Databases
Scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles may be located by searching the Library’s subscription databases. Listed below are suggestions for the most useful databases for articles on topics in Latin language and literature. A complete list of all our Digital Resources are available from the Databases link.
- Academic Search Premier [INFO]
- Humanities International Index [INFO]
- MLA International Bibliography[INFO]
Books and More
The Library catalog (LOLA) is a database of books and other print and non-print materials, such as videos/DVDs, music CDs, and scores. The catalog offers a variety of searches - Keyword, Subject, Author, Title, and Call Number. Genre headings are fairly uniform, may be subdivided by century, or other time period. There are also many sub-divisions under the heading for language. literary subject headings. Below are a few examples of some standard LC Subject Headings pertaining to Latin:
- Subject search for Latin language
- Subject search for Latin literature (or fiction, drama, poetry, etc.)
- Subject search for Latin prose literature
- Subject search for Latin philology
- Subject search for classical philology
- Subject search for classical literature (or fiction, drama, poetry, etc.)
To search for works by or about specific writers:
Search by SUBJECT to find biographical and/or critical material about the writer.
Search by AUTHOR to find books written by the author.
Always enter personal names in INVERTED order; punctuation and capitalization not necessary.
EXAMPLE: To find books about the poet Horace, search under SUBJECT as follows:
Note specific subdivisions after the name heading that designate:
Reference Material
Reference sources are usually a good starting point for research - they provide background information on a topic, define key concepts, or cite critical research that has been done. Some key resources for Latin language or literature are listed below.
- Oxford Latin dictionary
- Chambers/Murray Latin-English dictionary
- The Facts On File companion to classical drama
- Classical studies : a guide to the reference literature
- The Oxford companion to classical literature
- Ancient writers : Greece and Rome
- Greek and Latin authors, 800 B.C.-A.D. 1000 : a biographical dictionary
- Classical and medieval literature criticism.A large continuous set covering writers who flourished from classical antiquity through the 14th century. Latest volume contains cumulative author index to the whole set, identifying author entries by volume number. Also gives cross references to authors appearing in other sets by the same publisher, such as Poetry Criticism [PC], or the Dictionary of Literary Biography series [DLB]. Entries in each volume provide biographical overview, list of principle works, and excerpts from published critical sources on specific works. There is a Cumulative Title Index for this set, as well.
Additional titles may be located by seaching the Library catalog, or by consulting with the Reference Librarian.
Web Sites
In general, web sites are not the best choices for serious research because there is no guarantee the information posted there is authoritative, current, or sufficiently in-depth. Only use sites that you know are reputable, scholarly, current, and unbiased. The following are links to sites that seem to meet these criteria:
- Index of websites related to latin language
- Index of websites related to classical literature
- Index of websites related to classical mythology
More…
- Ask a Librarian
- Subject librarian: Lissa Zinfon
