LIBRARY INSTRUCTIONAL GUIDE
HUMANITIES
The Humanities is a large body of knowledge comprising philosophy, religion, psychology, literature, music and music history, as well as the history of art and architecture. The humanities are the core of what is called a “liberal,” or general, education. NOTE: the disciplines of literature, history and other social and behavioral sciences related to the humanities, like psychology, are treated in separate Instructional Guides.
Finding Books [using
our online book catalog]:
The Library of Congress (LC) Classification System is used by most colleges and universities to classify and arrange books on the shelves. The following letters from the LC Classification System are useful in researching the humanities.
Philosophy [General] B
Speculative Philosophy BD
Religions BL
Judaism BM
Islam BP
Christianity BR
Music [General] M
Literature of Music ML
Music Instruction MT
Fine Arts [General] N
Architecture NA
Go to these sections in Reference or the general stacks to browse these topic areas. For more detailed information, ask the librarian for a handout describing the complete range of the LC Classification System.
Sample Search Terms [for use in the online book catalog of other databases]:
philosophy, logic, Platonism, pragmatism, Aristotle, medieval philosophy, music history, jazz, violin, bassoon, Suzuki Method, chromaticism, Ludwig van Beethoven, Bob Dylan, Egyptian art, romantic art, painting, silversmithing, Pablo Picasso
Suggested Print
Resources [in the Reference section; many are multi-volume sets]:
Oxford
Companion to the Bible
Encyclopedia
Judaica
Myths
and Legends of the World
Encyclopedia
of World Religion
Encyclopedia
of Philosophy
Key
Ideas in Human Thought
Masterpieces
of Philosophy in Summary Form
The
Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
New
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
Student
Encyclopedia of Music
Garland
Encyclopedia of World Music
Oxford
Companion to Music
Baker’s
Biographical Dictionary of Musicians
The
Dictionary of Art
Encyclopedia
of World Art
Art: A History of Painting, Sculpture and
Architecture
Use the online book catalog to determine call numbers for the above items, or ask for help at the Information Desk.
Online Databases:
Online databases yield important information published in the periodical literature, including magazines, professional journals and newspapers. Some of our most authoritative sources for this type of information are:
EBSCOhost [Academic Search Premier, Academic Search
Complete, Religion & Philosophy Collection]
Gale
/ Infotrac [Biography Resource Center]
WilsonWeb
Click on our library home page under “Online Databases” to access these resources. All of them contain full-text capabilities, allowing selected articles to be printed out in their entirety.
Internet Resources
[selected]:
These content-rich websites contain much useful data. However, as with all Net-based resources, students should be discriminating about what they are finding and using. Not all resources on the Internet are equal. These have been found to be reliable.
www.edsitement.neh.gov
www.neh.gov/news/humanities.html
www.classicol.com
www.witcombe.sbc/ARTLinks.html
www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm
Citation Style: MLA [Modern Language Association]
Correct citation form is that which is preferred by your teacher. The MLA form indicated here is almost always the appropriate form for humanities-related subjects. Our web page contains suggestions for MLA style under “Student Resources.” Click there for more information. The most recent edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers is available in the Reference stacks. It is the most authoritative source for all questions about MLA citation form.
Tutorials: [under construction]
For further information, call the general library reference number at
the Main Yeary library at 956-721-5274 or 956-794-4261 at the Zaffirini (South)
library. We are available for assistance during all hours the library is
open.
You may also reach us by email at reference_desk@laredo.edu.