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This Library Research Guide will provide information about and access to some of the most significant research materials available from McFarlin Library related to Classical Studies. The tabs above cover research options such as:
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Selecting a research topic is much like deciding on a travel destination. Once you have narrowed your ideas to an interesting subject, write down a brief statement about this topic. For example: "Rock groups of the 60s, their popularity and major influence on the music industry." Once the topic is selected, write down specific questions that you'll want to answer. The research process will drive your destination. Your original topic may develop into something entirely different. You may choose to follow an alternate path and go down a different road.
After determining the topic, you can map out your route. You must identify the types of sources that will provide the information needed, then determine where to find these sources. Types of sources that should be considered include books, periodicals, the Internet, and other libraries (through interlibrary loan).
The key to finding books is the online library catalog called Discovery. Search in Discovery by selecting a keyword that best describes your topic. You can also search by title, author, subject, or keyword. In addition to books, the catalog allows you to search for periodicals, government documents, audiovisual material, and Special Collections.
If you get lost during your sight-seeing trip, stop and ask directions. The following reference sources will be most useful to acquire quick answers to any questions you may have.
Begin with Encyclopedias, then to get off the main drag, use Subject Encyclopedias.
What does it mean? Use a Dictionary.
How much, how many? Find Statistical Information.
Who? Find Biographical Information.
How can I get in touch? Use a Directory.
Where do I go from here? Bibliographies.
Periodicals include newspapers, magazines, and journals. They are published regularly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly. Journals are periodicals containing articles written by experts in a particular field of study. If the researcher wrote the article, is it a primary source. If reporters write the article, such as in popular magazines, it is a secondary source. Typically, journal articles contain extensive bibliographies that lead to additional sources.
Journal List - If there is a specific journal that you are looking for, this will take you directly to McFarlin's holdings.
Discovery - If there is a specific article that you are looking for, you can search Summon with that article's title.
Database List - If you don't have a specific journal or article in mind, then McFarlin's databases will allow you to search multiple journals with a keyword.
Technical Reports
Technical reports describe the process, progress, or results of technical or scientific research. They include in-depth experimental details, data, and results. Technical reports are usually produced to report on a specific research need. They can serve as a report of accountability to the organization funding the research. They provide access to the information before it is published elsewhere.
A typical computer science technical report should include the following main components:
Title and author information
Abstract/executive summary
Introduction/motivation
Methods/approach
Results
Discussion/analysis
Conclusions
References
Appendices (if needed for supplementary material like code, data, etc.)
The body is typically organized into the four main sections: motivation, methods, results, and discussion. This allows a logical flow in presenting the research work.
Code Documentation
Code documentation is important. It provides you and others a framework for using your code, building upon your code, and documenting your code. A code documentation should include the following:
A README file that contains
Allow issue tracker for others
Write an API documentation
Document your code
Apply coding conventions, such as file organization, comments, naming conventions, programming practices, etc.
Include information for contributors
Include citation information
Include licensing information
Link to your e-mail address at the end
List all the versions of the files along with the major edits you did in each version
In Computer Science, as in other fields of study, it is very important that you cite the sources that you use to form and articulate your ideas. Computer scientists typically use the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) style, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) style, or sometimes the American Psychological Association (APA) style of citing. Your professor should tell you what citation style you will be using for their class; if you aren't sure which style you should be using, please ask your professor.
For an excellent and free citation management software option, check out our page on Zotero.
For a quick and easy citation generator, try ZBib by Zotero.
