Resources by Subject
Guides * Resources by Subject
 
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This guide is a starting point for individuals conducting research in history.  It serves as an introduction to the wide variety of sources available from the UW Bothell/Cascadia Community College Campus Library and the World Wide Web.  It may be helpful to ask for assistance from a reference librarian in the Library's Information Commons, or by appointment with a librarian.

See also: Class webpages for Cascadia students   and  Class webpages for UWB students

U.S. History Research Guide

Databases                     *Read about how to search UW restricted  databases from home*

America History and Life UW restricted
Provides historical coverage of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Includes information abstracted from over 2,000 journals published worldwide.

American periodicals series online, 1740-1900 - UW restricted
Consists of digitized reproductions of more than 1,100 eighteenth and nineteenth century newspapers and periodicals.

Art Abstracts UW restricted
Art Abstracts and Art Index Retrospective provide indexing for the major visual arts periodicals. Art Index Retrospective covers the years 1929-1984; Art Abstracts 1984 to present, with abstracts beginning in 1995.

Chicano Index - UW restricted
Index to articles covering Mexican-American topics. Coverage dates from 1960 with selective coverage from the early 20th century.

Early American imprints, 1639-1800 - UW restricted
"Early American Imprints, Series I. Evans (1639-1800) is the definitive resource for information about every aspect of life in 17th- and 18th-century America, from agriculture and auctions through foreign affairs, diplomacy, literature, music, religion, the Revolutionary War, temperance, witchcraft, and just about any other topic imaginable"

Expanded Academic Index UW restricted
Provides indexing and abstracting for approximately 1,500 scholarly and general interest periodicals, covering all major fields of study in the humanities, social sciences, and science and technology. Many full text articles.

Facts.com - (Facts on File World News Digest) UWB/CCC Campus Access Only
Provides full access to Facts on File World News Digest (1980 to present), Facts on File News Archive (1940-1980).

Hispanic Americans Periodical Index

Historical Abstracts UW restricted
Historical coverage of the world from 1450 to the present, excluding the U.S. and Canada. Covers over 2,000 journals from around the world.

Historical newspapers online - UW restricted
Contains three historical newspaper citation indexes: Palmer's Index to the Times of London 1790-1905; Official Index to the Times of London 1906-1980; and the Historical Index to the New York Times 1863-1905 and 1913-Sept 1922. This library does not provide access to the Palmer's Full Text Online

History Cooperative - Current volumes of major history journals

History of science,technology and Medicine - UW restricted
Index to articles, books and dissertations in the history of science.

Ingenta - UW restricted
A large interdisciplinary database, Ingenta provides access to over 6,00 full-text online publications, and indexing for 27,000+ publications.  Includes over 100 history journals, primarily published within the last 5 years.

Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance - UW restricted
Index to published materials pertaining to the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700).

JSTOR UW restricted
Contains full text of over 100 core scholarly journals, going back to the 1800s.Covers Literature, History, African-American Studies, Asian Studies and more. For help using this database see this handout (http://www.jstor.org/about/general.pdf) about how to use JSTOR 

LEXIS-NEXIS academic universe - UW restricted
Within Lexis-Nexis select "Primary Sources in U.S. History" for selected primary sources in Women's History and African American History, or "Congressional" to look for current and historic U.S. congressional publications.

NewsBank UW restricted
Includes NewsBank Retrospective (1970-1991), American State Papers (1739-1838), and Congressional Serial Set (1817-1980 )

New York Times 1851- 2001 (Proquest) UW restricted
Full text of the New York Times newspaper from 1851-2001.

New York Times historical index - UW restricted
Indexing only of the New York Times, starting with the lead-up to the Civil War and ending just after World War I.

Nineteenth (19th) century masterfile - UW restricted
Index to articles in 19th century American and British magazines.  Also indexes 19th century U.S. government publications.

Project Muse UW restricted
Includes articles from over 100 scholarly journals. Covers literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, gender studies and much more.

Readers Guide Retrospective UW restricted   Tips for using Reader's Guide
Includes citations to general and special interest magazines from 1890-1982.  Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature is also available in print from 1890-1993, located in the Library's Reference Stacks.  

Research Library Complete (Proquest) UW restricted
Indexing and full text for a basic collection of general-interest, humanities, social science and science periodicals and newspapers, from 1986 to present. Research Library Complete searches the newspapers and periodicals sections of the database. “Natural language” search feature allows you to type your question as a sentence rather than key words.

