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Introduction to U.S. History II

HIST 102-03 & 102-04; Prof. E. Ryan
Guide for finding sources at the George T. Potter Library
 

January 27 & 28, 2009

Susan B. Kurzmann

skurzman@ramapo.edu

x7199

• 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
  • Newspaper articles written at the time of the event
  • Paintings, music
  • Government documents

    You can limit your search to Online material (listed under Quick Links) or to the Documents Without Shelves collection) 

 

       Searching the Catalog for primary source material:   

• Use the Advanced Search option, where the Boolean search terms are built in for your use: (See below)
  • Add words like correspondence, memoir, letter, interview, autobiographies, or diaries to locate source material

  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

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      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 "world war I" and "united states " 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)
  • Put quotation marks around a multi-word phrase
  • 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
  • World War, 1914-1918

    [See breakdown]

  • Women--United States--History
  • Cold War

    [See breakdown]

• On the subject headings screen:
  • Click on for the scope note for that subject heading

    e.g., Scope Notes for: Cold War:

    Scope Notes

    Note:

    Here are entered works on the post World War II rivalry between western capitalist nations led by the United States and eastern communist nations led by the Soviet Union.

  • Click on to see more information about the term you've entered, such as recommended narrower or broader terms.

    e.g., World War I:

    References for: World War I, 1914-1918

    The references listed below may also contain information related to your search.

    Reference Info

    See:World War, 1914-1918.

OR

Use the Advanced Search option, where the Boolean search terms are built in for your use:

• AND: you're telling the system to search for material that addresses both terms you've entered, e.g., FDR and speeches or Roosevelt and sources.
• OR: you're telling the system to search for material on either of the search terms you have entered, e.g., FDR or Franklin Delano Roosevelt
• NOT: you're telling the system to search for material on the first term you've entered and to exclude any material on the second term you have entered, e.g., Roosevelt not Theodore
• 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's 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. You 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
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 (From off-campus, enter title in the Catalog.)
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
Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-Class History	Ref HD8066 .A78 2006
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
Land and Labor, 1865	Ref E185.2 .F88 ser. 3, vol. 1
Nineteenth Century Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature	Ref Indexes (back of reference section; shelved alphabetically)
On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail	Ref E185.61 .C63 2008
Postwar America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History	Ref E169.12 >p654 2007
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture	Ref E169.1 .S764--print edition (From off-campus, enter title in the Catalog.)
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
Milestone Documents in American History: Exploring the Primary Sources that Shaped America	Ref E173 .M62 2008
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
Atlas of American History	Ref E179.5 .N37 2007
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 the Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) and quotation marks when running a search, for example:

reconstruction and "post-civil war"

"progressive era" or 1890s

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
5. Go back and revise your search if you feel you haven't gotten enough material

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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. 

  For example, you found an article you'd like to read in the Journal of African American History. Enter that journal title in the Journal Finder. You'll see the following results:

available in Print Holdings	Library Catalog	Print: 2002 - 2005 (v87 - v90 ) Location: Open Stacks
available from EBSCO Host in EBSCO Academic Search Premier	find periodical	Full Text: 2002-01-01 - present
available in Expanded Academic ASAP - Gale Group	find periodical	Full Text: 2002-01 - present
available in Gale Literature Resource Center (w/ MLA Directory)	find periodical	Full Text: 2002-01 - present
available in JSTOR	find periodical	Full Text: 2002-01-01 - 2004-10-01

In this example, issues of Journal of African American History from 2002-2005 are in the Open Stacks Periodicals area (2nd floor). You can also access items from January 2002 until the present online through three databases: Academic Search Premier , Expanded Academic ASAP, and Literature Resource Center. You can also use the JSTOR Complete database to locate articles from January 2002 through October 2004.

• Interlibrary Loan: Use this if we don't have a book or article that you need. There is a link from the Journal Finder page and under Quick Links on the library's homepage.

  Step 1. Pick the appropriate form (either book or article) and fill out the required (*) fields.
  Step 2. Fill out the online form using your Ramapo Email (it will not be processed without that email address).
  Step 3. Submit your form(s).
  Step 4. Wait for your item to come in. CAUTION: Give yourself enough time to get your material - items can take two weeks or more to arrive!

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VI. Using Web Sources

       Useful websites for 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 History: Using New Technologies to Enhance Teaching and Research

Steven Mintz, University of Houston.

(See: Citing Us)

• Historical Census Browser  University of Virginia Library
• The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History...Modules on Major Topics in American History
• The National Archives: Online Exhibits
• PBS: American Experience

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

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

• From Revolution to Reconstruction: And What Happened Afterwards... "A Hypertext on American History from the Colonial Period until Modern Times." Department of Humanities Computing at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands
• 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 Harvard Project on Cold War Studies
• The Cold War Museum

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

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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 Turabian or Chicago citation styles

  Style manuals are kept at the Circulation Desk

• [Benjamin, Jules R., A Students' Guide to History (10th edition) ]
• Benjamin, Jules R., A Student's Guide to History (8th edition)

  some examples provided

• Diana Hacker: Click on History: Documenting Sources for examples of Chicago style citation

• The Open Handbook Online / Ann Raimes with Maria Jerskey

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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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