“Research Guide for United States History Since 1865”
Chicago World's Fair "the white city" 1893: 250 ft high ferris wheel carries 1400 people (AccuNet/AP Press MultiMedia Archive)
Locating Materials in the Library Collection
SMC online catalog: search
SMC's online catalog to locate books, videos, maps, cd's, magazine
title locations
WorldCat: search WorldCat to find books not owned by SMC but
available through Interlibrary Loan
Subject heading browse search in the SMC online catalog:
Progressivism United States
Progressivism United States Politics
United States History 1865-1898
United States History 1865-1921
World War 1914-1918
World War 1939-1945
United States History 1901-1953
United States history
19th century
United States history
20th century
United States history
21st century
Chicago Worlds Fair
Roosevelt, Theodore
Coolidge, Calvin
Reconstruction
depressions 1929
Keyword searching:
progressivism and "united states"
"progressive era"
"gilded age"
documents and "united states" history"
"chicago worlds fair"
"teddy roosevelt"
"rough riders"
politics and "united states" and nineteenth century
nineteenth century and politics
presidency and "19th century"
women and "19th century"
women's rights and history
suffrage and press
"ku klux klan"
"andrew carnegie"
Locating Magazine, Newspaper and Journal Articles through Online Databases
Databases available on the
library web pages:
Academic Search Premier: searches over 4,000 full text publications including 733 history publications.
America: History and Life: searches hundreds of national and regional publications.
Historical Newspapers: (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post); searches NYT back to approx. 1860.
Reader's Guide Retrospective: searches magazines as far back as the late 1890's.
Credo Reference: search history encyclopedias and dictionaries
Encyclopedias and Other Reference Sources
located in the library's reference collection: Library of
Congress call number letter =
E
America in the 20th Century, Vol. 1 1900-1909; Vol. 2 1910-1919, etc.
(11 volumes)
Reference E 169.1.A471
American Decades: 1900-1910, etc. through 1990:
(10 volumes)
Reference E169.12.A419
American Presidents:
2 volumes
Reference E176.1.A6563
Chronological History of U.S. Foreign Relations, Vol. 1607-1932;
Vol. 2 1933-1988; Vol. 3 1989-2000
Reference E183.7.B745
Dictionary of American History:
10 volumes
Reference E174.D52
Encyclopedia of American Historical Documents:
3 volumes
Reference E173.E54
Encyclopedia of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era: 3 volumes
Reference E661.E53
Encyclopedia of the Reconstruction Era: 2 volumes
Reference E 668.E53
Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century: 3
volumes
Reference E169.1.E626
Encyclopedia of the Jazz Age: 2 volumes
Reference E784.E53
Gay Nineties in America, a cultural dictionary of the 1890's
Reference E169.1.G26
Great Events From History: Vol. II 1831-1903;
Vol. III 1904-1969
Reference E178.M22
Reader's Companion to American History:
Reference E174.R43
Research Strategies: Step by Step
Step #1: Background information
Locate an encyclopedia article on your selected topic.
Encyclopedias provide background information, present important issues
and
events, and provide
a timeframe and history. Articles in subject
encyclopedias are often signed and written by scholars in
the field and provide
a bibliography of additional
sources. To locate reference sources on your
topic, browse the reference
collection E's or see the titles listed above.
Step #2: Books
Look for books using the SMC online catalog. Search with the subject headings listed above or with
keywords. If you have
started your research several
weeks ahead of the
due date, you can take advantage of ordering materials from other institutions
by searching catalogs such as WorldCat which is a database
of worldwide
library catalogs and provides links to Interlibrary
Loan
(ILL).
Step #4: Full text Databases for Magazine, Journal, and Newspaper Articles
Online electronic databases such as
Academic Search Premier
search newspaper, magazine, and journal articles. These
databases cover a
broad selection
of publications, some scholarly and some for a more popular
audience.
Step #5: Scholarly Literature
Search for scholarly articles on your topic by
selecting databases such as America History and Life which provides
access
to historical publications.
Step #6: Primary Sources:
Primary sources are valuable resources which provide first
hand accounts of historical events and people. An excellent source
for primary research
is the New York Times Historical database which searches and provides full text
for articles dating back
to the 1800's. The Reader's Guide Retrospective
is
another online database that searches periodicals back to the late 1890's.
Interlibrary Loan Services
To request books or articles not located at SMC, use our
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services. Books from other institutions travel
to our
library through the
mail so you will need to start your research ahead of time
to take advantage of ILL for books.
Magazine and journal articles may
arrive electronically, by
means of the UVM courier, or through the mail.
Starting your
research ahead of time allows you time to take advantage of
materials located outside of SMC.
Confused? Ask a Reference Librarian for assistance.
Marilyn Scoville: ext. 2410
Steve Burks: ext. 2354
Michele McCaffrey: ext. 2411