Times (London) Digital Newspaper Archive (1785-1985) UW restricted

U.S. History Research Guide

Web of science citation databases - UW restricted
Provides access to the Science citation index expanded, Social sciences citation index and Arts & humanities citation index; database coverage: 1980-present

UW Libraries Catalog

    Using the UW Libraries Catalog to find primary sources

In addition to secondary sources (for example, scholarly books written by historians) the UW Libraries has a huge collection of books that can be considered primary sources for American history. These include books written during the period for your topic (i.e., during the depression), books written by participants, published collections of correspondence and other personal writings, memoirs, oral histories, and reprints of collections of primary source material.

How to search the UW Libraries Catalog for primary sources:

  • Limit your search by year of publication.
  • Search for books written by key participants and organizations.
  • Use the subject headings "sources," "correspondence," "personal narratives," “oral history”, and "diaries" in conjunction with your search.
  • Browse the shelves in the appropriate subject area (or use the call number browse capability of the Catalog).

Examples of “keyword” searches:

Trade unions and history and su:sources
african americans and su:interviews
japanese americans and su:(diaries or correspondence or narratives or oral history)

For more search tips click here

See also this list of history journals available electronically (though keep in mind that this is often just the most recent issues – you need to search America History & Life, JSTOR, or Historical Abstracts to be able access older issues of many key history journals)

Connect to complete A-Z list of all UW databases

Websites

Starting Points for Historical Research and Web Starting Points for History  (from the UW Libraries)

American Memory
Use this site to explore the Library of Congress' American Memory Historical Collections, which include documents, photographs, recorded sound and moving pictures from the Library's Americana collections

American and British History Research Guide

The Avalon Project (from Yale University) A searchable site containing documents in Law, History and Diplomacy.

Historical Images Collection (from the University of San Diego), and Finding and Using Images UWB/CCC Library Subject Guide

The History Channel  
See also Speeches for the full text of hundreds of speeches, searchable by speaker, topic, or time period. *Requires Real Player.

The History Index (from the University of Kansas)

Librarians Index to the Internet - History

The Making of America
A digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction.

United States Historical Statistics 1790-1960

National Archives and Records Administration

Websites for Analyzing Primary Sources: Worksheets and Questions to Think About

Local Area History

History Link: History of Seattle and King County

Pacific Northwest History Links

King County Snapshots
King County Snapshots presents King County, Washington, through 12,000 historical images carefully chosen from twelve organizations' collections. These cataloged 19th and 20th century images portray people, places, and events in the county's urban, suburban, and rural communities.

Digital Collections from the UW Libraries
More than 25 digitized collections of images and text covering the history of the Pacific Northwest primarily Washington State but also Alaska and other areas from the holdings of Manuscripts, Special Collections, University Archives at the University of Washington.

Timelines and Chronologies

The Almanac of American history
    E174.5 .A45 1983b Reference Stacks

Chronology of world history
    D11 .M39 1999  v.1-4 Reference Stacks

Day by day, the sixties
    D840 .P27 1983  v.1-2 Reference Stacks

Day by day, the seventies
     D848 .L4 1988  v.1-2  Reference Stacks

Day by day, the eighties
    D848 .M45 1995  v.1-2 Reference Stacks

Clio Notes  UW restricted.  Chronologies and brief summaries of major events in American and world history:

  • American History  select CLIO Notes within the  America History & Life database
  • World History  select CLIO Notes within the Historical Abstracts database

Timelines of History

AlternaTime: Browse the Past and some Futures... a collection of Timelines on the Web

 

Reference Books - located in the Library’s Reference Stacks (1st floor)

In addition to your textbook and general websites, use sources like these to find background information on your topic and for ideas on ways to focus from a broad  “who, what, where, when” topic to a “how or why” question.  General or subject encyclopedias can be a great source of background information. Researchers use encyclopedic and reference sources to establish a fuller picture of the players, conditions, perspectives and events related to their area of research. You will find that it is much easier to filter out redundant or non-pertinent information when you have armed yourself with the "big picture." Depending on your topic, consulting an appropriate encyclopedia before you begin searching in the databases and online catalog will save you time and make your searches more effective.

