History 100.102 History of Occidental Civilization:  The Medieval World Fall 2005 This course guide is intended to help students in History 100.102 locate primary source material and supporting secondary literature available to them at the Milton S. Eisenhower Library.

Historical Encyclopedias || Books in the JHU Libraries' Collections || Primary Sources in the JHU Libraries' Collections || Journal Articles and Essays in Collected Works

Historical Encyclopedias
Encyclopedias are useful because they provide background information on a topic (important names, dates, places, events, documents, etc.) and they help you to put the topic into context.  This information can be useful to you when you use library catalogs and databases to find primary and secondary sources.  In addition, many academic encyclopedias recommend specific books, articles, and source materials that you might choose to locate and read. 

Here are some of the encyclopedias available to you on M-Level in the Reference Collection:

Dictionary of the Middle Ages.
Gen Ref D 114 .D51 1982 QUARTO

Encyclopaedia of Islam.
Gen Ref DS 37 .E49 1960

Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. 
Gen Ref CB 351 .E53 2000 QUARTO

Encyclopaedia Judaica.
Gen Ref  DS 102.8 .E63 1971 QUARTO

Encyclopedia of Monasticism.
Gen Ref BL 631 .J85 2000

Medieval England: An Encyclopedia. 
Gen Ref DA 129 .M43 1998 QUARTO

Medieval Folklore:  A Guide to Myths, Legends, Tales, Beliefs, and Customs.
Gen Ref GR 35 .M43 2002

Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. 
Gen Ref DC 33.2 .M441 1995 QUARTO

Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia. 
Gen Ref DD 126 .M43 2001 QUARTO

Medieval Iberia:  An Encyclopedia.
Gen Ref DP 99 .M33 2003 QUARTO

Medieval Ireland:  An Encyclopedia.
Gen Ref DA 933 .M43 2005

Medieval Italy:  An Encyclopedia.
Gen Ref DG 443 .M43 2004

Medieval Jewish Civilization:  An Encyclopedia.
Gen Ref DS 124 .M386 2003

New Catholic Encyclopedia. (2003)  [Connect from Home]

The Papacy: An Encyclopedia.
Gen Ref  BX 955.2 .D53 2002

Trade, Travel, and Exploration in the Middle Ages:  An Encyclopedia.
Gen Ref  HF 1001 .T7 2000 QUARTO

Women in the Middle Ages.
Gen Ref HQ 1143 .W643 2004

Books in the JHU Libraries' Collections
Books about your topic will help you to understand how historians have used primary sources to explore the past.  As with encyclopedias, an academic book will identify the secondary and primary sources consulted by the author.  You can use this information to help you find additional sources for your paper.  

JHU Libraries Catalog
Finds books, journal titles, and other materials available in libraries at Johns Hopkins University.

General Hints:

Use the Alphabetical Search option and set the search to Title or Author to find call numbers for known titles or authors.  For Example:

Title -- Dhuoda: Nineth Century Mother and Theologian

or

Author -- Mayeski, Marie Anne

Use the Advanced Keyword search menu to find book titles by topic.  Begin by putting your topic word(s) in the first search box labeled General Keyword.  You may want to use the Language limit option to limit to English.  For Example:

General Keyword -- Dhuoda

If you retrieve too many results, you may want to change type your topic word(s) in the search box labeled Subject Keyword instead of General Keyword.  This will ensure that your topic word(s) are found in the Subject Headings applied to the results.  If you find too few results, you may want to think about alternate vocabulary or spellings for your topic.  It is always a good idea to look at catalog records for your best results.  Are there relevant Subjects identified that will link to additional material?  Do you see any alternate vocabularies or spellings that might help you retrieve additional material?  For Example, if you search Medieval Warfare as a General Keyword, the records will offer you links to the following Subjects:

Military Art and Science -- Europe -- History -- To 1500
Military Art and Science -- History -- Medieval, 500 - 1500
Military Weapons -- Europe -- History -- To 1500
Military History, Medieval
Fortification -- Europe
Armor, Medieval
and more...

Primary Sources in the JHU Libraries' Collections
If you have not been able to locate primary sources by using relevant secondary sources (encyclopedia entries or books about your topic) as a guide, you can try some of the following catalog search techniques. 

To find a primary source by a known person, use the Alphabetical Search option by Author.  For example:

Author -- Clare of Assisi

Some collections of primary source material are identified by specific Subject Headings.  You can use the Advanced Keyword menu to combine your topic word with one of the standard Subject Headings that indicate a collection of primary source material.  For Example:

General Keyword -- women and "middle ages"
Subject Keyword -- sources
Results

Remember to check the Subjects identified in the catalog record for additional links to the Subject Headings most relevant to your topic.

Some of the most useful Subject Keywords that help to identify primary sources are:

correspondence
diaries
early works to 1800
personal narratives
sources 

Note:  The primary sources that most of you will use for this class will be translated and reprinted.  The Milton S. Eisenhower Library Special Collections Department does own some original manuscripts from the Middle Ages.  Please feel free to consult with our Special Collections curators if you would like to see this material.

Journal Articles and Essays in Collected Works 
Use some of the libraries' electronic indexing services to find journal articles and essays in collected works.  Most of our electronic resources are accessible to all JHU students, faculty, and staff.  To access these resources from off the campus network, please use one of our remote access services:  Connect from Home.