HST201: The Ancient Silk Road



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HST201 : The Ancient Silk Road
Spring 2008 - Richard Lim
reference contact: Pamela Skinner x2961

Background | Books | Articles | Internet Links | Citing Sources
Reference Desk Hours

FIND BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Use scholarly encyclopedias for an overview of your topic, for definitions and explanations, and for their lists of suggested readings. Note that the list below is highly selective. Ask at the reference desk for other suggestions.

History & Biography:	Reference Call Number
Civilizations of the Ancient Near East - 4 v.	ref DS 57 .C55 1995
Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World	ref DE 5 .L29 1999
Dictionary of the Middle Ages - 13 v.	ref D 114 .D5 1982
Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages	online
Dictionary of World Biography - 10 v.	ref CT 104 .D54 1998
Greece, Rome & Byzantium:	Reference Call Number
Oxford Companion of Classical Civilization	ref DE 5 .O92 1998 and online
Cambridge Dictionary of Classical Civilization	ref DE 5 .C28 2006
Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World	ref DF 16 .S23 2005
Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece	ref DF 77 .A35 2005
Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire	ref DG 270 .B86 2002
Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome	ref DG 77 .A35 2004
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium - 3 v.	ref DF 521 .O93 1991
Asia:	Reference Call Number
Encyclopedia of Asian History - 4 v.	ref DS 31 .E53 1988
Encyclopedia of China	ref DS 705 .P47 1999
Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan -9 v.	ref DS 805 .K633 1983
Encyclopedia of India - 4 v.	ref DS 405 .E556 2006
Art & Archaeology:	Reference Call Number
Dictionary of Art - 31 v.	ref N 31 .D5 1996 and online
Encyclopedia of Archaeology: History and Discoveries - 3 v.	art ref CC 100 .E54 2001
Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East - 5 v.	ref DS 56 .O9 1997
Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology - 2 v.	art ref DS 418 .E53 1990
Religion:	Reference Call Number
Encyclopedia of Religion - 15 v.	ref BL 31 .E46 2005 and online
Islam:	Reference Call Number
Encyclopaedia of Islam - 12 v.	ref DS 37 .E523
Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia - 2 v.	ref DS 36.85 .M434 2006
Food:	Reference Call Number
Encyclopedia of Food and Culture - 3 v.	ref GT 2850 .E53 2003
Oxford Companion to Food	ref TX 349 .D38 1999

FIND BOOKS

5 College Library Catalog

Note that the "correct" subject heading isn't always obvious. If a Subject Keyword search doesn't work, try Keyword search to find a few relevant titles. Then click on the subject headings on those records to conduct a more comprehensive subject search. Samples:

English	Library-speak
Antioch on the Orontes	Antioch Turkey
Attila, the Hun	Attila, d. 453
Early Tibetan Buddhism	Buddhism early works to 1800 Buddhism China Tibet history
Exotica/trade on the Silk Road	Silk Road Trade routes Asia Incense industry history Silk industry China history Spice trade history
Greco-Bactrian kingdom	Bactria history Greeks Bactria history
Hsuan Tsang	Xuanzang ca. 596-664
Hsiung-nu	Xiongnu
Indo-Greek kingdom	Greeks India
Nestorians/Nestorian Christianity	Nestorians Nestorian church Christian literature, Chinese history Christians China
Palmyra	Tadmur Syria
Pataliputra India	Patna India
Pax Mongolica	Mongols history
Rome-India trade	Rome commerce India India commerce Rome
Sogdy	Sogdians
Tang dynasty (China) and Central Asia	China history Tang dynasty, 618-907 China foreign relations Asia, Central
Uighur Turks	Uighur (Turkic people) China
Travel guides	Search under city or country name and watch for these qualifiers: "guidebooks" or "description and travel"
Remember that there are often multiple search terms for a given topic. For example, books on medieval maps show up under:	Geography, medieval maps Cartography history Early maps

WorldCat

Use WorldCat to expand your search for books, theses, etc. beyond the Five-College area. Watch for items that are owned by only one library: such unique material is often not obtainable via interlibrary loan. If you plan to use interlibrary loan to request books and theses, please allow at least 2 weeks for delivery.

FIND ARTICLES & ESSAYS

Use the databases below to identify articles and essays on your topic.

Use the buttons within the databases below to see if Smith has the article you need either in electronic or print format
If you identify an article from another source, use the Journal Locator to locate the article online or in print
If you need to use interlibrary loan to requests articles, allow a week or so (though often the articles arrive within days)

A good starting place:

Humanities Abstracts - Covers the core classics journals

The major indexes for classical and medieval studies:

TOCS-IN - Tables of contents for classics journals

L'Annee Philologique - Covers all aspects of classical studies, including history, from the second millenium B.C. through the early middle ages (c. 500-800 A.D.).

International Medieval Bibliography - Covers all aspects of medieval studies, including history, from 450 to 1500 A.D.

Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance

Other possibilities:

Academic Search Premier - Includes a mix of scholarly and popular journals

Project Muse - Full-text articles from major history journals, among other disciplines. Coverage limited to issues from the past 5-10 years.

J-STOR - Full-text articles from major history journals, among other disciplines. Coverage lags roughly 3 years behind printed version of the journal.

Art Abstracts - 1984 to present

Art Index Retrospective - 1929-1983

ATLA Religion Database - 1949 to present

American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (ABSEES) - 1956 to present

Bibliography of Asian Studies - 1971 to present

GeoRef - 1933 to present

Historical Abstracts - 1953 to present - History exluding US and Canada, from 1450+

Index Islamicus - 1906 to present

MLA Bibliography - 1956 to present - Literature/literary criticism

INTERNET LINKS

Silk Road [Oliver Wild, UC Irvine] and images

Silk Road Seattle [Univ. of Washington]

Silk Road Foundation

Lost Cities of the Silk Road [Pamela Logan]

China the Beautiful: The Silk Road

EVALUATING AND CITING SOURCES

Remember to cite your souce, when either quoting directly or paraphasing. In other words, cite your source whenever you present an idea that isn't your own.
Websites must be cited in your notes/bibliography, too; if you cut and paste - or
paraphrase - from a website, cite the webpage.
When in doubt, cite your source.
Remember to include a context for each quotation/paraphrase. Who said it? Why does it matter? How does this support or contradict the argument you're making?
Use the Landmarks Citation Machine, which offers quick citation help for APA, MLA, Turabian, and Chicago styles.
Or use the Chicago/Turabian brief online guide or the Chicago Manual of Style full online guide.

For help with your writing, remember the writing services available at the Jacobson Center.

Evaluating internet resources (Univ. of Maryland)

Using Primary Sources on the Web: Evaluating Primary Source Websites (Instruction & Research Services Committee, Reference and User Service Association History Section, American Library Association)

REFERENCE DESK HOURS

Click here for Neilson Library reference desk hours.

CONTACT THE REFERENCE LIBRARIAN

Contact Pamela Skinner, the instructor for your library session: pskinner@email.smith.edu

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Last Updated: April 9, 2008