Davidson College Library  A Guide to L'Année Philologique

L'Année Philologique What Kind of Information Does it Contain? Important Points Finding Works about Ancient Authors Keyword Searches Finding Works by Specific Scholars Limiting by Language Combining Searches Expanding Periodical Title Abbreviations What Kind of Information does it Contain? L'Année Philologique indexes articles, books, conference proceedings, and essays on all aspects of the Greco-Latin world from 500 BCE to 800 CE; it also includes books reviews. Subjects covered include literature, history, art, philosophy, religion, and archaeology. The online database covers scholarly works published from 1959 to the present; to locate articles and books from earlier years, consult the print version of L'Année Philologique in the Little Library Reference Collection (R 016.88 A613). Connect to L'Année Philologique Important Points If you will be conducting multiple searches in the database, do not click on "New Search"; this will clear your search history. Instead, use the menu at the top of the screen. Use the full Latin form for all names of ancient authors. Convert Greek names to their Latin equivalents. Examples:    Juvenal = Iuuenalis    Livy = Liuis    Ovid = Ouidius    Virgil = Vergilius Maro For Latin words and names, convert the letter "j" to an "i." For Latin words, convert the letter "v" to a "u" except in instances where "v" is the initial letter of a word or name. "Full text" is a misnomer; L'Année Philologique is not a full-text database. For more details about the "full text" search, please see below. Many periodical titles are abbreviated; please see the instructions on expanding the abbreviations. Finding Scholarly Works about Ancient Authors Click on "Ancient Authors." Enter the author's name. Be sure to use the full Latin form of the name. Examples:    Juvenal = Iuuenalis    Livy = Liuis    Ovid = Ouidius    Virgil = Vergilius Maro Author names are automatically truncated. Select the correct name and then click on "Confirm Selection." Click on the number of records located to view the records. To view a full record, which may contain an abstract or summary, click on the open book icon to the right of the citation. To expand journal title abbreviations, please see below. Keyword Searches for a Topic Click on "Full Text." Note: "Full text" does not search or retrieve the full text of articles; it only searches the title, summary, keyword, and modern author fields. It does not search ancient author names unless these names appear in the title or summary fields. Enter your search terms. Do not use Boolean operators. The system automatically assumes a Boolean "AND" between search terms. To combine terms with a Boolean "OR" or "NOT," you will need to run separate searches and then combine them using the Search History. To truncate terms, use an asterisk *. Click on the "Search" button. To view a full record, which may contain an abstract or summary, click on the open book icon to the right of the citation. To expand journal title abbreviations, please see below. Finding Works by Specific Scholars Click on "Modern Authors." Enter the scholar's last name and click on "Search." Unless the scholar's name is a common one, do not include the first name or first initial. Select all variants of the scholar's name (look for the name with and without middle initials as well as with initials and last name only). Click on "Confirm the Selection." To view a full record, which may contain an abstract or summary, click on the open book icon to the right of the citation. To expand journal title abbreviations, please see below. Limiting by Language Click on "Other Criteria" and choose "Language" from the drop-down list. Choose the language you want and then click "Search." After you have run your other searches, click on the "History" button in the left-hand frame (it will be highlighted if you have done more than one search) and combine your searches. Combining Searches using Search History As long as you use the menu at the top of the screen and do not click on "New Search," each search you do in L'Année Philologique will be saved to your search history. In order to use the Boolean operators "OR" or "NOT," and in order to combine different types of searches (i.e. a Full Text Search and an Ancient Author search), you will need to use the Search History feature. To retrieve your search history, Click on the "History" button on the left hand side of the screen. The text of "History" will be highlighted if you have done more than one search. Click on the "Combine" button. Enter the Query numbers for the searches you want to combine and use Boolean operators to combine them (e.g. Q1 or Q2). You can either type the Boolean operators or click on the "AND", "OR," or "NOT" buttons to insert the operators. Click on "Search." Your new, combined search will be assigned a "C" number and will appear at the bottom of your Search History screen in a section entitled "Results of the Combinations." Click on the number of the records resulting from the combination to view the records. Expanding Periodical Title Abbreviations For some records, you can see the full periodical title if you view the full record (click on the open book icon to the right of the citation and then move your cursor over the journal title abbreviation in the full record). If the periodical title is still abbreviated, Click on "Other Criteria" and choose "periodical" from the drop-down list. Enter the periodical title abbreviation and click "Search." The full name of the periodical will appear. The print version of L'Année Philologique has a complete list of all periodical title abbreviations (Reference R 016.88 A613). You can also consult the Dictionary of Bibliographic Abbreviations found in the Scholarship of Classical Studies and Related Disciplines, by Jean Susorney Wellington (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003), shelved in Reference at call number R 480 W452d.

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