Research Guide to Medieval History

For Web sites on Medieval Studies, please see:

For tips on citation format, please see Diana Hacker's Research and Documentation Online (www.dianahacker.com/resdoc) or MLA Style via Yahoo!

Reference books are shelved by Library of Congress call number in the reference stacks on the first floor of the Ruth Haas Library. They may not be checked out, but photocopiers are available for student use on the first and third floors of the Haas Library.

CONSULS catalog workstations are located in the Reference Area on the first floor, and on each of the other floors of the Haas Library. You may logon to CONSULS via the WCSU Libraries Homepage at library.wcsu.edu/web or directly at www.consuls.org. For more detailed instructions on searching, please see the yellow CONSULS flyer on the display rack on the first floor.

Please Note: CONSULS ignores upper and lower case, and you may omit punctuation, except the hyphen which must be replaced by a space.

TO FIND WORKS WRITTEN BY A SPECIFIC AUTHOR:

Select Author at the CONSULS Main Menu, then type the writer's name last-name-first. Correct spelling is important.

Example: abelard peter (press RETURN or ENTER)

Or just: abelard p (press RETURN)

To limit search results to items owned by WCSU, click on Limit/Sort and then select WCSU under "Where Item Is Located."

TO FIND WORKS WRITTEN ABOUT A SPECIFIC PERSON:

Select Subject at the CONSULS Main Menu, then type the writer's name last-name-first. Correct spelling is important. To limit results to items owned by WCSU, click Limit/Sort and then select WCSU under "Where Item Is Located."

Example: charlemagne emperor (press RETURN or ENTER)

Or just: charlemagne (press RETURN)

CONSULS will retrieve a list of Library of Congress Subject Headings that begin with the words you typed:

Charlemagene Emperor 742-814 (main heading is subdivided)

Charlemagene Emperor 742-814--Drama

Charlemagene Emperor 742-814--Family

Charlemagene Emperor 742-814--In literature

Charlemagene Emperor 742-814--Romances

PLEASE NOTE: Personal name headings may also be subdivided by the titles of individual works, for example:

Malory Thomas Sir 15th Century - Morte Darthur

TO FIND WORKS WITH A SPECIFIC TITLE:

Select Title at the CONSULS Main Menu, then type as much of the title as you remember in correct word order. In CONSULS, you may omit "a," "an," or "the" at the beginning of a title.

Example: The Waning of the Middle Ages (press RETURN or ENTER)

Or just: waning of the mid (press RETURN)

If your TITLE search does not retrieve an entry for a separately published edition of the work, select the Words Search option to re-execute the search as a Keywords search (example: piers plowman) and press RETURN. Then scan the CONTENTS field of each entry for the title of the work you need.

TO FIND INFORMATION ABOUT A SPECIFIC TOPIC BY SUBJECT HEADING:

Select Subject at the CONSULS Main Menu, then type the Library of Congress subject heading that best describes your topic. Correct spelling and word order are important. The complete list of Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) is published in a set of big red books available in the reference area on the first floor of the Haas Library.

Example: Knights and knighthood--Europe--History (press RETURN or ENTER)

Or just: knights and knighthood (press RETURN)

The following Library of Congress subject headings are pertinent to the history of the medieval period:

Black Death

Bible--History

Biography--Middle Ages, 500-1500

Byzantine Empire--History

Cathedrals

Chivalry

Christian literature, Early

Christian saints

Church history--Middle Ages, 600-1500

Civilization, Islamic

Civilization, Medieval

Commerce--History--Medieval, 500-1500

Cosmology, Medieval

Costume--History--Medieval, 500-1500

Courtly love

Crusades

Drama, Medieval

Economic history--Medieval, 500-1500

Education, Medieval

Feudalism

Gardens, Medieval

Guilds--Europe--History

Hagiography

Heraldry

Heresies, Christian--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500

Illumination of books and manuscripts--History

Inquisition

Islam--History

Law, Medieval

Literature, Medieval--History and criticism

Manuscripts, Medieval

Medicine, Medieval

Medievalism

Medievalists

Middle Ages

Military art and science--History--Medieval, 500-1500

Military history, Medieval

Monasticism and religious orders--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500

Music--500-1400

Muslims--Spain--History

Mysticism--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500

Naval art and science--History--To 1500

Philosophy, Medieval

Pilgrims and pilgrimages

Poetry, Medieval

Reformation

Religious thought--Middle Ages, 600-1500

Renaissance

Romances--History and criticism

Science, Medieval

Sects, Medieval

Ships, Medieval

Social history--Medieval, 500-1500

Teutonic Knights

Theater--History--Medieval, 500-1500

Theology--Middle Ages, 600-1500

Tournaments

Vikings

Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500

See also:

Architecture, Gothic	Art, Islamic
Architecture, Medieval	Art, Medieval
Architecture, Romanesque	Art, Romanesque
Art and religion	Christian art and symbolism--Medieval, 500-1500
Art, Byzantine	Sculpture, Medieval
Art, Gothic

TO FIND INFORMATION ABOUT A SPECIFIC TOPIC BY KEYWORD(S):

Select Keyword(s) at the CONSULS Main Menu, then type the words that best describe your topic, in any order.

