RESEARCH GUIDE FOR AMERICAN HISTORY

"Moenntarri Warrior in the costume of the dog danse". Wied, Maximilian, Prinz von. Travels in the interior of North America during the years 1832-1834; illustrations by Karl Bodmer. From Cornell University Kroch Rare and Manuscripts Division

Print Reference Sources Online Reference Resources Library Catalogs Databases for History Databases for Related Disciplines Primary Source Collections at Cornell and Online Archival Collections Worldwide Selected Web Sites for Historians Citation Styles Research and Reference Help

SELECTED PRINT REFERENCE SOURCES

The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature. Norton, Mary Beth, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. (Olin Reference Z6201.A51 G9 1995 +). A new edition of a standard reference work. A comprehensive guide to historical literature for all periods and areas of the world in two volumes. Useful for retrospective bibliography and primary source material.

Dictionary of Concepts in History. Ritter, Harry. Westport: Greenwood, 1986. (Uris Reference and Olin Reference D13 .R59) Arranged in dictionary format, this source explains "key concepts of contemporary historical analysis." (Introduction).

Harvard Guide to American History. Freidel, Frank, ed. 2 vols. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974. (Olin Reference and Uris Reference Z1236 .H23 1974). Includes bibliographical references to materials in political, social, constitutional, and economic history. Divided into nine parts: 1) Research Methods and Materials, 2) Biographies and Personal Records, 3) Comprehensive and Area Histories, 4) Histories of Special Subjects, 5) America to 1789, 6) U.S., 1789-1860, 7) Civil War and Reconstruction, 8) Rise of Industry and Empire, and 9) Twentieth Century. Volume II also contains an index of names and a subject index.

Historical Periodicals Directory. Boehm, Eric H., Barbara H. Pope and Marie S. Ensign, editors. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 1981-1986. (Olin Library Reference Z6205 .H673 +).

The Modern Researcher. Barzun, Jacques. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers; 1992. 5th ed. (Olin Reference and stacks D13 .B29 1992). The classic guide to historical research in an updated, revised version.

Reference Sources in History: An Introductory Guide. Fritze, Ronald H., Brian E. Coutts and Louis A. Vyhnanek. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1990. (Olin Reference Z6201 F72x 1990). An annotated bibliography of reference materials, including bibliographies, periodical guides and indexes, newspapers, statistical sources, government publications, and biographical sources. The emphasis is on English-language titles in the fields of American and European history.

Sources of Information for Historical Mesearch. Slavens, Thomas P. New York: Neal-Schuman, 1994. (Olin Reference Z6201 .S64x 1994). The coverage of sources is comprehensive, organized by geography (country or continent), genre, and type of holding. All works listed are annotated.

American Civil War. Kevin Hillstrom and Laurie Collier Hillstrom; Lawrence W. Baker, editor. Farmington Hills, MI: U.X.L., 2000. Covers the events and people of the Civil War period and provides students with all the in-depth information they need for reports and class assignments, including biographical profiles and primary source materials.

American Revolution Reference Library. Detroit: Gale, 2000. Covers the events and people of the Revolutionary War period in easy-to-understand language. Students will find all the information they need for reports and class assignments on the period, including the biographies and primary source materials in this comprehensive set. v. 1. Biographies, A-J / Linda Schmittroth and Mary Kay Rosteck -- v. 2. Biographies, K-Z / Linda Schmittroth and Mary Kay Rosteck -- v. 3. Almanac / Barbara Bigelow and Linda Schmittroth -- v. 4. Primary sources / Linda Schmittroth -- v. 5. Cumulative index / Lawrence W. Baker, index coordinator. Issued as part of the Gale virtual reference library. Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Dictionary of American history. Stanley I. Kutler, editor in chief. 3rd ed. Thomson Gale, 2003. 10 volumes. The title is unfortunate; it's a ten volume encyclopedia. A classic work of reference. Includes bibliographical references and index. Also n print (Olin Library Reference E174 .D52x 2003 +).

Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. Salzman, Jack, David Lionel Smith and Cornel West, eds. 5 vols. New York: Macmillan Library Reference, 1996. (Uris and Africana Reference E 185 E54 1996). The 2,200 entries in this set cover the beginning of the seventeenth to the end of the twentieth century. The entries include biographies, descriptions of events, historical eras, legal cases, areas of cultural achievement, professions, sports, and places. Each entry includes a list of references. Volume Five includes an appendix which provides extensive statistical information. Cross-references with in the entries make it easy to follow related topics.

Encyclopedia of American Cultural & Intellectual History. Mary Kupiec Cayton, Peter W. Williams, editors. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. (Uris Library Reference E169.1 .E624x 2001). Essays by major scholars with bibliography.

Encyclopedia of American Social History. Cayton, Marx Kupiec, ed. 3 vols. New York: Scribner's, 1992. (Uris Reference and Olin Reference HN 57 .E56 1992). This 3-volume encyclopedia uses the scholarship of historians, sociologists, geographers and anthropologists to present various aspects of American social history, including periods of social change, patterns of everyday life, family history and science, medicine and technology.

Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History. Heidler, David S. and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds. 5 vols. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2000. (Uris Library Reference E468 .H47x 2000.

Encyclopedia of American foreign policy. DeConde, Alexander, Richard Dean Burns, and Fredrik Logevall, editors in chief. Thomson/Gale, 2002. 2nd ed. Treats concepts and doctrines, policymaking, commerce and science, human rights and arms control, with specific articles on topics ranging from anti-imperialism to environmental diplomacy, from refugee policies to terrorism and countermeasures. Includes chronology, bibliographical references, and index. Also in print, (Olin Library Reference E183.7 .E52x 2002 +).

Encyclopedia of American Political History. Greene, Jack, ed. 3 vols. New York: Scribner, 1984. (Uris and Olin Reference E 183 .E56). This work is intended to provide "authoritative and up-to-date articles" (Preface). The essays included run from two to ten pages in length and all contain bibliographies of books and articles for further reading. A name and subject index at the end of the volume makes finding specific material relatively easy.

Encyclopedia of American Religions. Melton, J. Gordon. Detroit: Gale, 1987. (Olin Reference BL2530.058 M52+ 1987). Provides brief historical overviews of some 1200 churches, denominations, sects and cults in the United States. Each body is discussed in relation to a larger religious family, of which there are 17 included in this book. This new edition in one volume also contains current address, membership data, church publications and bibliography. Uris has the 1978 edition.

The Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, 1998. 3 volumes. (Uris Reference E185.61 E544x 1998). Signed essays survey the history, meaning, and application of civil rights issues in the U.S. Contains a table of court cases summarizing key legal decisions.

The Encyclopedia of Colonial and Revolutionary America. Faragher, John Mack, ed. New York: Facts on File, 1990. (Uris and Olin Reference E 188 E56).

Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. Wilson, Charles R., and William Ferris, eds. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989. (Uris and Olin Reference F209 .E56 1989). An extensive survey of the regional culture of the American South, the encyclopedia is organized into 24 major subject areas. Each subject area is divided into numerous smaller articles that end in substantial bibliographies. A general index provides access to topics within individual subject areas.

The Encyclopedia of Southern History. Roller, David C. and Robert W. Twyman, eds. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1979. (Uris and Olin Reference F207.7 E56+). An excellent, one-volume reference work devoted to the South. Entries cover events and subjects related to the historical development of the region from its earliest times to the present. This source also contains biographical articles on hundreds of Southerners, including many blacks and women about whom little has been written or for whom information is difficult to obtain.

Encyclopedia of the Confederacy. Current, Richard N., ed. 4 vols. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. (Uris Library Reference E487 .E56).

Encyclopedia of the North American Colonies. Cooke, Jacob Ernest; assoc. eds. W.J. Eccles, et al. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1993. (Uris and Olin Reference E45 E53x 1993). A comprehensive encyclopedia of the American colonies, including not only the original 13 British colonies, but the French, Dutch and Spanish colonies, as well. The encyclopedia provides a comparative treatment of topics, either in one comparative essay or several focusing on the different colonies. The encyclopedia also offers some coverage of the interaction of the colonies with native peoples.

Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century. Finkelman, Paul, ed. 3 vols. New York: Scribner's, 2001. (Uris Library Reference E169.1 .E626x 2001).

Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century. Kutler, Stanley I., ed. 4 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996. (Uris Reference E740.7 .E56 1996). Eighty distinguished historians have contributed to this volume, narrating and analyzing the major topics and themes of the 20th century. Their chapters take stock of the political, economic, social, cultural and technological developments that have marked this century.

The Oxford Companion to United States history. editor in chief, Paul S. Boyer; editors, Melvyn Dubofsky ... [et al.]. Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2001. Thematic chapters with excellent bibliographies. Also in print, (Uris Library Reference and Olin Library Reference E174 .O94 2001 +).

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. With an introduction by Jim Cullen; editors, Tom Pendergast and Sara Pendergast. 5 vols. Detroit, MI: St. James Press, 2000. (Uris Reference E 169.1 S764x 2000). Entries cover a wide range of topics including comic strips, consumer products, films, foods, people, musical groups, social issues, sports teams, television and radio programs and more. Each entry concludes with a list of further readings in both print and online sources. Volume five includes three different indexes -- one general, one organized by subject, and one organized by decade.

The Almanac of American History. General editor, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.; executive editor, John S. Bowman. New York: Putnam, 1983. (Olin Library stacks E174.5 .A4 1983).

The encyclopedia of American facts & dates. Carruth, Gorton. New York: Harper & Row, 1987. 8th ed. (Uris Library Reference E174.5 .C31 1987).

American Biographical Archive. Ed. Laureen Baillie, Gerry Easter. London; New York: K.G. Saur, [1986- 1995]. (microfiche CT213 .A51 1995 shelved in microforms alcove Olin Library Lower Level). This set reproduces entries from biographical sources. Includes Canadians. American biographical index (Olin Library Reference CT213 .A511 1998 +) This 10 volume set serves as an index to the microfice.

Archives Biographiques Françaises. London: Bowker-Saur, Ltd., 1988-90. 1065 microfiches. (Olin lower level microtexts). Reproduces entries from nearly 180 biographical sources published from the earliest time to 1914. Includes supplements of omissions. Indexed by Archives Biographiques Françaises (Olin Reference CT1003 .I53x 1998 +). Useful both as an index to the microfiche and as independent resource, providing dates, occupations, and citations to both printed sources and the microfiche set.

American National Biography. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. (Library Gateway's Find Databases; also available in print, (Olin Reference CT213 .A68x 1999 +). Offers portraits of more than 17,400 men and women, from all eras and walks of life, whose lives have shaped the nation. Features thousands of illustrations, hyperlinked cross-references and links to select web sites.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index. Detroit: Gale Research, Inc. (Library Gateway's Find Databases; also in print, (Olin Reference Z5305. U5 B61 +). Biography and Genealogy Master Index (BGMI) indexes current, readily available reference sources, as well as the most important retrospective works that cover individuals, both living and deceased, from every field of activity and from all areas of the world.

British biographical Archive. London: K. G. Saur, 1984. 1236 microfiches. (Olin lower level microtexts). A one-alphabet cumulation of 324 of the most important English-language biographical reference works, other than the Dictionary of National Biography, originally published between 1601 and 1929. Indexed by British Biographical Index (Olin Reference +CT773 .B86 1998). Useful both as an index to the microfiche and as independent resource, providing dates, occupations, and citations to both printed sources and the microfiche set.

Dictionnaire de Biographie Française. Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1933-92. (In progress.) (Olin Reference CT143 .D55 +). An important dictionary of national biography, unfortunately still incomplete (to date up to L). More convenient to use, but not nearly as extensive as the microfiche set above.

Dictionary of National Biography Online. London: Oxford University Press, 2005-. The standard work for English biography. 50,000 biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond, from the earliest times to the year 2000. Also in print, (Olin Reference and Uris Reference CT773 .D55).

Historical Statistics of the United States. Cambridge [England]; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006-. Millennial ed. / editors of the Millennial ed., Susan B. Carter ... [et al.]. Historical Statistics of the United States has long been the standard source for quantitative indicators of American history. The data are readily available for charting, or statistical analysis, or regrouping across tables, which should greatly facilitate the efforts of scholars, journalists, students, and other researchers.

Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970. United States. Bureau of the Census. 2 vols. Washington: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1975. (Uris Reference and Olin Reference HA 202 A385 1976 +) Now online as pdfs: Volume 1, and Volume 2. Useful not only for the statistics but also for the invaluable source notes. Provides summaries of economic, business, demographic and educational statistics from all eras of American history, to 1970. Arranged by category. Subject and time period indexes.

International Historical Statistics: Africa, Asia, and Oceania 1750-1993. Mitchell, Brian R. 3rd rev. ed. London: Macmillan Reference Ltd., 1998. (Olin Reference HA4675 .M552x 1998). Presents comparative statistics for 80 African and Asian countries (including Cyprus and the Near East), derived from official governmental and intergovernmental publications, and supplemented by unofficial sources. Dates of coverage vary, but the majority of tables begin during the first half of the 19th century. Topics include climate, population, labor force, agriculture, industry, external trade, transport and communications, finance, prices, education, and national accounts.

International Historical Statistics: the Americas, 1750-1993. Mitchell, Brian R. 4th ed. London: Macmillan Reference Ltd., 1998. (Olin Reference HA175 .M55x 1998). Presents comparative statistics for 26 North, Central, and South American countries, mostly from the mid-19th century to the early 1970s. Tables are grouped in 11 broad subject areas.

International Historical Statistics: Europe, 1750-1993. Mitchell, Brian R. 4th rev. ed. London: Macmillan Reference Ltd., 1998. (Olin Reference HA 1107 M5x 1998; older edition in Uris Reference HA 1107 M68 1981). Official and unofficial statistical sources were used to provide comparative data for the 26 European countries (including Russia) treated. Arranged into 11 sections: climate; population and vital statistics; labor force; agriculture; industry; external trade; transportation and communication; finance; prices; education; and national accounts. Check list in the front of the volume for official sources consulted.

Statistical Abstract of the United States. Washington: Bureau of the Census, 1878-. Print volumes available in Olin and Uris Libraries. Latest volume in Reference. Also available in most other libraries. (HA 202) (Also available online through the Library Gateway's Find Databases). The standard annual summary of statistics on the social, political and economic organization of the United States. It is designed to serve as a convenient volume for statistical reference and is a guide to other statistical publications and sources.

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SELECTED ONLINE REFERENCE RESOURCES

American National Biography. [New York]: Oxford University Press, 2000. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). Includes 17,400 men and women "whose lives have shaped the nation."

Literature Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, c1999-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). LRC combines biographical, bibliographical, and contextual information to deliver an introduction to authors and their works.

Oxford English Dictionary [computer file]. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, [2000]-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases also in print at Olin and Uris Reference PE1625 .M98 1989). The OED presents in alphabetical series the words that have formed the English vocabulary from the time of the earliest records down to the present day, with all the relevant facts concerning their form, sense-history, pronunciation, and etymology.

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LIBRARY CATALOGS

Search Commands, Subject Searching, Keyword Searching, and other functions of the online catalog are explained under the help button in the catalog or at Help Using the Cornell Library Catalog.

Some typical examples of Library of Congress subject headings (and terms) for history:

Whenever you cannot locate the material you need, ask for assistance at the reference desk.

For items not at Cornell, use Interlibrary Loan. For items checked out, use Borrow Direct.

The National Union Catalog, pre-1956 Imprints. (Olin lower level). This 200+ volume catalog contains photocopies of cards from catalogs from libraries around the country. It can be invaluable for tracking down older material not found in OCLC Worldcat or RLIN.

OCLC Worldcat. Dublin, OH: OCLC. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). WorldCat is produced by OCLC (Online Computer Library Center). WorldCat consists of over 35 million records that cite material owned by libraries around the world. Books, magazines, recordings - virtually any type of material cataloged by OCLC member libraries is included. WorldCat is updated daily.

RLIN Eureka. Subsumed by Worldcat 2007.

