Start Your Process
Use the resources in the boxes on this page to help find Scholarship to support your proposal.
But first, read the next few tabs for some important Search Strategies.
CHOOSE YOUR TOOL(S)
As researchers in Classics, we might use...
The Library Catalog [or CrossSearch]
- May contain many types of sources (scholarly, non-scholarly, multimedia,etc., both secondary and primary)
- Covers a variety of subject areas;
- Best place to find books for background on your topic.
Subject (Article) Databases
- May contain many types of sources (scholarly, non-scholarly, multimedia, etc., all typically secondary)
- Focus on a specific subject area or areas;
- Include tools designed for specialized research.
- May contain a variety of source types (images, ancient texts, etc.) or be limited to one
- Typically focused on the basis of one or more of the following: date; place; type of source; and/or topic.
In order to choose an appropriate research tool, you should consider your research needs.
What do you need at this point in time? Are you still becoming familiar with your topic, or are you trying to fill specific gaps?
What lens are you using -- that of an archeologist? A historian? A scholar of ancient literature?
Where do practitioners in that area share their knowledge and research?
Need help selecting a research tool? Consult your professor, or a librarian!
CRAFT YOUR KEYWORDS:
Any research process begins by figuring out how to search. But, where to begin?
BRAINSTORM.
Spend a few minutes thinking about what words could be used to describe the topic. Be as specific as you can.
EXPAND
For each of the words you listed, think of other words or phrases you could use that mean the same thing.
USE EXPERT SEARCH TRICKS!
Use AND and OR to make your search more or less specific! This will give you more sources to choose from.
- When you use AND, a database will look for resources that use all of the words you entered.
- Use OR between words that mean the same or similar things, or that you are equally interested in.
PIVOT AS NEEDED
If you aren't finding much, try...
- Rephrasing. See if you can find even 1 or 2 relevant articles, note what subjects are listed for them, and use these to try again.
- Broadening your search. Nothing about a specific artifact? What about similar artifacts in this time/place, generally?
- Switching tools. Sometimes you just need a different database!
- Search Log(fill it out online, then download to save your answers!)
TRACE RESEARCH LEADS:
No piece of research stands alone; each is part of a broader scholarly conversation in that topic/ field. These resources have clues that you can TRACE, if you know how to look!
Terms– Check the abstract, subject terms and article for concepts and terms that you can use for your future searches.
Reported in– Is the journal where the article was printed relevant? Try searching for other articles from this journal.
Author– What else has the author(s) published on this topic? Search the databases for their other publications
Consulted by- Check Google Scholar to see which articles or books have cited your sources, and to find
more-recent research which builds on your original information.
Evidence- Check the references list (or bibliography) to see what previous research this resource is drawing on. From here, you may wish to consider:
- Previous articles or books published on your topic
- Other authors who have published on your topic
- Journals where your topic is frequently discussed
Tools for TRACE-ing:
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
- Scopus This link opens in a new window
Citations and abstracts for journals, books, and conference proceedings, primarily in the natural and social sciences.
EVALUATE YOUR FINDINGS:
Scholarly sources are written by experts on a particular subject (for example, a professor or other researcher). They also go through an extra process of review and approval by a group of other experts before they can be published. Usually, scholarly articles are written for an audience of other scholars. The chart below compares the characteristics of scholarly vs. popular (non-scholarly) sources: 
| POPULAR | SCHOLARLY | |
|---|---|---|
| author | Usually staff writers and/or journalists | Experts on the topic -- usually researchers, scholars and/or professors |
| audience | General public (for "popular" consumption) | Other experts (and students) in the field |
| editing & review | Editor(s); generally concerned with grammar, style, etc., with some fact-checking | Other experts ("peer reviewed"); generally concerned with quality, thoroughness of research, strength of argument, etc. |
| style & design |
Reasonably brief, typically uses colloquial if not informal language. Often illustrated with graphics, sidebars and other aesthetic elements. Sometimes accompanied by ads. |
More extensive in length; tends to be more formal and uses specialized vocabulary. Illustrations and charts are used only when furthering content. |
| goal or purpose | To entertain; and/or, to share general information | To share findings, advance and argument and/or engage with other scholars |
| sources | Few or none; if sources are used, there may not be formal citations. | Typically uses many sources, cited in detailed bibliographies, footnotes and/or endnotes |
| examples | Time Magazine; Sports Illustrated; New Yorker; Boston Globe | Annual Review of Political Science; American Historical Review; Sociology of Education |
It's important to keep in mind that scholarly sources are not always the best or only source available to you -- it depends on what information you are trying to find:
- Due to the time required for a scholarly article to be researched, written, go through the peer review process and then be published, it can be difficult to find scholarly articles published about recent events, discoveries, etc.. You should expect 1-2 years between the time an event occurs or a discovery is made and the time academic research on that event begins to be published, with some exceptions!
