Finding Books, Articles & More! - ANTH 2229W - Contested Ground: Sacred Sites Across the Ancient World - Young

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Books, Articles and More!

Vanderbilt University Library Search

Selecting the best search scope for your research needs:

Everything vs. Library Catalog vs. Articles

Search Scope	What is included?	When should I use it?
Everything	Broadest search scope Results will include books and ebooks, articles, and media like DVDs	A great option when you are just beginning your research process. Use Everything when you want to survey the research landscape for your topic
Library Catalog	Focuses on VU owned items, physical and digital Results will include books and ebooks, and media like DVDs Digital collections like the TV News Archive will also be included in your results	You have defined your information needs Use Library Catalog when you are ready to create a tailored search for your topic
Articles	Content from selected VU databases Popular and scholarly articles	Use Articles to find popular and scholarly articles on your topic. The Articles scope does not search across all databases accessible to the Vanderbilt community. Not finding the articles you need or want more database options? Consult the Database A-Z

For a more detailed explanation of your search scope options consult What am I searching?

Keyword vs. Subject Searching

Step 1: Start your search process by brainstorming a list of keywords that describe the main concepts of your topic or question.

Step 2: Use these keywords for your initial searches.

Step 3: Use the Subject Heading links in the Library Catalog record to refine your search.

Catalog record of book Contested sites in Jerusalem with subject headings highlighted

A Selection of Useful Subject Headings

Try a SUBJECT search using one of the Library of Congress Subject Headings listed below:

Religious architecture	Sacred space
Architecture and religion	Shrines
Church architecture	Temples
Islamic architecture	Mosques
HIndu architecture	Synagogues

The following databases will help you find articles on your topic:

General & Legal Databases

HeinOnline
Comprehensive legal research database. Extensive coverage of law reviews and historical access to resources such as the Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulations, and US Supreme Court decisions. Legislative history and select foreign and international materials. Contains specialized libraries: intellectual property, taxation and economic reform, etc.
ProQuest
Search all ProQuest databases simultaneously. Includes arts, humanities, social sciences, news, and science and technology.
JSTOR
Large and important archive for academic journals, books, and primary sources in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Many journals do not have current issues.

Databases for Art & Architecture

Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
Comprehensive American guide to the current literature of architecture and design. Index of international, scholarly and popular periodical literature, including publications of professional associations; US state and regional periodicals; and major serial publications in the architecture and design of Europe, Asia, Latin America and Australia.
Coverage: 1930s to the present; selective coverage dating back to the 1860s.
Art Full Text and Art Index Retrospective
Comprehensive resource for art literature: articles, indexing and abstracting of journals, and art dissertations; covering fine, decorative, and commercial art, folk art, photography, film, and architecture. Includes indexing of publications, and citations of book reviews. Indexing of art reproductions provides examples of styles and art movements, including works by emerging artists.
Coverage: 1929 to present.
ARTbibliographies Modern (ABM)
Abstracts of journal articles, books, essays, exhibition catalogs, PhD dissertations, and exhibition reviews on all forms of modern and contemporary art. Abstracts of material on famous and lesser-known artists, movements, and trends. Includes illustration, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and drawing, performance art and installation works, video art, computer and electronic art, body art, graffiti, artist's books, theatre arts, conservation, crafts, ceramic and glass art, ethnic arts, graphic and museum design, fashion, and calligraphy.
Coverage: 1960s-.

Databases for Archaeology

Anthropology Plus
Index to journal articles, reports, commentaries, edited works, and obituaries in the fields of social, cultural, physical, biological, and linguistic anthropology, ethnology, archaeology, folklore, material culture, and interdisciplinary studies. Includes materials published in English and European languages from the late 19th century to the present. Compilation of the Royal Anthropological Institute’s Anthropological Index and Harvard University's Anthropological Literature databases.
Bibliografia Mesoamericana
Bibliography of the anthropology of Mesoamerica, including Mexico and parts of Central America: archaeology, ethnography, ethnohistory, art history, linguistics, and physical anthropology. Includes bibliographic citations to books, articles, essays, festschrifts, dissertations, obituaries, films, newspapers, etc. Book reviews are omitted.
Coverage: 1514 to present.
Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS)
Index of books, journal articles, chapters in edited volumes, and conference proceedings on all subjects (especially the Humanities and Social Sciences) pertaining to the East, Southeast, and South Asia.
Coverage: 1971-.
Dyabola
Index of material on all areas of Mediterranean and and Near Eastern archaeology and philology from prehistory to the Byzantine era. Citations for books, book reviews, chapters, articles, and festschriften.
Access Note: Select the flag corresponding to the search interface language you desire.

What is ?

FindIt@VU provides direct links from a database citation to the fulltext of the article (if available) and other supporting resources.

JSTOR
Large and important archive for academic journals, books, and primary sources in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Many journals do not have current issues.

Visual Resources Center at Vanderbilt
The Vanderbilt University Visual Resources Center resides in the History of Art department and is your sources for finding and properly using high-quality images resources for your papers, presentations, and projects.

Example 1: Book

To search for books use the library catalog, either Library Search. You can search by author or title. Some books will also be published as part of a series. The series title is also a searchable field though searching by author or title are still going to be your best bet.

Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman

2015 China's Early Mosques. Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Art. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.

Example 2: Journal Article

Use the Journals Search to see if we have a subscription to the journal. Search by the journal name. Once you access the journal, either online or in print, you'll be able to navigate to your specific article.

**The Everything and Articles search scopes will return individual articles in a search, however, it is not searching all of our subscriptions, so searching by the journal title is the safer bet.

Connelly, Joan B.

1996 Parthenon and Parthenoi: A Mythological Interpretation of the Parthenon Frieze. American Journal of Archaeology 100(1): 53-80.

Example 3: Chapter from an edited Volume

The Library Search is definitely your friend. When searching for a chapter in an edited volume, remember you must search by the title of the work that contains the chapter or the editors of the work.

Plog, Stephen.

2012 Ritual and Cosmology in the Chaco Era. In Religious Transformations in the Late Pre-Historic Pueblo World, edited by Donna M. Glowacki and Scott van Keuren, pp. 50-65. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.