Finding Articles and Books Written by Historians
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The work of historians is published in journal articles, mostly published by scholarly associations, and books, frequently published by university presses. Books can be found using WorldCat and GLOCAT. America: History and Life can be used to find articles from history journals. In all of these databases, you have the option of requesting articles and books from other libraries using the IDS office. To do this, look for the "Get Text" icon and choose "Request item through Information Delivery Services. "
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Research Tools:
GLOCAT and WorldCat
America: History and Life
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| Finding Primary Sources on 19th Century U.S. History |
| Published diaries, journals, letters, and other correspondances are very useful primary sources when researching 19th century U.S. history. Memoirs and autobiographies will be helpful, as will government documents, congressional records, and data such as the U.S. census. Articles published during the 19th century in newspapers and magazines can be good sources. Finally, visual images such as photographs, illustrations, and political cartoons also qualify as primary sources. Much the the above-mentioned material can be found using WorldCat, but there are also specialized research tools and web pages listed below. |
Finding 19th Century Newspaper and Magazine Articles
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Newspaper and magazine articles can be extremely important primary sources. The newspaper articles that are easiest to find are from the mid19th century and on because New York Times articles are available full text in a database called New York Times Article Archive. (We also have the entire run of the NYT newspapers on microfilm here at Milne Library.) The Washington Post began publication in 1877; those articles are available via IDS. For early 19th century newspapers, we can get microfilm via the IDS system, but you have to first identify the name of the newspaper and what town it was published in. An online book called Newspapers in Microfilm can be useful. Also useful is the New York State Library Newspaper Project, and the American Memory 19th Century in Print from the Library of Congress. Links to some of these tools are on the right.
A list of all the local newspapers SUNY Geneseo has on microfilm is listed here.
Milne Library has some popular magazines from 19th century America, which are located on the top floor of the library, at the beginning of all of the circulating books, with call numbers starting with AP. To search these publications, you can use Poole's Index to Periodical Literature, which is a print index kept on the top floor of the library at the end of all the criculating books. Some of the web pages listed below have full text of articles from 19th century periodicals as well.
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Research Tools:
American Memory 19th Century in Print
New York Times Article Archive
Newspapers in Microform
New York State Newspaper Project
Harper's Weekly ---
Poole's Index to Periodical Literature (in print) |
| Online Primary Sources
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Harper's Weekly --- http://www.harpers.org/
Footnote --- http://www.footnote.com/
National Archives and Records Administration -- http://www.archives.gov
American Memory -- http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
Historical Text Archive -- http://historicaltextarchive.com/
Making of America -- http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/
Avalon Project -- http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/19th.htm
U.S.
Historical Census Browser -- http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus/
New York Times Article Archive – -
------ http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/nytarchive.html
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If you use Google to find web pages with primary sources, be careful to evaluate the authenticity of the sponsoring site. Make sure it is the web page of a reputable educational institution.
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| Government Documents |
WorldCat can be used to find government documents. One way to limit your search is to search "g.p.o. or government printing office" as publisher. Another way is to search "government" as material type. The Library of Congress's web page, American Memory, has many government documents, including Congressional Record, a transcript of what is said on the floor of congress. The NARA web site also lists selected government documents. The US Government sponsors many statistical databases. |
Research Tools:
WorldCat
American Memory
National Archives and Records Administration
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Finding Personal Narratives and Collections of Documents Using WorldCat and GLOCAT
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Published personal narratives (such as diaries and memoirs) and collections of documents can be located using library catalogs, but there are various pitfalls you will encounter when using these databases. Books are given subject headings that only briefly describe the topics covered in them. Books will invariably cover many other topics in addition to the ones listed in a database. Rather than typing narrow search terms into the database search screen, search broadly by typing broad subject heading. Be patient while looking down the list of results, and be vigilant in looking for the clues that can alert you to primary sources. In other words, you have the think creatively to uncover the pieces to the puzzle you are putting together when you do history research. Useful subject headings: narratives, diaries, journals, memoirs, correspondences, letters, speeches, and sources.
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Research Tools:
GLOCAT and WorldCat
Examples
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