Is Periodical Abstracts helpful for Medieval Studies?
Medieval Studies Workshop
1/12/2005
Medieval Studies Research Guide
Check back often. Virginia updates this guide frequently (almost weekly).This workshop offers highlights and tips on...
Periodical Abstracts/Proquest
Tip: Medieval and Middle Ages are often used interchangeably. For a keyword search, use Medieval OR Middle Ages, or identify the subject term used in the database. Periodical Abstracts uses Middle Ages for the subject term (for future reference: choose the subject field and click on the Browse Subjects link).Is Periodical Abstracts helpful for Medieval Studies?
Periodical Abstracts indexes a handful of medieval studies journals. Some are scholarly, some are not. May be helpful for broad topics in medieval studies.
Tips:
Periodical Abstracts uses Middle Ages for the subject term.It may be helpful to use and NOT Book reviews in the Document Type field to eliminate all the book reviews.
Note that crusade is truncated with an asterisk. There are many different crusades.
Iter (University of Toronto) No full-text.
Iter is growing. Be aware that it includes the Renaissance. May be better for monographs (books)than journal articles. As of December 2004, includes 1,026 journals and 51,000 monographs.Tips:
Sample search: cursades = 2006 hits (!), however, this will include all crusades and many of these will be books rather than journal articles.
- Use the Advanced Search
- Iter uses LC subject headings, e.g. Crusades--First
- Use the pull-down menu to limit by language
- Use the pull-down menu to choose type: articles
This reduces the results list to 30 hits, a very meager return for such a large subject.
Iter somtimes includes summaries, contents, or contact information/author bios. Click the Full Details button for additional information.
Great for research into medieval "gender roles." Example: A search for the subject "crusades" returns 23 hits that incorporate medieval, women or gender, and crusades -- so, a fairly respectable list. Includes articles, chapters in books, essays. Indexing is good. Help screens are helpful.
On the left-hand side-bar menu, check the Broad Topics link to see if the database might be useful for your search. Use the more detailed subject headings found under the Subjects link to narrow your search to a more manageable size. The Essays link includes a list of essays by year that results in a nice bibliography of works on gender and the Middle Ages.
IMB (interface is relatively new)
Link opens to the Brepolis home page. There are many databases listed on the front page to which Cornell does not subscribe.
Users will sometimes ask why we don't subscribe to some of the products listed. Here's the rundown, in brief:
- IMB (english) -- not needed. IMB can be limited to english-language results
- Directories -- not very good for the price
- Lexicon des Mittelalters Online-- online version is too expensive, but we have it on CDROM in the ETC.
- International Encyclopedia for the Middle Ages -- isn't a finished product.
- Ut per litteras apostolicas...(available on CDROM in the ETC)
- In Principio...(available on CDROM in the ETC)
Tips for IMB:
It "times out" quickly
"Free Search -- Full-text means a search of the full record, not the full-text of the article.
In the top menu, both articles and books are checked, by default.You cannot search by language if you have both clicked. If you uncheck "books", language limit is possible.
The results list defaults with every item checked. Uncheck the top checkbox to remove the checkmarks and select individual entries.
Use the button to the right of the search windows -- they are your friends
A good approach for a subject search, is to use the General subjects button, select a topic, and then click on the Specific button to focus the topic. For example, choose Daily Life under under the General search button, and then click on the Specific button to see the narrower subject headings.
After choosing "Daily Life" under the General headings:
Click on Specific to pull up a "Linelist" of narrower topics --
If the subject is a person, you must use the Person field -- not the subject field.
Use the century field for a more precise search. Example: enter 11 to find items from the 11 the century. Note: Using a precise range, for example 1099 for the First Crusade, doesn't work very well.
For graduate students looking for manuscripts, use the Repositories field.
ORB: Online Reference Book for Medieval studies
ORB is known for putting primary resources, in English, on the Web. Because this is a volunteer effort, there are sometimes lots of typos.
Tips:
The General link is where you will find the search feature.
Search engine doesn't search phrases. See sample search results for "William of Tyre" below:
Check out the Teaching link. The specialized bibliographies are great!
See Virginia's Medieval Studies Research Guide for more information and a much more complete list of resources.
The Garland series, Medieval France, Medieval England, Medieval Germany...adding new titles...Medieval Scandanavia, Medieval Iberia (Spain), Medieval Italy, Medieval Jewish Civilization.
The Dictionary of the Middle Ages...starting to be a little superseded. Supplements are coming out. Example: the entry on Sexuality has been updated.
The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England...basic orientation to the field of Anglo-Saxon studies. Most articles include brief bibliographies.
History Lesson: how historians view the period...
Middle Ages, approx. 425 - 1500 400-800 early 900-1200 middle 13-1500 late middle Note: Problems of periodization. Some historical periods may overlap and may not be uniform. Virginia...is there more I should have said about this? A sentence or two?
Monumenta Germaniae historica (MGH)
For a good overview of this complex series, try Guide to the Sources of Medieval History (Olin Reference Z6517 .C12) beginning at page 220. A table of contents for each volume of the older series of the Monumenta Germaniae historica (MGH) as well as indexes by author and persons can be found in Indices eorvm qvae Monvmentorvm Germaniae historicorvm temis hvcvsqve editis continentvr. Scripservnt O. Holder-Egger et K. Zevmer. Hannoverae, Impensis bibliopolii Hahniani; [etc., etc.] 1890. (Olin Room 404 +DD3.M81 Z5). For an online index try the opac at: http://www.mgh.de/bibliothek/. Volumes of the MGH in the newer series can be located by a title or keyward search in the online catalog and may be available fulltext on the MGH CD-Rom in the Olin ETC.
Created on ... January 20, 2005
