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FYS: American History: an alternative View

October 18, 2006

              Shirley Knight, Reference Librarian                    Jeffrey Morrow, Instructor

              sknight@ramapo.edu                                                INTD  101 -xx

              x7315

Project SAILS

 I. Library Homepage   Provides access to the catalog (OPAC), databases, interlibrary loan forms, etc.

• First Year Seminar Page  Information on library research for all FYS classes

II.  Reference Matrials

Dictionary of American History	Ref E 174 .D52 2003
The Annals of America	Ref E 173 .A793 2003
The USA Patriot Act	Ref H 31 ,C76 U558 2004
The U.S.A: a chronicle in pictures	Ref  E 174.5 .W4 1991
National Trauma and Collective Memory:extraordinary events in the American Experience	Ref E 741 .N43 2005

III. Finding Primary and Secondary Sources

• Catalog: use this to find books, journal titles NOT ARTICLES, government documents, reserve items, music and movies owned by the Library. You may limit a search by language, year(s) of publication, type of material, etc. This may take a few seconds to load.

• Primary sources enable researchers to get as close as possible to to what actually happened during an historical event or time period. The information and ideas were either created during the time period or created later by a participant or observer of the event being studied.
• Some examples of primary sources you will be choosing are:

1.  letters     
2. diaries 
3. letters     
4. sermons
5. newspapers
6. magazines
7. Government Documents
8. legal documents
9. oral histories
10. films.

• Use the Advanced Search option to search for primary materials. For example, enter "hiroshima AND interviews
• Use the Command line/Boolean terms search option under Basic Search . For example, enter
• "hiroshima and interviews." Both these options allow you to enter additional terms that will insure that your results will locate primary sources.
• Click on the Related Record tab on the top of  a record to see the subject headings associated with that particular item. These linked subject headings will take you to other material on the same subject matter.
• Searching the catalog for secondary sources:
• In Basic Search, use the Keyword default setting for a basic search to find material
  • For example: search for "national trauma" or "United States experience extraordinary " to locate a broad range of material and look for ideas for your project
                    OR
• Use Subject Browse if you know the Library of  Congress subject heading such as:
• Terrorism
• Hiroshima
• Pearl Harbor
• Atomic Bomb

                 Tips

1. Start with broad searches. It is much easier to discard too much rather than start with too little.
2. If you don't know the Subject Heading, use the Related Records tab located on the top of a catalog record to get to the headings. This will help you focus in on more relevant material.
3. Can "virtually" browse the shelves by clicking on the call number in a record

IV. Electronic Resources

• Some useful Databases for finding articles:

• By subject

• Alphabetic list

• Journal Finder : determine if a journal is available full-text online, in print in the library, or available on microfilm.

 V. Web Sources

•   Use Subject Resources, under History search the following site to find supplemental material for your topics
•    American Memory (Library of Congress): Provides access to primary sources on film, manuscripts, photos, books and other printed texts and more.

VII.  Bibliography

• Choose Citing Websites & Print Sources: to avoid plagiarism use the Chicago style for guidance in documenting your research sources.     

VIII.

• Course Reserve  Need either Ramapo ID (R#) or barcode (provided by the library)

• Q&A New Jersey  Reference assistance when there is no reference librarian available

Need more help? Visit or call the Reference Desk: 201.684.7574