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Helps for Studying Art & Archaeology in Perseus


Contents

The Basics
Art & Archaeology in Perseus

The Basics . . .

  1. Each of the 5 major divisions of Perseus 1, or the 6 divisions of Perseus 2 opens by putting you into a finding aid -- a kind of index.

  2. Text files in Perseus are composed on HyperCard stacks, which you can imagine as a stack of 3 x 5 inch note cards. You can advance from one to the next by clicking on the right arrow in the navigator, or move back by the left arrow or the keyboard shortcut, command-~. This is true of all kinds of texts in Perseus, texts as diverse as:

  • Every object in the Art & Archaeology databases has two corresponding cards: the Summary Card and the Description Card by which it is accessed and indexed, and which identify and describe the corresponding object. These cards for vases are called Coin Summary Card and Coin Description Card.

  • You can toggle back and forth between Summary and Description Cards by clicking on the buttons marked "Description" and "Summary" in the upper right corner, top zone, of every card.

  • Every photograph is accompanied, when it first appears on the screen, by a small window with photo or drawing credits. Credits should be included in any student paper which reproduces photographs or drawings from Perseus. The window may be closed for unobstructed viewing of the image.

  • Remember, in Perseus you click only once to activate any option. If you click twice, the 2nd click may unintentionally initiate some procedure or open some file which you did not intend.

    Getting Oriented to Art & Archaeology in Perseus

    Unlike the other divisions of Perseus, Art & Archaeology is an umbrella category for several databases of graphic materials. It is a device to keep the Perseus Gateway uncluttered. Each of these databases has its own entry-level finding aid.

    For each object in the Art & Archaeology section -- that is, vases, sculptures, coins -- there are two cards to help you understand and study that object: a "Summary" card and a "Description" card.

    The Summary Card provides:
    • the official identification of the object by reference to the library or collection to which it belongs, and its catalog number if there is one
    • basic description of the object (type of coin, type of vase, a general description of what it represents or what is represented on it)
    • technical descriptive information (dimensions, materials, etc.)
    • a list of images available in Perseus (links on which you click to see the image)

    The Description Card provides:

    When you do a word search in Perseus, Perseus searches these cards, which serve as indices to the subjects represented in the corresponding objects.

    STEP 1: Enter the Art & Archaeology.

    How to do it:
    1. Click on the icon for Art & Archaeology in the Perseus Gateway

      This puts you into a list of links to indices for the several databases grouped under the heading, Art & Archaeology.

    2. Alternatively, Click and hold on "LINKS" in the Bar Menu.
      In the third zone of the Links Bar Menu, you will see individually listed the several databases which the Perseus Gateway groups under the umbrella term, Art & Archaeology. They follow the Primary Texts database. You can drag the mouse down to whichever one you want, and release. This approach will put you directly into the index for that database.

    3. You can also enter Art & Archaeology from links in the other divisions of Perseus.
      Links from elsewhere in Perseus -- for example, the Historical Overview or the English Word Search -- to vase illustrations, sculptures, coins, photographs of archaeological sites, or other graphic materials will also put you directly into one of the Art and Archaeology databases, bypassing the entry-level finding aids. (In this case, the text with the link serves as your finding aid for that particular illustration.)
      Whenever you follow a link in this manner, you can return to the text you were studying by clicking on the left arrow on the Perseus Navigator, or by typing "command-~"on the keyboard.

    STEP TWO: select one of the following Art & Archaeology databases:

    Advance to:
  • Historical Overview
  • Tools & References
  • Atlas
  • Primary Sources (i.e., editions of classical Greek literature)

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    Last Updated: January 4, 1999

    Maintained for the Classical & Medieval Studies Program by
    Robert W. Allison