This guide was compiled to assist students in this course by providing (1) links to full-text primary sources in the field, and (2) suggested resources for research papers. If you have suggestions for this site, please contact Beth.
RefWorks is a web-based program that will help you manage references to resources, compile bibliographies, and format your citations in a variety of styles within MS Word or other word processing programs (e.g., MLA). RefWorks is offered free to University students, faculty, and staff.
| Library Catalogs/Finding Book | Indexes/Finding Articles |
| Full-Text Electronic Resources | Other Online Resources |
| Library Subject Guides | Encyclopedias |
Finding books in an online catalog can be challenging. The first challenge is where to begin. Most people search the catalog either (1) to find the location and call of a specific book which they know something about (e.g., author, title) OR (2) to find books on a topic. The biggest challenge of a topical search is finding a starting point. One suggestion is to look up a specific book which you know is helpful. How do you do that? Most books have bibliographies. Start with the bibliographies in your textbooks. Are there books listed which would be helpful in writing your research paper? If so, use the library catalog to see if we have them here at the U of C Library. When you find it in the catalog, look at the full record and note the subject headings which display in the full record. Try clicking on one of these subjects (they are hyperlinks) to find other books on this same subject. If the bibliographies in your textbooks are not helpful, there are often bibliographies in encyclopedias. I've listed some below.
Sometimes when you search for books on a topic you end up with a results list which is too long. A few tips: try limiting your search results by language (e.g., English); sort your results by date.
If all else fails, you can try searching using keywords. Better yet, try searching/browsing the following Library of Congress subject headings:
Islamic Empire -- Relations -- Europe
Europe -- Relations -- Islamic Empire
Church history -- Middle Ages, 600-1500
Europe -- Church history -- 60-1500
History, Medieval
Middle Ages -- History
Civilizations, Islamic
Islamic Empire -- Civilizations
If you find a subject heading that works well, make a note of it. You can usually use this same heading when you search for articles.
University of Chicago Library Catalog
WorldCat : A worldwide union catalog created and maintained collectively by more than 9,000 member institutions. With millions of online records built from the bibliographic and ownership information of contributing libraries, it is the largest and most comprehensive database of its kind.
U of C access
RLG Union Catalog (RLIN) : Comprehensive union catalog of records for more than 134 million books, periodicals, recordings, scores, archival collections, and other types of material held in major research institutions.
Books in Print : The Books In Print database has more than 4 million records, and is updated weekly. Records describe in-print, out-of-print, and forthcoming books, audios and videos from more than 44,000 North American publishers and U.S. distributors and wholesalers.
Again, the key is to find a starting point if you are doing a search by topic. For most of these indexes you can use the same subject headings you tried when searching for books.
International Medieval Bibliography : "The IMB database comprises records deriving from articles published in periodicals (journals) and in miscellany volumes (conference proceedings, collected essays, Festschriften and exhibition catalogues) published world-wide. All subjects relating to the Middle Ages are included, within the date range 300-1500 AD. Geographical areas covered are Europe, the Middle East and North Africa." (Select "Enter databases" for access)
Index Islamicus : Indexes literature on Islam, the Middle East, and the Muslim world (main Muslim areas of Asia and Africa, plus Muslim minorities elsewhere). Includes records for articles from over 2,000 journals, conference proceedings, monographs, and book reviews (covers 1906-).
ATLA Religion Index : (1949-) The most important index for religious and theological studies. It indexes more than 700 journals relating to religion, some of which contain links to the full-text of the articles. It also indexes essays in books, including Festschriften; and book reviews. Compiled by the American Theological Library Association, this resource is intended to support the study and research of faculty and students studying religion.
Academic Search Premier : A scholarly, full text database designed for academic institutions. The database includes full text for 1800 publications as well as images, for nearly every academic field of study.
Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index (Haverford University) (free access)
NetSERF: The Internet Connection for Medieval Resources (free access)
LIBRO: Library of Iberian Resources Online: Contains the entire text of out of print scholarly monographs on medieval Spain (free access)
SULAIR: Medieval and Modern Thought Text Digitization Project (Stanford University) (free access)
ORB: The Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies (hosted by the College of Staten Island CUNY) (free access)
Internet Medieval Sourcebook (part of ORB): As Professor Pick notes, this site "[c]ontains a wide variety of translated primary sources from the medieval period. Several of our class readings can be found on this site." In addition to full-text primary sources, this site also has maps. (free access)
EFTS: Electronic Full-Text Sources (a project of the University of Chicago Library) : Medieval Texts (free access)
Digital Scriptorium : "[A]n image database of medieval and renaissance manuscripts, intended to unite scattered resources from many institutions into an international tool for teaching and scholarly research" (UC Berkeley). (free access)
The Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies (sponsored by Georgetown University) (free access)
A Guide to Medieval and Byzantine Studies Resources (Catholic University Libraries)
Europa Sacra Online : Provides "unrivalled coverage of medieval Church prelates, information on all 1300 medieval bishoprics, archdioceses and patriarchates under obedience to Rome, ... prosopographical information on 18,507 bishops, archbishops and patriarchs."
ITER Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance : "Iter, meaning a journey or a path in Latin, is a not-for-profit research project with partners in Toronto (the headquarters), New York City, and Tempe. Iter was created for the advancement of learning in the study and teaching of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700) through the development of online resources."
Wabash Center Internet Guide for Religion and Theology: see sections on Islam and Medieval Studies
Ut per litteras apostolicas : Electronic version of the series of papal registers and letters of the 13th and 14th centuries preserved in the Vatican Secret Archives in Rome. (Select "Enter databases" for access.)
On the Middle Ages:
Andrea, Alfred J. Encyclopedia of the Crusades. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003. Location: Regenstein, 3rd Floor Reference Collection. Call No.: D155 .A6 2003
Gwatkin, H. M. and J. P. Whitney, eds. The Cambridge Medieval History. New York : The Macmillan Company; Cambridge, England: The University Press, 1924-1967. 8 volumes. Contents: I. The Christian Roman Empire and the foundation of the Teutonic kingdoms. 2d ed. 1914 -- II. The rise of the Saracens and the foundation of the Western Empire. Reprinted with corrections 1926 -- III. Germany and the Western Empire. 1924 -- IV. The Eastern Roman Empire (717-1453).1927 -- IV. New edition. The Byzantine Empire. part I. Byzantium and its neighbours / edited by J. M. Hussey. part II. Government, church and civilisation / edited by J. M. Hussey. 1966-1967 -- V. Contest of empire and papacy. 1929 -- VI. Victory of the papacy -- VII. Decline of empire and papacy -- VIII. The close of the middle ages. 1936. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks; 3rd Floor Reference Collection; Classics Reading Room, Room 479. Call No.: D117.C32
LexMa: Lexicon des Mittelalters Online : Medieval studies encylopedia covering Europe and parts of the Middle East and North Africa. Encyclopedia for medieval studies "covers the period from 300 to 1500 AD/CE for the whole of Europe and parts of the Middle East and North Africa" including 36,700 signed articles by 3000 authors. (Select "Enter databases" for access.)
