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CL ST 3740: Sex, Gender, & Culture in the Ancient Mediterranean

This course guide is intended to support students taking the course, CL ST 374 as they complete papers and other research projects.

Subject Searching

Subject searching, or searching for a specific subject heading in a database, can help you find resources on a specific topic. The easiest way to do this is also the simplest. Search for 1 good article on your topic, open its Abstract/Details page, and then click on the corresponding subject heading. 

Information about an article including the author, source, document type, and subjects. The subjects are highlighted.

This is great as a starting point if you aren't sure what subject headings a specific database uses.

Using the Thesaurus

Thesaurus searching is a more in-depth way of combing through the search terms and subjects unique to a database to optimize your research. 

Thesaurus Searches are built into most ProQuest databases and some EBSCO databases (often under the name "Subject Terms"), and a select few others. Look for a link that says “thesaurus,” “topics,” “subjects,” “descriptors” or “related terms” if you can't find a Thesaurus tool clearly marked. 

Academic Search Ultimate screenshot with "Subject Terms" highlighted in the header menu

After you look up a term in the Thesaurus, it will show a list of related Subject Terms, which you can explore in more detail or use to build out a new search: 

A list of subject terms from the search "roman" including roman law, roman sculptures, and other related terms.

More specific information about Thesaurus searching in ProQuest is provided in the ProQuest Thesaurus Search Guide linked below: 

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Becca Yowler
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