Get Started - UGS 302: Tales of the Trojan War - Rabinowitz - LibGuides at University of Texas at Austin

Brainstorm Search Terms

Library databases don't work like Google so use these strategies to get the best articles quickly.

Write down your topic (ex. what was Hittite society like?)
Underline the main concepts (ex. What was Hittite society like?)
For each main concept, think about other terms you could use. They may be synonyms or aspects of the larger concept.

Key Concepts

Hittites

Society

Related Terms

Anatolia

Accadian

Culture

Religion

Mythology

Social Life

Combine key terms using AND and OR
- AND narrows your search by looking for articles with all of the words (your two or three key concepts should be connected with AND, because you need all of them represented in useful articles).
- OR broadens your search by looking for articles with any of the words (synonyms and related terms should be separated by OR - they get at the same key concepts, so any of them are useful).
Try different combinations of your keywords to get better results, search in your database - try Academic Search Complete below.
- Hittites AND society
- Hittites AND religion OR mythology

Keyword Tool
This tool helps you turn your topic into search terms.

Find Background Information

If you use Wikipedia as a first step in your research, you are already using background information to get started with research. Background information helps you:

pre-research your topic
learn more about theories and concepts
define terms
find key terms you can use to search for additional sources

Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Search across hundreds of discipline-specific encyclopedias
Updated regularly. A database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources. Fully searchable across all files.

For more information on ebooks see the Ebook Guide
Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
Find information about artistic traditions from around the world. Includes architecture and archeology
Updated daily. Provides Web access to the entire text of The Dictionary of Art (1996, 34 vols.) with annual additions of new material and updates to the text, plus extensive image links.
Covers the artistic traditions of the world's leading cultures, countries, cities, towns, and regions as well as important archaeological sites, monuments, and buildings. Includes over 45,000 signed articles on every aspect of the visual arts from prehistory through the present as well as over 40,000 web links to important art images in galleries and museums around the world. Both the fine arts (painting, sculpture, and architecture) and the decorative arts (ceramics, textiles, jewellery, interior design, furniture, glass, metalwork, and more) are included.
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Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece & Rome
Sign in with your EID and then click Oxford Reference Library to access the ebook. Use the "search within work" box to search.

Oxford Classical Dictionary This link opens in a new window
Covers all aspects of the ancient world.
An authoritative reference to all aspects of the ancient world. Offers, across the whole range of the study of the ancient world, both information presented in a form accessible to non-specialists and factual material and bibliographies detailed and specific enough for specialist. Covers literature, art, philosophy, law, biography, mythology, science, geography, daily life, and broad cultural and historical trends.
Encyclopedia of Ancient History This link opens in a new window
Don't use the search box in the upper right corner - instead, in the About section describing the encyclopedia, click "show all" and then click the advanced search to search inside this encyclopedia
A comprehensive collection of twenty-first century scholarship on the ancient Mediterranean world, including the Near East and Egypt. It contains over 5,000 entries and covers the time period from the late Bronze Age through the seventh century CE.