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Introduction to American Studies

Prof. Rubin

  October 9, 2007

Guide for finding sources at the George T. Potter Library
Leigh Keller

lkeller1@ramapo.edu

x7316

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

 I. Library Homepage

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

II. What are primary 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

• Memoirs, diaries, letters, interviews, and other first-person accounts
• Official publications, government documents, court reports and police records
• Newspaper and magazine articles from the period under study
• Paintings
• Photographs
• Film and television programs
• Print and television advertisments
• Music recordings

• Catalog: use this to find books, journal titles NOT ARTICLES, government documents, reserve item, 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 Sources

• Search the catalog using the Command Line/Boolean search option
• This option lets you put terms in that will insure your results will be primary source material
  • For example: search for "world war II" and (interview or autobiography or diary) to locate primary sources on World War II
  • Using words like memiors, lettes, interviews, autobiographies, diaries, and correspondence will help to get the right materials
• Use the Subjects, etc... tab on the top of a record to the linked subject headings for more material.

Searching the catalog for Secondary Source

• Search the catalog using Keywords to find material.
• For example: search for suburbia culture to locate a broad range of material and look for ideas for your projec

OR

• Search the catalog using Subject Browse feature ONLY if you know the Library of Congress Subject Headings
• For example:

New Towns--United States

Suburbs--United States

Tips

1. Use Command Line/Boolean as your search option when looking for primary sources
2. For secondary sources start with broad searches. It is much easier to discard too much rather than start with too little.
3. 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.
4. Can "virtually" browse the shelves by clicking on the call number in a record.

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IV. Reference Material

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

Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War	Ref DS557.7 .E53 1996
Encyclopedia of American Studies	Ref E169.1.E625
Fifties in America	Ref E169.12 .F498 2005
Encyclopedia of World War II	Ref D740 .W67 1999
American Popular Culture Through History	Ref E169. 1...
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature	Last Shelf in Reference
American Decades Primary Sources	E 169.1.A471977 2004
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture	Ref E169.1.S764

Tips

1. Use reference books to browse for project ideas and to get started on your research.
2. Use the Bibliographies at the end of encyclopedia entries to find more information on your topic.

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V. Electronic Resources for Primary Sources

• Some 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).

Tips

1. Always switch to the Advance Search page in a database. This will give you more control over your results.
2. Always use Boolean Operators-AND, OR, NOT when running a search. For Example: suburbs and "united states" and culture
3. Always check your Spelling if the database results are Zero.
4. Use a wildcard or truncation when looking for alternative endings or for a date range: For Example: marriage and advice and 195?

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VI. What are secondary sources?

Secondary sources analyze, review, or restate information in primary resources. Most journal articles are secondary sources because they provide analysis, interpretation, or evaluation.

Some Examples of Secondary Sources

• Dictionaries
• Encyclopedias
• Books that interpret or review research works
• Articles that interpret or review research works

VII. Electronic Resources for finding Secondary Sources

• All of the library's Databases have secondary sources in them
• Below is a list of some you may what to try in addition to the others for this project:

VIII. Interlibrary Loan

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

• Interlibrary Loan: allows students to borrow a book or article that the Potter library does not own. There is a link from the Journal Finder page.

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

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IX. Bibliographies

•    Use Citing Sources for examples of "In-Text Citations" and "Works Cited"
• Use the Citing Websites and Print Sources to get call numbers for paper copies of syle manuals.
• Help with Turabian :Turabian Style Guidance
• Microsoft Word has a footnote feature: write you sentence/paragraph, click Insert-Reference-Footnotes. This will insert footnotes and keep them in order.

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X. Web Sources

• Subject Resources

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

American Memory: American Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. It is a digital record of American history and creativity. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the public as a resource for education and lifelong learning.

PBS: American Experience: American Experience and many other PBS programs are great sources of information.

American Studies at the University of Virginia: Great source of different types of material-comic strips, e-text, etc.

Google Video: Search thousands of TV shows, videos, movies, and more.

New York Public Library Digital Library Collection:search dozens of collections and pictures.

The Avalon Project: This collection of over 150 historical documents ranges from some pre-18th century titles through the 20th century. A "major collections" category contains sets of related documents, such as Franco-American Diplomacy, Papers of the Confederate States of America, the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. Includes a title and author index to all documents.

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