General History Reference Sources

Chronology of World History.  
    D11 .M39 1999 v.1-4

Complete Atlas of World History. 
    G1030 .C66 1997 v.1-3

Dictionary of 20th Century World
History  UW restricted

Dictionary of World History
UW restricted

The Encyclopedia Britannica   UW restricted

Encyclopedia of historians and historical writing
    D14 .E53 1999  v.1-2

History of humanity : scientific and cultural development
     CB69 .H59 1994  v.1-5

Times Atlas of World History. 
    G1030 .T54 1989  Atlases

U.S. History Reference Sources

Africana : the encyclopedia of the African and African American experience
    DT14 .A37435 1999 

The African-American atlas : 
Black history and culture - an illustrated reference
    E185 .A79 1998

American Decades  (1900-1999)
    E169.12 .A419 1994  v.1-10

American Immigrant Culture.  
    E184 A1 A63448 1997 v. 1-2   

The American presidents
E176.1 .A6563 2000

Annals of America.  A collection of reprinted 
historically significant documents. 
E173 A793 1976. 

Atlas of Asian-American history
    E184.A75 A89 2002

Atlas of Hispanic-American history
    E184.S75 O287 2001

Chronology of the American West : from 
23,000 B.C.E. through the twentieth century
     F591 .Z46 2002

Civil rights in America : 1500 to the present
    JC599.U5 S53 1998

Cold War America, 1946 to 1990
    E741 .G76 2003

Colonial America to 1763
    E188 .P86 1999

Companion to the American Revolution.   
E208 C67 2000.

Datapedia of the United States, 1790-2005
America year by year
    HA202 .K87 2001

Dictionary of American history
    E174 .D52 2003  v.1-10

Documents of American history.  
    E173 D59 1988.

Encyclopedia of African American Culture 
and History.  
    E185 E54 1996 vol. 1-5  

Encyclopedia of American Cultural & 
Intellectual History.   
    E169.1 E624 2001 v. 1-3

Encyclopedia of American economic history.  
    HC103 .E52 1980  v. 1-3  

Encyclopedia of American foreign policy
     E183.7 .E52 2002  v.1-3

Encyclopedia of American immigration
     JV6465 .E53 2000  v.1-4

Encyclopedia of American political history.  
    E183 E5 1984 v. 1-3  

Encyclopedia of American social history.  
    HN57 .E58 1993  v. 1-3  

Encyclopedia of American studies. 
E169.1 .E625 2001 v. 1-4.

Encyclopedia of minorities in American politics
    E184.A1 E574 2000  v.1 -2

Encyclopedia of the American Civil War.  
    E460 H47 2000 v. 1-5.  

Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. 
    KF4548 E53 2000 v.1-6

 

Encyclopedia of the American Religious Experience.  
    BL2525 E53 1988 v. 1-3

Encyclopedia of the Korean War
 DS918 .E53 2000  v.1-3

Encyclopedia of the Mexican American War
E404 .C93 1999 (also available online from NetLibrary)

Encyclopedia of the United States in the nineteenth century.   
E169.1 .E626 2001 v. 1-3

Encyclopedia of the United States in the twentieth century
    E740.7 .E53 1996  v.1-4 

Encyclopedia of U.S. foreign relations.  
E183.7 E53 1996  v. 1-4  

Encyclopedia of Urban America.  
HT123 E5 1998 V. 1-2

Gale encyclopedia of multicultural America, and Primary Documents
E184.A1 G14 2000  v.1-3
E184.A1 G15 1999  v.1-2

Great events from history – American Series.  v. 1. Unknown-1830.--v. 2. 1831-1903.--v. 3. 1904-1969. 
E178. M22 

Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court
     KF8742 .W567 1997  v.1 -2

Handbook of American Women’s History.  
HQ1410 H36 2000

Handbook of Hispanic Cultures in the United States, vol. 2 History.  
E184 S75 1993

Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 4 History of Indian White Relations.  
E77 H25

Harvard encyclopedia of American ethnic groups.  
E184 A1 H35.

The Hispanic presence in North America from 1492 to today
    E169.1 .F375 1991

Historic U.S. Court Cases.  
KF385 A4 J64 2001 v.1-2.

Historical atlas of the Pacific Northwest : maps of exploration and discovery : British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Yukon
F851 .H38 1999 ATLAS

Historical statistics of the United States, colonial times to 1970
    HA202 .H57 1989 pt 1-2

The Latino encyclopedia
    E184.S75 L357 1996  v.1-6

The Oxford history of the American West
    F591 .O95 1994

Presidential documents : the speeches, proclamations, and policies that have shaped the nation from Washington to Clinton
E176.1 .P889 2000 

Revolutionary America, 1763 to 1800
E162 .P86 1995

  The sixties in America
    E841 .S55 1999  v.1-3

  Twentieth century America: a primary sources collection from the  Associated Press.
        E740.5 T84 1995

