Finding resources for your dissertation: Classics & Ancient History Richard Holmes & Amy Russell March 2014

Aims of the session To help you: Find relevant resources for your dissertation Make the most of the Library’s tools and resources Know who to contact for further help

Format of the session The session will involve: A brief overview of finding quality academic material on your subject A demonstration of some key resources A chance for you to begin searching for information for your dissertation An opportunity to ask for help and advice when researching

The Library Catalogue – What is it? Collection of records describing the Library’s holdings Each record contains bibliographic/descriptive information about a specific item Bibliographic = e.g. title, author, publisher, publication year Description = e.g. number of pages, physical dimensions, additional notes Many feature an abstract/summary Does not search or contain full text

The Library Catalogue – Limitations Consequently: Good for finding articles? Good for finding relevant book chapters? Good for finding theses/conference papers? Good for finding other libraries’ holdings?

The Library Catalogue – Benefits Getting started with your research Performing a ‘scoping’ search Checking local holdings & availability

Useful Features Basic & Advanced search screens ‘Modify Search’ button Keyword search – broad/speculative Field searching – narrow/focused – Author – Classmark – Subject Save/export records View borrowing history (requires activation)

Remember… You can recall books not due back for ages (even if your teacher has them!!!) Use limits and filters to narrow/focus your results (exclude those pesky College Library books)

Subject Page

Obtaining items outside Durham Use UK-wide COPAC catalogue – Visiting other universities e.g. Newcastle and Northumbria – Check their catalogues: Access to other libraries – SCONUL Access Scheme – Document Delivery Service –