What is a Research Database?
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.
Types of Research Databases
There are two main kinds of research databases that you might encounter:
- General databases, like Academic Search Premier and JSTOR, which have a little bit of everything;
- Databases for specific subjects or types of sources (ex - newspapers, historical sources, videos, etc.)
Which Database Should I Use?
We have over 300 Research Databases in total! So how do you know which one to use?
First, librarians try to identify the databases that students in each subject area might need to use. You can see a list of the databases we've selected for classics to the left, under "Research Databases for Classics."
The best database to use may vary depending on what you need. What time period are you focusing on? Are you interested in classical literature? History? Archaeology? You should also note that some databases have different kinds of content. For example, you wouldn't use the Chicago Manual of Style database to look for articles -- this database is used for searching for citation guidelines!
Ultimately, if you're not sure, your professor or the Classics Librarian (jwhelan@holycross.edu) can probably point you in the right direction. But for most Classics research, the databases listed here will be good places to start searching:
Journal articles in almost every subject area, including some historical articles back to the 17th century.
Citations for journal articles, books, and chapters about ancient Greek and Roman literature and civilization.