Classical Studies

Introduction

In this part of SAFARI we are going to cover information resources for classical studies. As with any subject it is difficult to describe every resource that may be of use. It will depend on what aspect of classical studies (language, mythology, roman civilisation and so on) you are interested in.

Information about resources available to Open University students and links to them are found on the 'Online Collections by subject' page of the Library website. Specific resources are discussed in more detail below.

Books

There are some books for classical studies available online from the 'Online Collections by subject' page on the Library website. Some of the books are part of larger collections, so you will need to search for them.

To find out about other books available in your subject area, you can search library catalogues. These are listed on the 'Other library catalogues' page of the Library website.

There are an increasing number of electronic books and texts available on the internet. These are available on ROUTES: Electronic books and include the Internet Ancient History Sourcebook.

Databases

Databases are useful for finding articles on a topic. They enable you to search across a number of journal titles (and sometimes books and reports) in order to find information in your area of study. There are two main types of databases:

• full text databases contain the complete article in one place;
• bibliographical databases contain references to books and journals held elsewhere. They may also include a short summary or review of the article or book.

Some databases contain a mixture of both full text and bibliographic information. There are other databases which contain image resources or they are an enhanced version of a reference book. These are listed below.

You can find articles on a topic using the following bibliographic databases:

• Arts and Humanities Citation Index
• International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (includes archaeology and some classical history references)
• Art Abstracts (includes material about classical collections in museums)
• British Humanities Index

If you need definitions or explanation of terms, you may find these reference databases useful:

• Oxford Reference Online (includes Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, Who's Who in the Classical World)
• OED (Oxford English Dictionary)

Images

You can find images for classical art using:

• Bridgeman Education
• CAMIO

Journals

An increasing number of journals are available electronically through the Library website. We have selected some for Classical Studies, and these can be found on the 'Online Collections by subject' page. This list is only a selection. You are strongly advised to use the A-Z list of journals to browse for other titles. You can also search several journal titles at once, by subject keyword, using the electronic journal collections.

Internet resources

There are many sites on the internet where you will find information on classical studies. Some of the best available are included on ROUTES. The Library and module teams have worked closely to compile a set of resources relevant to classics modules at the Open University. You can browse by module code, if you are following an OU module, by subject or by keyword.

Keeping up to date

This subject is covered in more detail in Section 7.

Libraries

SAFARI concentrates on resources that are available to Open University students through the Library website. However, these may not be the only resources available to you. When you need to use a library, you can find out about those located near you by using our database Access to University and Other Higher Education Libraries for Open University Students. A key library for classical studies is The Institute of Classical Studies Library: Joint Library of the Hellenic and Roman Societies which serves all aspects of research in classical studies.

• It is located at the Institute of Classical Studies, which is a major international centre for research in the subject and is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London. In addition to a substantial collection of reference works, books and periodicals (most of which is on open access shelves), there is a slides collection and significant computing resources.
• Admission is available to members of the Institute of Classical Studies (Reference rights only: free of charge) and to members of the Hellenic Society and members of the Roman Society. Membership of either of these Societies automatically carries both reading and borrowing rights. For membership application forms, contact either The Secretary of the Hellenic Society, Institute of Classical Studies, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU or the Secretary of the Roman Society (same address). Open University students are welcomed as members of these Societies and there is a reduced subscription for students. Application forms will need to be signed by your supervisor. Members may also take advantage of the postal borrowing system offered by the Library.
• The catalogue can be accessed via the Internet. Go to http://icls.sas.ac.uk/library/Home.htm.

Before visiting a library, you may want to check its catalogue to make sure it holds the books and journals you need. You can find links to library catalogues on the Library website.

There may be other library resources near to you. Does your workplace have a library or information service you can use? Do you belong to a professional organisation or learned society? Many of these have specialist library and information services for their members and they often offer student membership rates.