McKitterick, Rosamond, ed. The New Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge, England ; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1995-2004. 7 volumes. Contents: v. 1. c. 500 - c. 700 -- v. 2. c. 700 - c. 900 -- v. 3. c. 900 - c. 1024 -- v. 4. c. 1024 - c. 1198 -- v. 5. c. 1198 - c. 1300 -- v. 6. c. 1300 - c. 1415 -- v. 7. c. 1415 - c. 1500. Location: Regenstein, 3rd Floor Reference Collection. Call No.: D117.N480 1995
Previté-Orton, C. W. (Charles William), ed. The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge [England]: University Press, 1962. 2 volumes. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks. Call No.: D117.C33P9 1962
Vauchez, André, ed. Encylopedia of the Middle Ages. English translation by Adrian Walford. Paris: Cerf ; Cambridge, England: J. Clarke ; Rome: Città nuova, 2000 (available in print and online via Oxford Reference)
Wilson, Katharina M. and Nadia Margolis, eds. Women in the Middle Ages : An Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004. 2 volumes. Location: Regenstein, 3rd Floor Reference Collection. Call No.: HQ1143 .W643 2004
By Country/Region:
Duffy, Seán, ed. Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia. New York : Routledge, 2005. Location: Regenstein, 3rd Floor Reference Collection. Call No.: DA933 .M43 2005
Gerli, E. Michael, ed. Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia. New York : Routledge, 2003. Location: Regenstein, 3rd Floor Reference Collection. Call No.: DP99 .M33 2003
Jeep, John M., ed. Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia. New York : Garland Pub., 2001. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks. Call No.: DD126.M43 2001
Kibler, William W. ... [et al.], eds. Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. New York : Garland Pub., 1995. Location: Regenstein, 3rd Floor Reference Collection. Call No.: DC33.2.M440 1995
Kleinhenz, Christopher, ed. Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia. New York : Routledge, 2004. 2 volumes. Location: Regenstein, 2nd Floor Reference Collection. Call No.: DG443.M43 2004
Pulsiano, Phillip, ed. Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia. New York : Garland, 1993. Location: Regenstein, 3rd Floor Reference Collection. Call No.: DL30.M430 1993
Szarmach, Paul E. , M. Teresa Tavormina, Joel T. Rosentha, eds. Medieval England: An Encyclopedia. New York : Garland Pub., 1998. Location: Regenstein, 3rd Floor Reference Collection. Call No.: DA129 .M43 1998
On Islam:
The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Leiden, Brill: 1960-[i.e. 1954]- (in print and online) Location: Regenstein, 5th Floor Reference Collection. Call No.: BP40.E61
Esposito, John L., ed. The Islamic World: Past and Present. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. 3 volumes. Contents: v. 1. Abbasid caliphate-Historians -- v. 2. Hizbullah-Ottomon empire -- v. 3. Pakistan-Zaynab. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks. Call No.: DS35.53.I86 2004
Esposito, John L., ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. 4 volumes. Location: Regenstein, 5th Floor Reference Collection. Call No.: DS35.53.O950 1995
Gibb, H.A.R. and J.H. Kramers, eds. Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam. Ithaca, Cornell University Press [196-?]
Location: Regenstein, 5th Floor Reference Collection. Call No.: BP40.G431Houtsma, M. Th. [et al.], eds. E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936. Leiden; New York : E.J. Brill, 1987. 9 volumes. Location: Regenstein, 5th Floor Reference Collection. Call No.: BP40.E6 1987
Joseph, Suad, ed. Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures. Leiden : Brill, 2003-. 6 volumes planned. Contents: vol. 1. Methodologies, paradigms and sources -- vol. 2. Family, law and politics -- vol. 3. Family, body, sexuality and health. Location: Regenstein, 5th Floor Reference Collection. Call No.: BP173.4.E538 2003
Martin, Richard C., ed. Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World. New York: Macmillan Reference USA: Thomson/Gale, 2004. 2 volumes. (in print and online) Location: Regenstein, 5th Floor Reference Collection; and 1st Floor Reference Collection. Call No.: BP40.E525 2004
Meri, Josef W., ed. Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. New York : Routledge, 2006. 2 volumes. Contents: v. 1. A-K, index -- v. 2. L-Z, index. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks. Call No.: DS36.85.M434 2006
Newby, Gordon D. A Concise Encyclopedia of Islam. Oxford: Oneworld, c2002. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks. Call No.: BP40 .N49 2002
University of Chicago Medieval Studies Workshop
De re militari: The Society for Medieval Military History website. Good collection of online resources