Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Using the Library’s Catalogs

CATNYP is the online catalog of The New York Public Library’s four Research Libraries.  It is easily accessible via the World Wide Web at http://catnyp.nypl.org.  For general instructions on using CATNYP, please consult Using the Library's Online Catalog. The following information is specific to the subject of Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

CATNYP allows searching by author, title, keyword, and subject. A subject search will generally yield more precise results, but only if you know the appropriate Library of Congress subject headings for your topic.

Because of the immense cross-disciplinary nature of this field, there are many subject headings that can be used. Some of the relevant subject headings include:

Middle Ages
Middle Ages History
Civilization Medieval
Medievalism
Art, Medieval
Cities and Towns, Medieval
Cookery, Medieval
Drama, Medieval
Literature, Medieval
Women – History – Middle Ages
Chivalry
Crusades
Knights and Knighthood
Renaissance
Architecture, Renaissance
Art, Renaissance
Decorative Arts, Renaissance
Ethics, Renaissance
European Fiction – Renaissance
Gardens, Renaissance
European Literature – Renaissance
Painting, Renaissance
Philosophy, Renaissance

To research the history of a country or region, the following subject structures can be helpful to know:

France History Medieval Period
Great Britain History 13th Century
Twelfth Century

If you do not know the Library of Congress subject headings for your topic, it will be easier to perform a word search. A word search will generally retrieve more items, though many of them may not be relevant. When performing a word search, be sure to use the word "and" between each term:

Anglo-Saxon and church
Women and Renaissance and Italy
Women and Renaissance and Florence

After you retrieve your results in a word search, scan the record of one of the items. You will see the item's subject headings listed, and can then perform a subject search, if desired.

If visiting the Library, you may wish to search the Dictionary Catalog, most of whose entries now appear in CATNYP.

If you need assistance locating materials, please see a reference librarian, at the reference desk in Room 315. If you are not in the library, you may also e-mail us for assistance at grdref@nypl.org.