to journal articles. 

Finding Edited Collections 

Edited collections are listed in CrossSearch like any other book. A trick for finding edited collections specifically is to include the term "edited" or "editor" as a keyword in your search.  From there, if the book is in print, you can use the strategies on the next tab (Book Chapters) to help identify the chapter(s) you would like to read -- or, find the entire book in the library.

You can also find chapters from edited collections...

• listed in databases like International Medieval Bibliography and Historical Abstracts (where they are typically labeled as "essays" or, more rarely, "book articles"); 
• cited in bibliographies of articles and other books; and 
• searchable in Google Scholar 

(among other places). 

Using JSTOR Effectively

Here are some tips for making the most of JSTOR: 

• As always, be thoughtful about your choice of search terms. 
   
• Unlike some other research tools, JSTOR searches the full text of each article it holds (unless you indicate otherwise). This makes using quotations for multi-word concepts (ex: "gender norms") even more important to cut down on random results. 
   
• Make thorough and effective use of the Advanced Search (see the screencast below).