Center for Research Libraries Catalog. Chicago: Center for Research Libraries, 1990-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). The CRL is a consortium of research libraries. It has "most favored interlibrary loan lender" status at Cornell which means that items found there can often be borrowed quickly. CRL has a few unique strengths, including a large collection of foreign doctoral dissertations.

Understanding Library of Congress Call Numbers

Library of Congress Call Number Classification for C: Auxiliary Sciences of History (such as Archaeology, Chronology, etc.)

Library of Congress Call Number Classification for D: General and Old World History

Library of Congress Call Number Classification for E-F: United States History

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DATABASES FOR HISTORY

Academic search premier. Ipswich, MA: EBSCO Publishing. Multidisciplinary and multi-genre--scholarly journals, magazines, reports, newspapers. Covers 1984 to present. Provides citations and abstracts for articles from over 4,140 journals, and includes full text from over 3,170 journals.

America, History and Life. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, Inc., 1998-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). A complete bibliographical reference to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present, covering over 2000 journals published worldwide. How to set up a CLIO Alert.

Black studies database: Kaiser index to Black resources. Baltimore, MD: National Information Services Corp., c1997- " ... covers events critical to the study of Black life and culture outside of Africa including notable figures in Black history, culture, and sports; the Civil Rights Movement; the growth of the NAACP and the National Urban League; the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; jazz and soul music; ... from more than 150 publications relevant to the Black experience and African Diaspora."

Guide to Finding the News.

Hapi, Hispanic American periodicals index. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center Publications, University of California, c1984-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). From analyses of current political, economic, and social issues to unique coverage of Latin American arts and letters, HAPI Online contains complete bibliographic citations to articles, book reviews, documents, original literary works and other materials appearing in more than 400 key social science and humanities journals published throughout the world.

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. Includes doctoral dissertations and master’s theses. Coverage 1861 to the present. Dissertations published from 1980 forward include 350-word abstracts written by the author. Master’s theses published from 1988 forward include 150-word abstracts. More than 600,000 are available full text online. Items not available full text online can generally be interlibrary loaned.

ProQuest Research Library (formerly Periodical Abstracts). Ann Arbor: UMI, 1986-. Multidisciplinary and multi-genre--scholarly journals, magazines, reports, newspapers. Indexes and abstracts over 1600 general interest magazines and scholarly journals. Includes lots of full text.

Royal Historical Society bibliography (Online). Oxford University Press. Database contains 300,000 records on British and Irish history, including relations with the empire and Commonwealth. Good for colonial history. Bibliography includes books, articles in journals and collective volumes, and review articles, incorporating the content of the print annual bibliographies for 1993-2000; with updates to follow.

Web of Science. (including Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences Citation Index) Philadelphia: Institute for Scientific Information, 1977-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). A multidisciplinary index to over 1200 leading international arts and humanities journals. It includes journal articles, letters, editorials, notes, meeting abstracts, discussions, poems, short stories, plays, musical scores, excerpts from books, and bibliographies. It is unique in that it allows the user to trace cited references.

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DATABASES FOR RELATED DISCIPLINES

Anthropology Plus. Mountain View, CA: The Research Libraries Group, Inc., 1993-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). Anthropology Plus provides worldwide indexing of journal articles, reports, commentaries, edited works, and obituaries in the fields of social, cultural, physical, biological, and linguistic anthropology, ethnology, archaeology, folklore, material culture, and interdisciplinary studies. The index offers coverage of all core periodicals in the field in addition to local and lesser-known journals. Coverage is from the late 19th century to the present.

Art Full Text. New York: H.W. Wilson, 1984-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). Indexes, abstracts and full-text from international periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins. Areas covered include archaeology, architecture, art, film, humanities, marketing, motion pictures and photography.

Bibliography of the History of Art. Santa Monica, CA: J. Paul Getty Trust; Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France: Centre national de la recherche scientifique. 1996?-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). Covering European and American art from late antiquity to the present, the Bibliography of the History of Art indexes and abstracts art-related books, conference proceedings and dissertations, exhibition and dealer's catalogs, and articles from more than 2,500 periodicals. The Bibliography of the History of Art file is updated quarterly and covers 1973 to the present.

