• Home
• Information Resources
• Research Assistance
• Library Services
• Library Catalog
• About the Library

America in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

HIST 217; Prof. C. Meyer
Guide for finding sources at the George T. Potter Library
 

September 11 , 2008

Susan B. Kurzmann

skurzman@ramapo.edu

• Library Homepage
• Find Books
• Reference Material
• Journal Finder and Interlibrary Loan
• Find Articles (Databases)
• Websites
• Bibliographies

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

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

Top of Page

II. Find Books

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.

• Use the Basic Search to find material using Keywords
  • For example: search for search for jack london or american naturalism to locate a broad range of materials the library has on these keywords
    • Results will be ranked by relevance; you can then re-sort them by title, author, publish [=publication] date, or publish date descending
  • Use quotation marks around a multi-word phrase so that the catalog system will treat it as a single word, e.g., "gilded age"
  • When you find an appropriate title, click on the Subjects, etc. 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 to get to more titles that deal with that subject

   

  OR

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

• United States--History
  • --1865-1898
  • --1901-1953
• United States--Social life and customs--1865-1918
• Art and society--United States--History--19th century
• Women--United States--History

 

OR

Go to Advanced Search

• The Boolean search terms are built in for your use

  • AND: you're commanding the system to search for material that addresses both terms you've entered
  • OR: you're commanding the system to search for material on either of the search terms you have entered
  • NOT: you're commanding the system to search for material on the first term you have entered and to exclude any material on the second term you have entered
  • Examples:

    "progressive era" and "gilded age"

    "progressive era" or "gilded age"

• The catalog system will provide more focused results  

 

• TIPS

• Start with broad searches. It's much easier to discard too much rather than start with too little.
• If you don't know the Subject Heading, use the Subjects, etc. tab located on the top of a catalog record to get to the headings. This will help you focus in on more relevant material.
• In the list of subject headings, Click on to see more information about the term you've entered, such as recommended narrower or broader terms
• Click on to see scope note and suggestions for further searching in the catalog
• You can "virtually" browse the shelves by clicking on the call number in a record.

Top of Page

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:

Top of Page

IV. Journal Finder and Interlibrary LoanI

• Journal Finder: Lets you know whether or not you have access to the full text of articles in particular periodicals through our library in print, microform, or via a full-text database. This feature also appears in many of our databases.
  • For example, enter the journal title Journal of Economic History :

    You'll see the following results:

    • available in Print Holdings	Library Catalog	Print: 6 years ago - present Location: Open Stacks
      available from ProQuest in ABI/INFORM Global	find periodical   Go to TOC   Search for article	Full Text: 2001-03-01 - 365 days ago (v61 i1 - )
      available from ProQuest in ProQuest Social Science Journals	find periodical   Go to TOC   Search for article	Full Text: 2001-03-01 - 365 days ago (v61 i1 - )
      . Published for the Economic History Association The Journal of Economic History is devoted to the interdisciplinary study of history and economics and is of interest not only to economic historians but to social and demographic historians as well as economists in general. The journal has broad coverage in terms of both method and geographic scope. Topics examined include money and banking trade manufacturing technology transportation industrial organisation labour agriculture servitude demography education economic growth and the role of government and regulation. In addition an extensive review section keeps readers informed about the latest books in economic history and related fields.

    In this example, issues of Journal of Economic History from six years ago until the present are in the Open Stacks Periodicals area (2nd floor). You can also access items from March 2001 until one year ago through two databases, ABI/Inform Global and Proquest Social Science Journals .

• Interlibrary Loan (ILL) : 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.

ILL requests take anywhere from several days to three weeks to arrive in the library

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

V. Find Articles (Databases)

Useful Databases for your projects:

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.

TIPS 

1. Switch to the Advanced Search page in a database. This will give you more control over your results.
2. Use Boolean Operators--AND, OR, NOT and Quotation Marks when running a search.
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.

Top of Page

VI. Websites

• Suggested websites:
  • Eagleton Institute of Politics: Eagleton Digital Archive of American Politics Rutgers University

   

  • Gilded Age and Progressive Era Resources Department of History, Tennessee Technological University

   

  • Gilded Age to World Power State of Alabama Legislature

   

  • Learn About the Gilded Age Digital History: College of Education, University of Houston

     

  • The United States in the Progressive Era Robert Bannister, Swarthmore College

   

  • Websites for the Gilded Age and Progressive Era San Francisco State University

 

• PBS: American Experience American Experience and many other PBS programs are good sources of information

 

• Check the following Subject Resources linked under History:

 

• American Memory Library of Congress

Searches American primary sources

Provides access to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, motion pictures, photos, and sheet music that document the American experience

 

• National Archives and Records Administration

An archive of public documents of all varieties and relevant topics that encompass the "American Experience," with links to related sites .

• When doing Internet searching, use Evaluating Websites to determine if the site is authoritative enough to use in your paper.

Top of Page

VII. Bibliographies

• Use the Citing Websites and Print Sources for "Works Cited" citation style guidance
  • Follow the examples given for the MLA citation style
  • Help with the MLA Citation Style and examples
  • Style manuals are kept at the Circulation Desk

 

• The Open Handbook Online / Ann Raimes with Maria Jerskey

• Annotated Bibliographies:
  • How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography - Cornell University Library
  • Annotated Bibliographies: More Info - The Writing Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Top of Page

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

OR

Use QandANJ.org, a 24/7 virtual reference service with a reference librarian