Google Scholar

First off, for those who are unfamiliar, here is Google's description of their Google Scholar search engine:

Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations. Google Scholar helps you identify the most relevant research across the world of scholarly research.

I remember trying Google Scholar when it was first released. At the time, I didn't find it all that helpful and I more or less forgot about it. Recently, amidst the flurry of term-end papers, I came across it again and I must say it seems considerably more useful now. Classics majors will be happy to know that it searches JSTOR now. (JSTOR is a journal index that includes quite a number of Classics journals - if you are a Classics major and have never used JSTOR, go check it out! You can probably get full-text access to articles online through your university library.)

Speaking of libraries, one of Google Scholar's spiffy features is the ability to set your library preference (visit the preferences page and check out the 'Library Links' section). Pick your university's library and you'll get links next to search results (e.g. 'Get it @ Oxford'). This facilitates finding the book or article at your library (or getting online access through your library login).

Google classifies Scholar as 'beta', and rightly so - it still has a long way to go... (I sure hope it gets there!) Linked with Scholar is their full-text Book Search tool. It is also in beta, but is already quite useful (and will only get better as they add more books.)

Latin Morphological Analysis in IE7

IE 7 has a new search box in the top-right corner of the browser window. It's possible to search with different search engines by selecting one using the little drop-down box. A few options are built-in, but it's also possible to add your own search engines.

I've found it useful to add the morphological tool from Perseus to the list. Then I can just type in a Latin word and quickly get the morphology and links to Lewis & Short without having to load up Perseus first.

It's rather easy to set up:

1. Click the 'find more providers' link.



2. You'll get to a Microsoft website which provides a list of different search engines to add. There isn't a default link for Perseus (shocking, I know! Doesn't everyone want morphological analysis?), so you'll have to set it up yourself by following the directions in the 'Create Your Own' box.



3. Cut and paste the following URL where it asks for the search results page:

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/morphindex?lookup=TEST&.submit=Analyze+Form&lang=la&formentry=1

And that's it!

300 (The Movie)

That's the latest trailer for '300', a new movie based on Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name. I've not read the comics, but a fellow Classics major says they're great. The movie looks like it should be fun - of course, it's certainly not intended to be some historically accurate depiction of Thermopylae... (check Classics sensibility at the door, sit back, and enjoy).

It would be interesting to see what sort of correlation there has been between the release of all these sword-and-sandal movies of the last few years, and enrolment in Classics programs. I wonder if departments have seen a surge in numbers as of late. Gladiator must have had some sort of impact...

Occasionally I wonder whether these kinds of films are detrimental for Classics... but I tend to think the publicity is good. Let the movie draw students into the classroom, and let an excellent prof show them just how much more there is to Greek & Roman history.

Any thoughts?

The Electronic Resources site disappears...

Electronic Resources for Wheelock's Latin seems to have been taken down recently. All that is left: "Site Closed Until Further Notice". This is really too bad - it was an excellent and useful resource for students. I wonder what happened? Does anyone know?

If you're looking for online resources related to Wheelock's Latin, you can check this list at the official Wheelock website. You'll find plenty of links to other helpful Latin sites.

Whitaker's Words

If you need a quick definition of a Latin word, try Whitaker's Words. This little program's no-nonsense command-line interface may not be beautiful, but it is certainly fast and very useful. Words will even give you a morphological analysis of words you look up.

It is certainly not intended to be a replacement for a solid Latin dictionary like Lewis & Short, but is a great tool to help you work your way through a passage quickly.

...now if only there was something like this for Greek too!

two years later...

After a really long hiatus, I'm going to resume writing in this blog.

When I originally started, my intent was to write about my experiences of learning Latin. I'm happy to say that my Latin has progressed considerably since the last time I posted, but of course there's still much to learn and review. So... my continuing endeavour to master the language will remain a major thread of this blog. I hope to discuss learning & teaching methods, review books and resources, and maybe post some focused mini-lessons.

However, I'd also like to expand into the larger realm of Classical Studies. So, if you're at all curious about ancient history and the Romans & Greeks, then check back and hopefully you'll find something that interests you.

Comments are most welcome. (It makes me feel warm and fuzzy knowing someone actually is reading this stuff!)