Econlit. Dublin, OH: OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., 1969-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). Produced by the American Economic Association, EconLit indexes books, journal articles, dissertations, and articles in books published since 1969.

MLA Bibliography. New York: Modern Language Association, 1963-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). An international database providing references to scholarly articles from over 4000 journals dealing with languages, literature, film, folklore and linguistics.

PsycINFO. Washington: APA, 1984-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). Indexes and abstracts 1300 leading international journals in psychology and related behavioral disciplines. The online version available on the Web, updated monthly, includes a periodical article index from 1887 to the present and a book chapters index from 1987 to the present, as well as all the records from the print version Psychological Abstracts.

Sociological Abstracts. Wellesley Hills: Silver Platter, 1974- . (Library Gateway's Find Databases). Indexes and abstracts the world's leading journals in sociology. It covers articles published since 1974. There is extensive coverage of sociolinguistics.

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PRIMARY SOURCE COLLECTIONS AT CORNELL AND ONLINE

Electronic Text Center. Located on the first floor of Olin Library, the ETC is a laboratory for the use of full-text primary sources in electronic form (such as CD-ROM) including:

Kroch Rare and Manuscript Collections. The Rare and Manuscript Division is located in an underground addition attached to Olin Library. It houses manuscripts from a variety of periods and several special collections including the Samuel J. May anti-slavery collection.

Map Collection located in the Lower Level of Olin Library. The Map Collection contains over 232,000 maps, 3000 books and atlases and 400 CD-ROMs. The collection is geographically comprehensive and supports the teaching, research and study needs of the entire Cornell University community.

19th century masterfile (formerly Poole's Plus): Indices to Nineteenth-Century Newspapers, Periodicals, Books and Government Documents. Reston, VA: Paratext, Inc., 2000. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). A continually expanding resource for the study of Nineteenth-Century cultural and intellectual life.

Accessible Archives: primary source material from 18th & 19th century periodicals. Leading historical periodicals and books. Includes eyewitness accounts of historical events, vivid descriptions of daily life, editorial observations, advertisements, and genealogical records. Transcribed individual entries. In progress.

AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archive. State College, PA: Accuweather, Inc., 1999-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). The Photo Archive is an on-line database containing almost a half-million of Associated Press's current and historical images for the last 150 years. It features state, regional and national photos from North America, as well as international photos.

American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and Settlement: A Digital Library and Learning Center. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Historical Society, 2003-. "Contains more than 18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration, from the sagas of Vikings in Canada in AD1000 to the diaries of mountain men in the Rockies 800 years later. Read the words of explorers, Indians, missionaries, traders and settlers as they lived through the founding moments of American history. View, search, print, or download more than 150 rare books, original manuscripts, and classic travel narratives from the library and archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society."

American Memory. Historical Collections for the National Digital Library Washington, DC: Library of Congress, National Digital Library Program, 1994-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases) Provides information on, and access to, the digitized version of the Library's primary-source collections on American history and culture, including photographs, documents, sound recordings, and motion pictures.

American periodicals series online, 1740-1900 (APS). Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest Information and Learning Co. Over 1,100 periodicals that first began publishing between 1740 and 1900, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children’s and women’s magazines, and many other historically-significant periodicals.

Ancestry. Scanned Federal census schedules back to 1790. Also contains enormous amounts of other scanned primary sources--Civil War military records, WWI draft registrations, passenger and immigration lists, and much more.

ARTFL. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). Full-text online of nearly 2000 French texts, ranging from classic works of French literature to various kinds of non-fiction prose and technical writing. The eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries are about equally represented, with a smaller selection of seventeenth century texts as well as some medieval and Renaissance texts.

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. In progress. Newspaper pages from 1900-1910 and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.

Early American newspapers. Cover-to-cover reproductions of hundreds of historic newspapers, providing more than one million pages as fully text-searchable facsimile images. Fullest coverage is 1690-1820.

Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures, and the Environment. Alexandria, VA : Alexander Street Press, 2001-2002. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). This database, assembled from hundreds of primary sources, documents the relationships among peoples and with the environment in North America from 1534 to 1850. The collection focuses on personal accounts and provides unique perspectives from all of the protagonists, including traders, slaves, missionaries, explorers, soldiers, native peoples, and officials, both men and women. The database includes prints, drawings, paintings, maps, bibliographies, letters, photographs, and original facsimile pages all searchable by standardized vocabulary.

Early English Books Online (EEBO). In progress. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). EEBO contains over 125,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475 - 1640), Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700), and the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661).

Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO). Detroit, MI: Gale Group, 2003-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). In progress. Aims to include every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom, along with thousands of important works from the Americas, between 1701 and 1800. Consists of books, pamphlets, broadsides, ephemera.

Evans Digital Edition. American Antiquarian Society. Chester, VT: Readex, 2002-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). In progress. Based on the renowned American bibliography by Charles Evans and enhanced by Roger Bristol's Supplement to Evans' American bibliography. Serves as the foundation for research on every aspect of 17th and 18th century American life.

Guide to full text of pre-1800 Imprints, British and American at Cornell.

Finding British Sessional Papers at Cornell

Finding Guide to U.S. Government Documents at Cornell

Finding New York State Documents

Heritage Quest. Scanned Federal census schedules back to 1790. A good, slightly more accurate complement to Ancestry.

Historical newspapers online. Palmer's index to The Times [London], the Official index to The Times, and the Historical index to the New York times in electronic form. This resource enables searches of early issues of the New York times and the Times of London across years and across subjects which would be immensely time-consuming, if not impossible, with the printed editions.

History E-Book Project. A collection of full-text books from the American Council of Learned Societies. List of POD (print-on-demand for purchase) titles.

Making of America: the Cornell University Library MOA collection. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Library, 1996-. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). A digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology.

Paper of record. Paper of Record is an historical archive of full-page newspaper images dating from the 1700's - a collection that increases the value of individual or institutional offerings. This digital archive gives "old news" new life by facilitating access to the wealth of fact and opinion captured by historical newspapers.

Periodicals index online. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest Information and Learning Co. Index to thousands of periodicals in the arts, humanities and social sciences across more than 300 years, covering each periodical from its first issue. Every article is indexed. The scope is international, including journals in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and other languages. Previously known as Periodicals Contents Index (PCI).

ProQuest historical newspapers. This database offers full-text and full-image articles for newspapers dating back to the 19th century. For most titles, the collection includes digital reproductions of every page from every issue, cover to cover, in downloadable PDF files. The database is an ongoing project. The New York Times, 1851-2001 -- The Wall Street Journal, 1889-1987 -- The Washington Post, 1877-1988.

Readers' guide retrospective. Bronx, NY: H.W. Wilson Co., 1997-. A database containing comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States. The complete database covers the years 1890 through 1982.

Research Guide for UN Documents at Cornell

Samuel J. May anti-slavery collection. Cornell University. Searchable digital collection of pamphlets and leaflets donated to Cornell University by abolitionist and humanitarian Samuel J. May. Covers the anti-slavery struggle at local, regional, national, and international levels during the ante-bellum and Civil War periods in America. Includes essays, sermons, speeches, court proceedings and decisions, etc. Most pamphlets are anti-slavery, but some are pro-slavery.

Sanborn Map Collection. A collection of scanned historic fire insurance maps. Detailed maps of thousands of localities in the US over successive years.

U.S. Congressional serial set 1817-1980. Full text from the bound, sequentially numbered volumes of all the reports, documents, and journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Searchable by subject, publication category, standing committee author, and other parameters.

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ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS WORLDWIDE

Increasingly archives are providing websites with basic information and contacts if not guides to and catalogs of their collections. Major archives and repositories generally publish guides in print which often can be found through a keyword search (using the name of the archive) in the CU catalog, Worldcat, or RLIN.

A selection of print and online guides:

ArchivesUSA. Alexandria, VA: Chadwyck-Healy, Inc. (Library Gateway's Find Databases). Provides information about primary source materials from nearly 4,500 manuscript repositories in the United States. It includes records, with indexes, for approximately 100,000 manuscript and other collections. It brings together information from NUCMC, or the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (found in print at Olin , and the National Inventory of Documentary Sources (NIDS). It also updates and supersedes the Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the United States (DAMRUS), last published in 1988.