- There are also plenty of reliable sources (like the Oxford Classical Dictionary) which are not technically "scholarly" by the classic definition, yet are highly respected sources which are academic in nature.
Books & Chapters
BOOKS & CHAPTERS
Books and their chapters can provide basic facts, context and vocabulary to help you conduct more detailed research. They often provide a "big-picture" overview of a particular topic, which can help you identify the more specific topics that you want to pursue and understand the context surrounding those topics. You may also encounter books that are edited collections. These usually contain essays by a number of scholars on different topics surrounding a central theme, and are a great way to quickly gain multiple, reliable perspectives.
SEARCHING FOR BOOKS:
CrossSearch is the Libraries' multi-search "discovery" tool. CrossSearch searches a cross-section of journal articles, newspapers, CDs, images, and many other types of resources available through the libraries. It is also our main library catalog -- the tool you use to find books, journals, films, and other items physically located in the library, as well electronic versions of those items. 
To leave out individual articles and focus on things like books and films, you can use the Catalog Only limit in CrossSearch.
Watch our video tutorial 📺 to learn more about CrossSearch. If you're not a CrossSearch fan, you can also use the Library Catalog to find books.
Try searching for books using a very basic keyword search. Books tend to be on broad topics, so the terms you search with should be broad, too! Once you've found a few books that look interesting to you, you can use clues from the books to help you find other books. For example....
- Call Numbers. Books on similar subjects are in similar areas of the library. For example, if you search for books about Gilgamesh, you would see pretty quickly that many books have call numbers starting with PJ3771 (or nearby). This means you can easily go to that section of the library and look through the books in person!
- Vocabulary. Check the records in the library catalog for vocabulary in the tables of contents, titles, descriptions or other information that you might use for future searches.
- Subjects. Every book in our catalog is marked with at least 1 "tag" that tells you what the book is mostly about, and links together other books on that same topic. You can click on the tags to find a list of all other books using that tag.
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.
You can also watch our video 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.
EDITED COLLECTIONS
Monographs are what we often think of as books -- they typically consist of 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;
- cited in bibliographies of articles and other books; and
- searchable in Google Scholar
(among other places).
FINDING BOOK CHAPTERS:
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;
- 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; America History & Life is one);
- Citations in bibliographies of articles, e-books, or other books that you may have checked out before we closed.
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:
If you find a chapter you would like to read, and the library doesn't already own the book, you can request a digital copy of the chapter on Interlibrary Loan.
Articles
ARTICLES
Articles tend to be good sources for detailed information on a very specific topic, or thoughtful analysis of issues or a particular text or artifact. Because they are usually published more quickly than books, they may have more current information than books on the same topic (check the publication date!)
Articles tend to be more helpful once you've engaged with a book or two, or at least have a solid grounding in the basics of the topic.
FINDING ARTICLES IN RESEARCH DATABASES
Research Databases are tools designed to help you search the scholarly (and other) articles and resources available to you through the Holy Cross Libraries. Article databases are like very long bibliographies of articles that might interest you -- some that are available physically at Holy Cross, some available online, and some that we have to borrow from other libraries. We have access to over 300 databases!
Here are the ones you might find most helpful for this assignment.
- JSTOR Arts & Sciences This link opens in a new window
Journal articles in almost every subject area, including some historical articles back to the 17th century.
- Art & Architecture Complete This link opens in a new window
Journal articles, magazines, and book chapters about art, art history, architecture, and design.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
REQUESTING ARTICLES
If you have found an article you would like to request in the article databases and no electronic access is available, you can use the 
button to request a copy on Interlibrary Loan. You can also log into the Interlibrary Loan portal and directly request an article that you have found somewhere else, like a bibliography.