Smith College Classics Majors Research Skills

WRITING INTENSIVE CLASSES

Students who have taken writing intensive classes should already have learned the following skills:

to define and articulate the need for information and identify a variety of types and formats of potential sources for information beyond the web search engine
[AT THE VERY LEAST – students will be able to identify and locate the two most appropriate types of information needed to complete their assignment.]
to articulate and apply initial criteria for evaluating both the information and its sources
[AT THE VERY LEAST – students will be able to distinguish between popular and scholarly materials in a variety of formats such as books, periodical literature, and websites.]
to acknowledge and cite the sources used in conducting research for an assignment using an acceptable style guide
[AT THE VERY LEAST – students will be able to locate the appropriate style guide and emergency online help.]

These skills may be regarded by all students as a base for further study. Help is available through the Neilson Library Reference Department's Ask a Librarian options.

WHAT SHOULD CLASSICS MAJORS KNOW?

By the time of their graduation all Classics majors should understand how scholars of Classical Antiquity conduct research and how they communicate the results of their work to colleagues. One way of describing this understanding is “information literacy” – i.e. the ability to conceptualize what information is needed combined with the skills necessary to locate, evaluate, and effectively and ethically use this information.

Students in classics-in-translation courses should be able:

To identify the kind of information -- biographical, historical, literary -- they need, and to know where to find it. In other words, they should be familiar with some essential reference books:

Reference Books :	Call Number/Access
Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd ed.)	ref DE 5 .O9 2003
Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization	ref DE 5 .O92 1998 or online abridged version
Oxford Companion to Classical Literature	ref PA 31 .H69 1989 or online abridged version

To evaluate the reliability of a source. How does one distinguish between a scholarly and a non-scholarly resource? How can one evaluate the credentials of the author(s)? How does the date of publication affect a source's reliability ? (It's important for students to recognize that the answer to this question differs in different disciplines.) They should also be aware that web search engines are often inadequate for scholarly research.
To know how and when to acknowledge and cite their sources in MLA format or another approved style.

Students in Greek 100 and Latin 100 should be able:

To understand and use the standard Latin reference system by which scholars refer to Classical authors and texts.
To consult standard reference works, particularly the The Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd ed.).

Students in Greek 212/213 and Latin 212/213 should be able:

To keyboard in Greek, if enrolled in GRK 212.

To locate information in dictionaries, both intermediate and complete editions. Although they will use primarily intermediate versions, students will also become familiar with the complete, standard dictionaries:

Dictionaries	SC Neilson Reference/1 North & SC Neilson Caverno/3 Core
Liddell-Scott-Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon	ref PA 445 .E5 L6 1996 CAVERNO PA 445 .E5 L6 1996
Glare, Oxford Latin Dictionary	ref PA 2365 .E5 O9 CAVERNO PA 2365 .E5 O9
Lewis and Short, A Latin Dictionary	ref PA 2365 .E5 A7 1980 CAVERNO PA 2365 .E5 a7 1980

To consult standard grammars:

Grammars	SC Neilson Caverno/3 Core
Smyth, Greek Grammar	PA 258 .S63 1984
Bennett, A New Latin Grammar	PA 2087 .B5 2004
Allen and Greenough’s New Latin Grammar	PA 2087 .A525 1992
Woodcock, A New Latin Syntax	PA 2285 .W6 1985

To use the bibliography and footnotes of an authoritative, up-to-date scholarly source as a tool for locating additional sources.
To locate scholarly sources via standard databases such as (but not limited to):

Databases	Links
The Five College Library Catalog - search for books at the Five Colleges	click here
L'Année Philologique (1959+) covers all aspects of classical studies	click here
WorldCat - search for books worldwide	click here
Project Muse - full text of current journal issues	click here
JSTOR - full text back files of journals excluding most recent 2-5 years	click here

To identify and evaluate the credentials of an author whose work they are citing.
To summarize the main points of a scholarly article and evaluate it critically.

Students in Greek 310 and Latin 330 should be able:

To identify standard scholarly editions of Classical writers and to distinguish these from less reliable print or online sources.
To use standard reference works in adjacent fields, such as ancient history or art history. Examples of standard reference tools are The Cambridge Ancient History and the Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae.
To trace the development of a literary debate or concept (for example, the trope of the Golden Age) from its beginnings to the present day.
To describe the scholarly and intellectual orientation of some of the standard journals in Classical studies.
To use a concordance, both in book form and via an online database such as the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, available online in an abridged version at: http://www.tlg.uci.edu/

IN WHAT WAYS WILL STUDENT SKILLS BE ASSESSED?

Assignments will be developed at all levels to help students practice their mastery of Classics research skills and to allow faculty to assess the success of teaching efforts in these areas.

ETHICAL ISSUES

An 'ethical use of information' means to make a clear distinction between received knowledge and the production of new knowledge. The incorporation of the work of others into his or her own must comply with such distinction. Therefore, every written and/or oral work in the discipline must clearly state its source, if it has any.

February 21, 2007

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Last Updated: August 16, 2007



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