Research Guide to the Ancient World

John M. Weeks is Head Librarian, Penn Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, at the University of Pennsylvania. He has a graduate degree in librarianship as well as a doctoral degree in anthropology and archeology. Weeks has published numerous monographs and articles, including two editions of Introduction to Library Research in Anthropology, both of which received Outstanding Academic Book awards from Choice/ACRL (1992, 1998).Jason de Medeiros is Assistant Librarian, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology.

The study of the ancient Mediterranean, Egypt, and the Near East continues to be a mainstay of Western education, generating a large volume of scholarship. This guide by Weeks and Medeiros focuses on the monographs, books, journals, and electronic resources written primarily in Western European languages, Greek, or Hebrew that treat the history and prehistory of the region. As the authors state, the guide cannot be considered comprehensive because of the enormous literature of the field. To warrant inclusion, works were judged by their availability, scholarly significance, and subject matter. In separate chapters, the authors discuss specialized library and museum collections, subject and regional bibliographies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, abstracts and indexes, journals, biographical information, directories of organizations and associations, atlases, photographic and visual collections, and theses and dissertations. Several appendixes provide additional helpful information, such as relevant graduate programs, sources on paleography and writing systems, and numismatics. The most useful appendix, however, is the list of archaeological site reports arranged by country and then by site. Because of the scope of the work, some omissions are inevitable, yet for those libraries that support programs in classics, archaeology, ancient history, biblical studies, and related fields, this guide must be considered a required purchase. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, researchers/faculty.

• Introduction1.What is the Ancient World? 2. Specialized Libraries Collection3. Specialized Museum Collections4. Guides to the Literature of the Ancient World 5. Subject Bibliographies 6. Regional Bibliographies 7. Book Reviews and Yearbooks 8. Dictionaries 9. Encyclopedias 10. Handbooks 11. Abstracts and Indexes 12. Journal Literature 13. Biographical Information 14. Directories of Organizations and Associations15. Atlases 16. Photographic and Visual Collections 17. Theses and Dissertations AppendixesLibrary of Congress Classification System Graduate Programs Archaeological Site Reports Paleography and Writing Systems Numismatics Index