RESEARCH PATHFINDER (Steps for Gathering Information): Topic
Class / Teacher  Wright Library  St. Catherine’s School, 2011-12
To access the Library resources on the school website . . .
 log on to the St. Catherine’s website
 place your mouse on the “School Life” tab at the top to reveal a list of options and choose “Library”
 click on the “Wright Library” button
 in the gray navigator box on the right, you’ll find the St. Catherine’s Libraries Online Catalog” link
under the icon of the open book; scroll down and look for the “Online Databases” link under the
icon of the magnifying glass
I. ENCYCLOPEDIAS / GENERAL OVERVIEW ARTICLES (Online Databases)
A. ALL SUBJECTS: ENCYCLOPEDIAS / Britannica: Middle School OR High School
B. ALL SUBJECTS: ENCYCLOPEDIAS / Grolier: Multimedia
C. ALL SUBJECTS: GENERAL REFERENCE & eBOOKS / Oxford: Online Reference Premium

read the article to get basic info and keywords/search terms.

use the “email” button to save paper; if you need to print, use the “print” or “print section”
buttons within the database (not the Internet browser)

Britannica’s “Web Links” and “Periodicals” buttons do the best job of providing access to
reliable, recommended websites and journals (don’t forget: Britannica “click here first”)

make note of books, journals, etc. found in the list of resources / bibliography; you may be
able to find these titles in Wright Library or in local area libraries via World Cat
II. OTHER ONLINE DATABASES
A.
ALL SUBJECTS: GENERAL REFERENCE & eBOOKS
1. Gale: Virtual Reference Library  type in Egyptian gods  on left, click “character overview”
2. ABC-CLIO: eBooks Collection  type in “Handbook of Egyptian Mythology” and select “title”
B. ALL SUBJECTS: IMAGES/PICTURES/…
1. Britannica: Image Quest  type in name of god
C. ENGLISH
1. ABC-CLIO: World Folklore & Folklife  type in name of god
D. HISTORY: WORLD
1. ABC-CLIO: Daily Life Through History  on left, click & hold on “Switch Databases”  choose
“Multiproduct Home Page”  select these three databases: Daily Life through History, World History:
Ancient & Medieval Eras, and World Religions
III. ONLINE CATALOGS for PRINT RESOURCES (Reference & Stacks)
You can check the catalog without coming to the library: on the Wright Library webpage, look for
the open book icon on the right, then click on the “St. Catherine’s Online Libraries Catalog”
link underneath it.
Don’t forget to use the World Cat link to find materials in nearby libraries.
A. Strategies for Searching – asterisks (multiple endings) v. question marks (single letter ending)
1. type in term/s  click on Subject button
2. type in term/s  click on Keyword button
HINTS for BROWSING in the REFERENCE SECTION & the STACKS

Use the call numbers you found in the searches above as a place to start browsing

If the number you start with is too specific, round it off; e.g., 942.5 becomes 942 or 940 or 900

Don’t judge a book by its cover: always check the indexes of books nearby on the shelves
B. Titles of Note in Reference – use master index in last volume of any series
1. The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend
REF / 291.13 / Mer
2. NTC’s Classical Dictionary REF / 291.13 / Roo
3. Dictionary of Classical Mythology REF / 291.1303 / Mar
4. Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (3 volumes) REF / 930.03 / Enc
5. Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt REF / 932 / Bai
6. Ancient Eyptians REF / 932 / Bak
7. Handbook to Life in Ancient Egypt REF / 932 / Dav
8. The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt REF / 932 / Sha
9. World Eras: Ancient Egypt REF / 932 / Wor
10. Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt REF / 932.003 / Bun
11. Civilizations of the Ancient Near East (vol. 3, p. 1736) REF / 939.4 / Civ
IV. WORLD WIDE WEB
A. The Internet Public Library 2 http://ipl.org/
B. Classics Technology Center: Ancient Egyptian Gods
http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/ancientegyptiangods.html
C. The British Museum: The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/explore/main.html
VI. CITATIONS
 Don’t forget to collect the basic information that you need to create a bibliography