World Civilizations I:
Historical Research on Ancient Rome
LOCATING BOOKS
To find a book use the BHCC online catalog. You may search the catalog by Subject or Keyword, as well as by author or title. The Keyword option allows you to combine your search terms. See what titles are listed when you use the keyword search for the terms Ancient Rome, and then compare the results with another keyword search search using the terms Roman Empire or Roman Republic or Roman Life.
One you're in the library, a good place to begin your research is the Reference Collection. Here are some titles to get you thinking about a topic to help with your initial research:
- Smithsonian Timelines of the Ancient World
REF D54 .5 .S65 1993- The Cambridge Ancient History
REF D57 .C252 (12 volumes)- The Oxford Classical Dictionary
REF DE5 .O9- Ancient Rome: Past and Present
REF DG63 .S62 2000- Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome
REF DG75 .A35 1998- Ancient Rome
REF DG78 .J36 1992- The Roman Emperors: a Biographical Guide to the Rulers of Imperial Rome
REF DG274 .G73 1985LOCATING ARTICLES
SEARCHING FOR ARTICLES ONLINE
There are a number of electronic databases that are available for free to Bunker Hill Community College students and employees. As long as you have a Bunker Hill library card, you can access these databases from on-campus or off-campus; you just have to remember to choose the right link.
Go to: http://www.noblenet.org/bhcc/databases.htm Recommended databases: try starting your search with
- InfoTrac Web -- a large collection of databases, see particularly Expanded Academic ASAP which has articles from newspapers, newsmagazines, and scholarly journals.
- EBSCOHost -- another large collection, which includes a large, multi-disciplinary article database called Academic Search Premier.
- JSTOR -- a scholarly journal archive (most articles are from 2000 and earlier), includes History and Anthropology journals
SEARCHING FOR ARTICLES IN PRINT
Note: The in-class workshop for "World Civilizations I" will focus on how to use the online catalog and the Internet. Be aware that other resources exist.
Use the article indexes available in the library -- they're located at the Periodical Index Table near the Reference Collection of the library. In particular, the Social Sciences Index might be a good source for articles on your topic.
To see what journals BHCC has in print format, check the BHCC Periodicals List. Underneath the title of each journal the Periodicals List will tell you what years we have.
LOCATING WEB RESOURCES
When using websites for research purposes, it is important to think critically about these resources. Here is a website on evaluating web resources from Cornell University: Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools.
RECOMMENDED SEARCH ENGINES AND DIRECTORIES
WEBSITES FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT
- Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Rome –- from the Fordham University History Department, a sourcebook of material for Ancient Roman history and civilization courses.
- NOBLE Web: History – see particularly the Ancient History section
- Rome: Republic to Empire –- created for a course at the The College of New Rochelle
- Rome Resources - This award winning website is a collection of Rome resources created by The Dalton School, New York, NY.
RESEARCH TOOLS: DOCUMENTATION
Be sure to take a look at the website on Avoiding Plagiarism from the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University. This site can help you become more familiar with what is considered plagiarism and what is not.
Whether you paraphrase, summarize, or quote directly from an information resource, you must credit and document the source. There are a few standard formats that you may follow. The Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA) both offer paper styles and formatting that include directions on how to cite both print and electronic information resources. Use these formats as guides and don't forget to follow your professor's instructions for creating footnotes.