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Introduction to U.S. History II

HIST 102; Prof. C. Meyer
Guide for finding sources at the George T. Potter Library
 

February 11, 2008

Susan B. Kurzmann

skurzman@ramapo.edu

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

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

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

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II. Find Books

Finding Primary and Secondary Sources:

• Primary sources enable you 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, for example:

• Memoirs, diaries, letters, interviews, and other first-person accounts
• Government documents
  • You might want to limit your search to Online material (listed under Quick Links) or to the Documents Without Shelves collection)
• Newspaper articles
• Paintings  

Searching the Catalog for primary source material:   

• Use the Advanced Search option
  • The Boolean search terms are built in for your use:
• AND: you are commanding the system to search for material that addresses both terms you've entered
• OR: you are commanding the system to search for material on either of the search terms you have entered
• NOT: you are 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
• The catalog system will provide more focused results

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 progressive era and sources
  • in Command line/Boolean terms option, enter "progressive era" and sources
• Use words like correspondence, memoir, letter, interview, autobiographies, or diaries to locate source material
• Click on the Subjects, etc. 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 reconstruction and "african americans" to locate a broad range of materials the library has on these keywords
  • Your results will come up ranked by relevance;, and you may then re-sort them by title, author, publish [=publication] date, or publish date descending (the  most recent items will be listed first)
  • 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

  OR

• Search the catalog using Subject Browse if you know the relevant Library of Congress (LC) subject heading, for example:
  • Reconstruction, (U.S. history--1865-1877)
  • [name of state]--Politics and government
  • African Americans--History 1863-1867
  • 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
  • Cold War

    [See breakdown]

OR

• Go to Advanced Search
  • The Boolean search terms are built in for your use
    • AND: you are commanding the system to search for material that addresses both terms you've entered
    • OR: you are commanding the system to search for material on either of the search terms you have entered
    • NOT: you are 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
  • The catalog system will provide more focused results  

Tips

1. Our Catalog is used 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.
2. 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 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.
4. Can "virtually" browse the shelves by clicking on the call number in a record.

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 III. Reference Material

• The reference stacks are located on the 3rd floor (this is also the library's entrance).

• Useful reference materials for your projects:

Dictionary of American Biography	Ref E176 .D56
American Social History Since 1860	Ref Z1361 .C6 B7
Civil Rights in the United States	Ref E184 .A1 C47 2000
The Cold War Reference Guide: A General History and Annotated Chronology with Selected Biographies	Ref D843 .S3365 1997
Encyclopedia of Social Welfare History in North America	Ref HV12 .E497 2005--Print edition (Online access)
Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century	Ref E169.1 .E626 2001
Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth  Century	Ref E740.7 .E53 1996
Encyclopedia of U.S. Foreign Relations	Ref E183.7 .E53 1977
Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age	Ref E661 .H59 2003
History of American Presidential Elections, 1789-1968	Ref E183 .S28
A Financial History of the United States	Ref HG181 .M297 2002
The Gilded Age: 1877-1896	Ref E 661 .Z99 D4
Nineteenth Century Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature	Ref Indexes (back of reference section; shelved alphabetically)
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture	Ref E169.1 .S764--print edition (Online access)
Timetables of American History	Ref E174.5 .U75 1983
Writings on American History	Ref Z1236 .L331
Primary Sources
American Decades Primary Sources	Ref E169.1 .A471977 2004
Annals of America (volumes 10-)	Ref E173 .A793 2003
Documents of American History	Ref E173.D59 1988
Documents of American Prejudice: An Anthology of Writings on Race from Thomas Jefferson to David Duke	Ref E184.A1D64 1999
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States	Ref J80 .A283
The State of the Union Messages of the Presidents: 1790-1966	Ref J81 .C66
Atlases
Historical Atlas of the United States	Ref Atlas Tables G 1201 .S1 H5 2003
Mapping America's Past: A Historical Atlas	Ref Atlas Tables G1201 .S1 C3 1996

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IV. Find Articles (Databases)

Some useful Databases for your projects:

Tips

1. Use 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, for example:

reconstruction and "post-civil war"

"progressive era" or "gilded age"

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 particular database

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• Journal Finder: locate the full text of articles in specific periodicals (journals, newspapers, magazines) to which we have access either in our print or microform collection or through a full-text database. Linked under Quick Links on the library's homepage. 

• Interlibrary Loan: allows you to borrow a book or article that our library does not own. There is a link from the Journal Finder page and under Quick Links on the library's homepage.

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VI. Using Web Sources

Useful Websites:

      Websites covering various time periods in U.S. History:

• The Library of Congress: American Memory (Also linked under Subject Resources › History, see below.)

  Access to primary source documents: written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music

 

• Digital Histories: Using New Technologies to Enhance Teaching and Research

Steven Mintz, University of Houston.

(See: Citing Us)

• From Revolution to Reconstruction: And What Happened Afterwards... "A Hypertext on American History from the Colonial Period until Modern Times." Department of Humaniteis Computing, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

 

• The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History...Modules on Major Topics in American History

 

• PBS: American Experience

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

       Websites for specific time periods in U.S. history:

• Education During Reconstruction

King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation; Beach Institute; Savannah, Georgia

• Gilded Age to World Power

State of Alabama Legislature

• Learn About the Gilded Age

Digital History: College of Education, University of Houston

• Gilded Age and Progressive Era Resources

Department of History, Tennessee Technological University (may also be accessed via H-Net: H-SHGAPE Internet Resources)

• The United States in the Progressive Era

Robert Bannister, Swarthmore College

• New Deal Network; The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Instititute (FERI)

 

• World War II Poster Collection, Northwestern University Library

 

• The Cold War International History Project (CWIHP); Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

 

• The Cold War Museum

 

*For Web searching, consult Evaluating Websites to determine if the site is authoritative enough to use in your paper

Check the following Subject Resources linked under History:

 

• American Memory

Library of Congress (mentioned above)

 

• 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 .

*See: World War II photos:

See the following Subject Resources linked under Newspapers & Electronic Media

• Television News Archives: Vanderbilt University

 

• National Public Radio

 

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VII. Bibliographies and Annotated Bibliographies

• Use the Citing Websites and Print Sources for "Works Cited" citation style guidance. Follow the examples given for the Chicago/Turabian citation style.

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

OR

Use QandANJ.org: a 24/7 virtual chat with a reference librarian

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