History Seminar: The French Revolution

410 ; Prof. S. Mustafa
Guide for finding sources at the George T. Potter Library
 

September 20, 2006

Susan B. Kurzmann

skurzman@ramapo.edu

 I.  Library Homepage: http://library.ramapo.edu

  • Provides access to the catalog (OPAC), databases, interlibrary loan forms, etc.

II. Finding Primary and Secondary Sources

  • Primary sources enable researchers to get as close as possible 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 to study the French Revolution:
    •  Memoirs, diaries, letters, interviews, and other first-person accounts
    • Government documents
    • Newspaper articles
    • Paintings
  • Catalog: Use this to find books, periodical 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. 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.
  • Searching the catalog for primary source material :   
    • Use the Advanced Search option
      • or
    • Use the Command line / Boolean terms search option under Basic Search
    • Both these options allow you to enter additonal terms that will insure that your results will be primary source material
    • For example
      • in Advanced Search, enter french revolution and sources
      • in Command line / Boolean terms option, enter french revolution and sources
    • Using words like correspondence, memoir, letter, interview, autobiographies, or diaries will help you to locate source material
    • Click on the Related Records 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 source material:
    • In Basic Search, use the keyword default setting for a basic search to find material, for example:
      • search for "french revolution " or "ancien regime" to locate a broad range of materials the library has on these keywords
      • Your results will come up ranked by relevance; you may then re-sort them by title, author, publish [=publication] date, or publish date descending
      • When you find an appropriate title, click on the Related Records tab located at the top of a catalog record to see which Library of Congress subject headings are discussed in that particular book/DVD/periodical

    OR

    • Search the catalog using Subject Browse feature if you know the relevant Library of Congress (LC) subject heading, for example:

      • France--History--Revolution, 1789-1799

        • may subdivide by various topics:
          • France--History--Revolution, 1789-1799--Causes
          • France--History--Revolution, 1789-1799--Literature and the revolution
          •  France--History--Revolution, 1789-1799--Sources
          • France--History--Revolution, 1789-1799--Women
      • France--Intellectual life--18th century
      • France--Social conditions--18th century
      • Family--France--History--18th century
      • Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821
      • France--Politics and government
      • Political culture--France--History 18th century

    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.

III. Reference Material

  • The reference stacks are located on the 3rd floor (this is also the library's entrance).
  • Some useful materials for your projects:

    Reference Collection

    		 
    Atlas of World History

    Ref Atlas tables

    G1030.A88 1999

    A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution / edited by Francois Furet and Mona Ozouf ; translated by Arthur Goldhammer Ref DC148.D5313 1989
    Dictionary of Wars / George Childs Kohn Ref D25.A2 K63 1999
    European Political Facts 1789-1848 / / Chris Cook and John Paxton Ref JN10.C65
    (France: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the present / William J. Roberts Ref DC35.R64 2004)
    Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution, 1789-1799 / edited by Samuel F. Scott and Barry Rothaus Ref DC147.H57 1984
    Major Peace Treaties of Modern History: 1648-1967 / edited by Fred L. Israel

    Ref JX121.I8
    Historical Maps on File / Leon Poliakov Ref (Atlas tables) G1030.M37 1984
    The Oxford Companion to Military History / edited by Richard Holmes ; consultant editor, Hew Strachan ; Associate editors, Christopher Bellamy and Hugh Bicheno Ref D25.A2 O94 2001
    Selected Primary Source Material in the Circulating Collection
    The French Revolution / Edited by Paul H. Beik DC141.B43 1971
    French Revolution Documents /Edited by J.M. Roberts and R.C. Cobb

    DC141.R6
    Philip Mazzei: Selected Writings and Correspondence / Margherita Marchione, editor ; Stanley J. Idzerda and S. Eugene Scalia, associate editors DG545.8.M2 1983
    The Press in the French Revolution: A Selection of Documents Taken from the Press of the Revolution for the Years 1789-1794 / [compiled by] J. Gilchrist [and] W. J. Murray. DC141.G5 1971
    Reflections on the Revolution in France / Edmund Burke DC150.B852 1955a
 

IV. Electronic Resources

JSTOR Comprised of the full-text of more than 500 academic journals

Historical Abstracts

History of the world from 1450 to the present (excludes the United States and Canada) . Links to JSTOR full-text. Click on "Primary Catalog" link to see if we have access to the full text of the article in print or through another database.
Humanities Index Cites articles from English-language periodicals. Periodical coverage includes some of the best-known scholarly journals and numerous lesser-known but important specialized magazines .
Academic Search Premier

A multi-disciplinary database containing both full-text articles and citations. When only a citation is included, click on the "Check availability at Ramapo" link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection.

*May limit search to "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals"

*See "Cited References" feature

See also:  
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

Provides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration / policy.

 

Scholarly/Peer Reviewed/Refereed articles have been reviewed by a selected panel of experts in the discipline covered by that journal. Many of the databases allow you to limit your search to these articles.

  • Journal Finder: this provides information regarding if a journal is available full-text online, in print in the library, or available on microfilm.
  • Interlibrary Loan: allows studens to borrow a book or article that the George T. Potter library does not own. There is a link from the Journal Finder page.

Both of these links can be found under QUICK LINKS on the library's homepage.

Tips

  1. Always switch to the Advanced Search page in a database. This will give you more control over your results.
  2. Always use Boolean Operators-AND, OR, NOT and Quotation Marks when running a search. For Example: revolution (France or French) and history OR "social conditions"
  3. Always check your Spelling if the database results are zero.
  4. Use the Subject Terms or Thesaurus link, if available, to find the best terms to use in a database.

V. Using Web Sources

Use Evaluating Websites to determine if the site is authoritative enough to use in your paper.

Useful Websites

VI. Preparing Bibliographies

 

VII. Other Libraries 

 

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

Use QandA NJ: a 24/7 virtual chat with a reference librarian.


 
 
| George T. Potter Library |
| 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah NJ 07430 | (201) 684-7575 |

Design by Tibor Csokasi and Jon Jon Chua; Sketch Provided by Jon Jon Chua
 Please send your suggestions and comments to:
Liz Siecke