 The United States and Mexico at war
     E404 .U66 1998 

  Working Americans, 1880-1999.
        HD8066 D47 2000 v.1-3

World War II in the Pacific : an encyclopedia
D767 .W68 2001

Countries, Regions and Time Periods - Reference Sources

Atlas and Survey of South Asian History. 
    G2261.S1 S3 1995  Stacks

Atlas of the British Empire. 
    DA16 .A8 1989  Stacks

Atlas of Classical History. 
    G1033 .G65 1994

Atlas of Russian History. 
    G2111 .S1G52 1993

Atlas of the Crusades. 
    G1034 .R5 1991

Atlas of the prehistoric world
    G1046.C57 P3 1999

Dictionary of British History
UW restricted

Dictionary of the Middle Ages. 
    D114 .D5 1982 v. 1-13

East Asia and the United States : an 
encyclopedia of relations since 1784
    DS518.8 .E53 2002  v.1-2

Encyclopedia of Asian History. 
    DS31 .E53 1988 v.1-4

Encyclopedia of European Social History. 
    HN373 .E63 2000 v.1-6

Encyclopedia of Latin American 
history and culture
    F1406 .E53 1996  v.1-5

Encyclopedia of Mexico: History, Society & Culture. 
    F1210 .E63 1997 v.1-2

Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment
    B802.E53 2003 v. 1-4

Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. 
    CB351 .E53 2000 v.1-2

Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. 
    CB361 .E52 1999 v. 1-6

Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations
    D860.M56 2002 v. 1-4

Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War
    DS557.7 .E53 1998  v.1-3

Great Events from History:
    Ancient and Medieval Series.   
       D59 .M26 v.1-3
    Modern European Series.   
       D209 .M29 v.1-3
    Worldwide Twentieth Century Series. 
        D427 .M35 v.1-3

Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery. 
    HT861 .H57 1997 v.1-2

History Atlas of Africa. 
    G2446 .S1K3 1998

History Atlas of Europe. 
    G1797 .S1B3 1998

Key Events in African History
    DT20.F34 2002

Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan
UW restricted - online
     DS805 .K633 1983  v.1-9

Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. 
    DC33.2 .M44 1995

Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt
    DT58 .O94 2000  v.1-3

Penguin Historical Atlas of the Pacific. 
    G2861 .S1M3 1998

Women in World History. 
    HQ1115 .W6 1999 v.1-16

Search UW Libraries Catalog for other books

More Information

Style Guides for Citing Sources (APA, MLA, and Chicago)

Guides to Writing and Research in History:  (located in the Writing Collection, 1st floor)

·         A Pocket Guide to Writing in History / Mary Lynn Rampolla.  D13 R295 2001

·         A student's guide to history / Jules R. Benjamin.   D16.3 .B4 1998

·         A short guide to writing about history / Richard Marius.  D13 .M294 1999

·         Writing history : a guide for students / William Kelleher Storey.   D16 .S864 1999

Guides to doing research in history
Includes links to information on reading and analyzing primary sources.

Finding Biographical Information

Need help finding a topic?  

Term paper resource guide to 20th century united states history.  E741 M83 1999

Term paper resource guide to 20th century world history.  DA421 R47 2000

10,000 ideas for term papers, projects, reports and speeches.  LB1047.3 L35 1998

These books are located in the Topics Collection on the 1st floor

Doing Oral History

Books about Oral History at Bothell/CCC Library Media Center

§         Your family history : a handbook for research and writing  CS16 .K95 1986 Curriculum Stacks

§         Your self as history : family history and its effects on your personality : a research guide  HQ515 .W55 1992 

§         The voice of the past : oral history   D16.14 .T48   

§         The tape-recorded interview : a manual for field workers in folklore and oral history GR45.5 .I93 1995 

§         Women's words : the feminist practice of oral history HQ1121 .W886 1991 

Search Tips

Identifying keywords - 

Using all of the resources available to you (starting with your course texts and notes), start a list of possible search terms. You can use these in your online searching, as well as browsing the indexes or tables of contents of books. 

Keep in mind that language often changes over time.  When searching historical databases or other sources try to determine what words or phrases the culture at that time used to describe your concept.

Try to write down your topic in the form of a question.  Underline the main concepts, and then try to brainstorm different ways to describe/express them.

