Purpose & Scope

of this Subject Guide

Purpose

To maintain an Online Medieval Studies Subject Guide where undergraduate students in the Medieval & Early Modern Studies (MEMS) program can access quality resources to aid them in conducting research.

Scope & Advantages

The Medieval Studies Subject Guide is essentially an annotated bibliography of major print and electronic resources (i.e. databases, web resources, E-journals, etc.) available to MEMS undergraduate students conducting research. This guide is primarily organized according to specific topics and academic disciplines that students would wish to find. Thus, the lay out is designed to be a user-friendly site that is both easy to navigate and use.

The Medieval Studies Subject Guide concentrates mainly on reference resources (with only a few items found in the general collection) for the following reasons:

Because reference sources are the most readily accessible items during the Library West renovation project.
Reference sources are sometimes underutilized by students and offer important background information on a given topic.
General sources have become so numerous that it would be a Herculean achievement (if not impossible) to attempt to include everything in this guide.

This Web site is accessible to anyone, anywhere, and at anytime via the Web. It is hoped that this site will make medieval studies more accessible and interesting to undergraduate students (including those from outside UF) and perhaps the average person as well.

Primarily Focus

This guide primarily focuses on the humanities and social sciences regarding medieval Europe. It is recognized that the areas of history, literature, and philosophy are emphasized and it is done purposely. These categories were chosen as a starting point since the editor's primary areas of study and knowledge (through previous graduate coursework) are in these disciplines.

It is recognized that there are limitations with concentrating only on the disciplines previously mentioned. To counteract this disadvantage, I have consulted with my colleagues in the library to expand the scope of this guide. Topics such as music, Judaica, art and architecture have been included to be of use to a wider audience. It is my wish to add more academic areas to the guide in order to support the MEMS department curriculum and facilitate its use. Finally, even though early modern studies topics are hardly touched upon in this bibliography, it is hoped that this section can be expanded to included them over time.

For further information or comments about the guide, please contact the editor:

       Paul Victor
         Assistant University Librarian at Smathers Library
         Tel.# (352) 392-4919