Q&A: Why Reference?
Question: What value lies in a reference book? Why, for example, would a researcher bother to consult a scholarly encyclopedia?
Answer: Encyclopedias are two steps removed from the primary evidence, that is to say from the surviving artistic works, texts, and material cultural remains of the Classical World. For this reason encyclopedias belong to a class of information called tertiary sources by librarians.
Encyclopedias help researchers to contextualize their topics, and in turn to begin asking the right questions. Encyclopedias also help researchers choose search terms (or keywords), useful for searching JSTOR and other journal databases. Obtain from encyclopedia basic facts such as names and dates, as well as definitions for the specialized vocabulary of archaeology, art history, and history. Articles in scholarly encyclopedias also contain bibliographies that lead researchers to important primary and secondary sources about their topics. (Catalogs, bibliographies, and indexes, also tertiary sources, serve the same purpose.) Browsing an encyclopedia can even help you choose and/or refine your research topics. In short, the reference works listed here are a great way to begin any Classics-related research project.
Brill's New Pauly
Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World by Call Number: DE5 .N3613 2006ISBN: 9004142215Publication Date: 2006-08-01Originally published in Germany in the nineteenth century, Brill's New Pauly remains the premier dictionary/encyclopedia for students and scholars of Greco-Roman antiquity. "Special emphasis is given to the interaction between Greco-Roman culture on the one hand, and Semitic, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavonic culture, and ancient Judaism, Christianity, and Islam on the other hand" (publisher).
Grove Art Online
The Dictionary of Art (via Oxford Art Online) by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0195170687Publication Date: 2003-02-11Worldwide coverage of all aspects of the visual arts from prehistory through the present. Contains information about genres and works of art from the fine and decorative arts, the art of various civilizations and cultures, plus biographies of artists, architects, patrons, collectors, dealers, theorists, writers, and scholars. Includes the full text of the 1996 edition of “The Dictionary of Art” (34 printed volumes) and quarterly updates.