For example:

Concept Keywords
migrant workers farm workers
  agricultural labor
  seasonal workers

When choosing keywords, be sure to consider historical and/or cultural variations:

Concept Variations
Hispanic mexican american(s)
 

latino(s)(a)
  hispanics

The following thesauri are excellent resources for search terms to use for a particular subject. Even if you think you've searched under every possible combination, you still might want to check these books to make sure you haven't overlooked something. All are available in the "Topics" section of the Library’s Reference Collection.

You may also find Truncation helpful when keyword searching. The truncation symbol varies from database to database - review the help sections before you begin your search.  Here's one example:

Truncated Keyword/Concept Results
communis* communist
  communism
 

communists

When searching multiple keywords at once, use Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) to determine how your keywords are going to be linked. For example:

Many full text databases offer additional Operators - review the help sections before you begin your search.  Your options may include:

chinese w/s immigration:  These words must be in the same sentence

chinese w/p immigration:  Words must be in the same paragraph

chinese w/3 immigration:  Words must be within 3 words of each other

chinese NEAR10 immigration: Words must be within 10 words of each other

back to top

 

Database Searching - try to answer these questions for each database you search

For each database or web search engine that you use try to answer the following questions:

Review research basics via this online tutorial from the UW Libraries - Research 101

Be thinking about the differences between primary and secondary sources

Primary sources are materials contemporary with the topic or question you are researching

Examples of primary sources include eyewitness accounts, decrees, letters and diaries, newspapers and magazines, speeches, autobiographies, works of art, films, photographs, cartoons, illustrations, government documents, recordings, and oral sources such as interviews.

The line between primary and secondary sources is often indistinct, for example, a single document may be a primary source on some matter and a secondary source on others.

For example, if you’re studying the Civil War you could use a “scholarly” book written by a political theorist in the 1860s to analyze the “expert” view on slavery. Your reading of this source would be different than if you were using it as a secondary source – you’ll be paying much more attention not just to the ideas presented but also how they are presented and why.

As you read your primary sources keep these questions in mind

Where is the source from?  Who "published" it?  When?  Where?  What was the perspective/intention/ bias of the source's producer(s)?  These questions can be easy, difficult, or impossible to answer depending on the source.

How do you read the source?  Look closely at it. Examine and isolate details.  How do those details add to/contradict the source's overall argument(s)? How does the source support and/or complicate what you've learned from your secondary materials?

What is the historical context in which the source was written and read? Who was the intended audience? How might the source have been interpreted when if first appeared, why might it be read differently today?

Are there other contemporary sources to compare against this one? Do all of your sources tell the same story?  If not, why might this be?

The Library Congress has more info on what primary sources are.

Secondary Sources

Look for secondary sources that provide analysis and in-depth discussion of your topic or question.  These are sources that are intended to contribute to ongoing debates by providing new evidence and context that the author feels is significant, by attempting to reformulate the questions that previous scholars have asked, and/or by criticizing existing scholarship.  Keep in mind that scholarly secondary sources are always argumentative.  Be careful when using secondary (or what historians sometimes call "tertiary" or third level) sources that are more limited in scope and purpose - those that are intended only to provide background or descriptive/factual information (such as standard textbooks, encyclopedias, mass market/popular treatments, many websites, etc.)  That said, if your topic/time period is new to you, or you need some quick review, use a general or subject encyclopedia to establish a fuller picture of the players, conditions, perspectives and events related to your area of research. You will find that it is much easier to filter out redundant or non-pertinent information when you have armed yourself with the "big picture."

As you read your secondary sources keep these questions in mind

§         What questions does the author pose and answer?  How do these questions contribute to an ongoing conversation about the materials at hand?  

§         What evidence does the author use to support his or her argument or claim?

Assessing your sources

How are you making your initial selections of sources?  In reviewing your search results, and skimming the titles, abstracts, first/last paragraphs if the full text is available, etc., what criteria are you applying when deciding what to print, what to request (if necessary) from the UW Libraries, what to read more carefully?

Be sure to review the following:

Date of publication – does your topic/question require current information and/or historical?  Is it a primary or secondary source?

Can you tell how long the article is?  Does it look like it might be a short "factual" or opinion piece?  Does it look like a longer article, one that might provide more in-depth information and analysis of your topic?

Who produced the information?  Is there information provided about the author, whether it be a person or group? 

Where was the information published?  Can you tell if it's a scholarly journal? A popular magazine?  A newspaper?  Was it published by a government or non-profit organization?  A university?

Does it appear that the information represents a particular point of view, perspective or bias? 

Does it include a bibliography, works cited or footnotes?  What does this “archive” suggest about the author’s background/preparation for addressing the question or problem he or she is posing?

Guides * Resources by Subject