British Archives: A Guide to Archive Resources in the United Kingdom. Foster, Janet and Julia Sheppard. 3rd ed. Basingstoke, England; New York: Stckton Press, 1995. (Olin Reference CD1040 .F75 1995).

Directory of archives and manuscript repositories in the United States. National Historical Publications and Records Commission. (Olin Reference CD3020 .U58 1988). A useful guide for addresses and brief descriptions of the strengths of collections. Arranged geographically by city within states.

National Archives and Records Administration. This is the National Archives of the United States. The print versions are Guide to the National Archives of the United States and The Archives: A Guide to the National Archives Field Branches. Since NARA administers the Presidential Libraries, it includes links to their electronic finding aids on this site.

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SELECTED WEB SITES FOR HISTORIANS

Finding Internet Resources

Search engines (such as the highly rated Google) or Internet subject guides for the World Wide Web can be useful resources. A search engine is software that allows you to search the contents of web pages and a subject guide is a web page that uses menus and lists to sort and classify web sites. Be cautious with material and information found on the web. Evaluating Web Sites is a helpful guide to using web resources.

Cornell Research Guide for American Indian Studies

Cornell Research Guide for Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Cornell Research Guide for Latino Studies

The American Historical Association's page provides a list of affiliate historical societies.

The History E-Book Project is a collection of full-text books from the American Council of Learned Societies. See List of POD titles (print-on-demand for purchase).

History Organizations and Societies is an eclectic collection of links to major (and less well known) historical organizations.

Voice of the Shuttle covers all periods of history. Digitized video collections were recently added.

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CITATION STYLES

The Chicago Manual of Style (online). 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2006-. Available in print (Olin Reference Z253 .U69x 2003), also at Uris. "A standard work, thoroughly revised and updated, which serves as a how-to book for authors and editors. In three main sections (Bookmaking; Style; Production and printing), offering practical information and advice on all aspects of manuscript preparation, copyediting, and seeing a work through the press. Glossary of technical terms; bibliography; index." (Sheehy). The basics online: Chicago Manual of Style.

A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Turabian, Kate L. 6th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. (Uris and Olin Reference PE1478 .T92 1996). A newly revised and expanded version by John Grossman and Alice Bennett, of Kate Turabian's standard guide for student writers. Fourteen chapters cover everything you've ever wanted to know about putting a paper together, from its introductory chapters to its bibliography. Online sample.

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.). CU Library Reference locations include Olin and Uris Libraries at call number: Z253 M68 2003.

MLA citation style (Library Gateway Help)

MLA Style (MLA's web site)

MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. Modern Language Association of America. 2nd ed. New York: MLA, 1998. (Olin Reference PN147 G444x 1998; also Uris Reference ). Although somewhat scholarly in tone, the purpose of the MLA Style Manual is to provide for the researcher, at whatever level, a systematic, consistent format for all forms of citation.

RefWorks is a web-based program that allows you to easily collect, manage, and organize bibliographic references by interfacing with databases. RefWorks also interfaces directly with Word, making it easy to import references and incorporate them into your writing, properly formatted according to the style of your choice. For more information and to sign up for an account: http://www.refworks.cornell.edu.

EndNote allows you to build your own database of bibliographic references from a variety of resources, including library catalogs and periodical indexes. EndNote interfaces with several standard word processing programs and provides direct connections to resources, making it easy to import references and incorporate them in your writing. EndNote (or RefWorks) is highly recommended for researchers. EndNote workshops are regularly held on campus.

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RESEARCH AND REFERENCE HELP

Library Gateway Help

CU Library Catalog Help

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Olin-Uris Reference e-mail: okuref@cornell.edu

Reference Desk Phone Directory

A research consultation with a reference librarian can be arranged when you need in-depth, personalized research help.

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Updated 08 August 2008 (nm)

Questions? Suggestions? Contact Virginia Cole
Created by Virginia Cole, Ph.D.
Olin-Uris Reference Services