Skip to Main Content

HIS310 Near Eastern and Greek Civilizations Research Guide

Quick access to the resources and tools you will need to conduct effective research on the ancient history in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece from ca. 3500 to 300 BCE

Try these tips in online indexes/databases

  • Brainstorm a variety of keywords / search terms
    Examples:
    • poverty
    • low-income
    • income level
    • social class
  • To Narrow a search:
    Connect keywords with AND
    Example:
    poverty AND education AND achievement
  • Use quotes to search for a phrase
    Example:
    "social inequality"
  • To Broaden a search:
    Use OR to search synonyms
    Example:
    poverty OR low-income

Woman at a computer

  • Combine various search strategies
    Example:
    (poverty OR low-income) AND education
  • Search by keywords, not sentences
    Example:
    poverty AND "secondary education" AND achievement
                           instead of
    effect of poverty on high school students
  • Use * to get different endings of a root word
    Example:
    school* searches for:  school, schools, schooling
  • Look for official subject terms or descriptors; use these terms to find more articles or books on your topic
    Examples:

Athens (Greece)--Social Life and Customs
Civilization, Ancient
Democracy--Greece--Athens
Greece--Antiquities
Greece--Archaeology
Greece--Architecture
Greece--History--To 146 B.C.
Greece--Civilization--To 146 B.C.
Greece--Religious Life and Customs
Iraq--Civilization--To 634
Middle East--History--To 622