Example: (black death or plague) and europe* (press RETURN or ENTER)

Example: illuminat* and (book* or manuscript* or miniature*) (press RETURN)

Example: (medieval or middle ages) and (gender or sex or women or woman or female*) (press RETURN)

Use the * (asterisk) as a truncation symbol to retrieve variant forms of a word root. Use the Boolean OR to expand your search by including synonyms and related terms. When using two different Boolean commands in the same search statement ("and" and "or" in the preceding examples) you must include parentheses to indicate which command is to be performed first.

TO REQUEST MATERIALS FROM THE OTHER CSU LIBRARIES:

If the item you need is owned by one of the other CSU Libraries (CCSU, SCSU, or ECSU) but not by WCSU, or if the WCSU copy is checked out, you may order the item electronically via Inter-Campus Loan. Select Request at the full record display in CONSULS, then type your student ID# and your library PIN code. If you need assistance with your library PIN, please contact the librarian at the Reference Desk at (203) 837-9110.

There is a limit of ten (10) Inter-Campus Loan requests per person. Videos are available via Inter-Campus Loan. Please allow 4-5 days for delivery to the Haas Circulation Desk. Items borrowed via Inter-Campus Loan may be renewed for an additional borrowing period if no one has placed a HOLD on the item.

Computerized Databases

Academic Search Premier in EBSCOhost

Coverage: 1990 - present (earlier for many publications)

Location: Under Articles/Databases at the WCSU Libraries Homepage.

Scope: Indexes approximately 8,000 newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals in most fields, including history, with 4,000 available in full-text.

JSTOR

Coverage: Issue number one to within 1-3 years of present

Location: Under Articles/Databases on the WCSU Libraries Homepage.

Scope: Full-text of over 400 core scholarly journals in more than 25 disciplines, including history (complete backfiles).

MLA International Bibliography

Coverage: 1963 - present

Location: Under Articles/Databases at the WCSU Libraries Homepage.

Scope: Indexes books, book articles, journal articles, and Ph.D. dissertations in literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. No abstracts; some linked full-text. Also available in print in the Haas reference area.

WorldCat via OCLC FirstSearch

Location: Select OCLC FirstSearch under Articles/Databases at the WCSU Libraries Homepage.

Scope: Indexes 60+ million books, manuscripts, theses, and non-print materials in all fields. If the item is not owned by WCSU, you may use Interlibrary Loan.

Printed Indexes

Humanities Index

Coverage: 1974 - present

Location: Index shelves in Haas reference area (near the atrium).

Scope: Indexes articles by author and subject from 250+ English-language scholarly journals in the humanities, including history. The most recently published articles are listed in paperback supplements.

Art Index

Coverage: 1947 - present

Location: Index shelves in Haas reference area (near the atrium).

Scope: Indexes articles by author and subject from 300 journals, yearbooks, museum bulletins, and exhibition listings on art, architecture, art history, museology, etc.

To find out if WCSU subscribes to a specific periodical:

1. Select Journal Title at the CONSULS main menu, then type the name of the periodical (example: speculum) and press RETURN. If a title list appears on the screen, select the desired title, then look inside the box to find WCSU holdings. Be sure to scroll down the page to see if WCSU owns backfiles on microfilm or microfiche.

2. Or, use the printed WCSU Serials List, availablein the Reference Area on the first floor, and on the third floor of the Haas Library, which lists all the newspapers, magazines, and journals owned by WCSU in alphabetical order by title. If WCSU subscribes to the periodical you need, you will find it on the third floor. Print volumes are shelved alphabetically by periodical title. Microfilm and microfiche backfiles are stored alphabetically by title in metal filing cabinets. Reader/printer machines are available on the third floor for viewing and making copies of microforms.

3. To find out if a given periodical is available in full-text in an online database, you may use the A-to-Z Journal Title Locator at library.wcsu.edu/web/resources/journals or under "Resources" on the WCSU Libraries Homepage (library.wcsu.edu/web).

If the CSU Libraries do not own the book you need, or if WCSU does not subscribe to the periodical you need, you may request delivery of the item via Interlibrary Loan using the online ILLiad system available at: library.wcsu.edu/web/services/ill.

There is a limit of 5 Interlibrary Loan requests per person per day. Videos are not available via Interlibrary Loan. Under most circumstances, Interlibrary Loan is a free service, but please allow at least ten working days for delivery. You will be notified as soon as the material arrives. Faster document delivery service is available for a reasonable fee. Please see the librarian at the Reference Desk or call the Interlibrary Loan Desk at (203) 837-9114 for more information.

The Reference Desk on the first floor of the Haas Library is staffed by a professional librarian who is trained to assist in your research, or you may contact Joan Reitz, Instruction Librarian, at 837-8308 or reitzj@wcsu.edu. My office is located in Room 402 on the fourth floor of the Haas Library (near the glass elevator).