HIST 4004: Research Tools

HIST 2004: Research Tools

= especially valuable sources

= available only through VT Library website (you'll need to use the "Off Campus Sign In Link" to access these when not on campus)

I. Manuscripts

Virginia Heritage Database
A union database of finding aids to archival and manuscript collections in 20 Virginia repositories.

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections
NUCMUC is a cooperative cataloging project that began in 1959 and the single best source for locating archival collections. From 1960 to 1993, NUCMUC was produced as printed volumes (see Newman Reference Z6620.U5 N3). Since that time, many of the records have been incorporated into WorldCat (below).

Digital Library and Archives, University Libraries, Virginia Tech
Digitized images and finding aids for material held in Special Collections, including manuscript collections, rare books, and the University Archives. You can also directly access the webpage of the Special Collections Department at: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/

II. Books

Addison
Newman Library catalog. Only includes books held in this library.

WorldCat
Bibliographic records for books, journal runs, newspapers, sound recording, and videos collected and catlogued by libraries around the world. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link. To obtain a book or other item listed here but not in Newman Library, request an interlibrary loan.

Amazon
World's largest online bookseller. Can be useful for locating relatively recent books on a given subject, especially if you already have citations to one or two to start with. Follow the "Explore Similar Items in Books" link.

History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Citations to journal articles, books, book reviews, and dissertations. Coverage back to 1975. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link.

III. Newspapers and Periodicals

Online Primary Sources:

Proquest Historical Periodicals
Digitized images of newspapers (including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune and over a 1,000 periodicals (1749-ca.1900). Can search for particular articles or browse individual issues. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link.

America's Historical Newspapers, 1690-1922
Digitized reproductions of more than 1,000 newspapers, including examples from all 50 states. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link. This one may disappear soon.

Times Digital Archive
Every page as published from 1785-1985 of The Times (London), widely considered the "world's newspaper of record." Covers all major international historical events from the French Revolution to the Falkland War. Search the full-text of the entire newspaper, including articles, editorials and advertising. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link.

Making of America: Cornell Site; University of Michigan Site
Digitized images of nineteenth-century books and periodicals (ca. 9,500 books and 100,000 journal articles). Note that there are two different sites that have to be searched separately. These are also accessible through the Library of Congress American Memory Project website (discussed below).

Newspaper Index (Local Newspapers)
Covers Virginia Tech, southwest Virginia, and the New River Valley, from the Roanoke Times and World News (1965-93), the News Messenger (1963-98); the Collegiate Times (1970-98), the Virginia Tech Spectrum (1978-95).

PIA International (1972-present) and PIA Archive (1915-1976).
Information on political science, government, international relations, law, economics, business, finance, and other social sciences. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link.

Print Primary Sources (available in the Reference Collection, Newman Library, 2nd floor):
To obtain copies of the articles you find cited in these sources, first check the Ejournals link on the library homepage. If the particularly periodical or issue you need is not listed there or if you are looking for a newspaper article, check under name of the periodical or newspaper in Addison to find library holdings and location.

Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature
Indexes American popular magazines from 1900-2002. Ref AI3 R48.

Poole’s Index to Periodical Literature
Indexes Anglo-American popular magazines from 1802-1906. Ref AI3 P7.

New York Times Index
Indexes from 1851 to present. Largely superseded by Proquest Newspaper Index, but this can still be useful (for example, it lists groups articles on a particular subject together and often includes abstracts). Ref AI21 N4.

Secondary Sources:

JSTOR
Archival collection of scholarly journals in electronic format, mostly 20th century, but some titles date back to the 19th century. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link.

America: History and Life
Indexes 2100 scholarly journals covering the history of the United States and Canada from prehistoric times to the present. Some citations include links to online versions of the article. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link.

Historical Abstracts
Indexes 2100 scholarly journals covering world history from 1450 to the present. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link.

ArticleFirst
Indexes 16,000 scholarly journals from 1990 to present. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link.

IV. Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Answers.com
Free, advertising-supported site. Draws from over 60 titles from brand-name publishers and its own content. Some of the material may not be peer-reviewed.

Wikipedia: The Free Online Encyclopedia
Contains over 1 million articles on a wide variety of subjects. Must be used with care as anyone can submit material to the site.

Oxford Reference Premium
More than 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press, including Oxford "Companions" subject encyclopedias. Nearly one million entries. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link.

Encyclopedia Britannica
Full-text, online version of this standard reference source. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link.

Gale Virtual Reference Library
A database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link.

Oxford English Dictionary
The authority on the development of the English language. Contains over 1/2 million words, and traces meaning, history, and pronunciation. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link.

VI. Oral History

Oral History Online
Comprehensive index of oral history collections in English, this database provides access to full text, audio, video, or bibliographic citations 7,000+ interviews from all over the world, in thousands of subjects. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link.

VII. Historical Census Statistics

Historical Statistics of the United States: Millenial Edition Online
Includes statistical data, often long runs of data, on economics, government, demography, education, law, natural resources, religion, and trade. Data can be downloaded to spreadsheets, printed, and graphed. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link.

VIII. Miscellaneous Collections

Library of Congress American Memory Project
American Memory is a gateway to the Library of Congress’s vast resources of digitized American historical materials. Comprising more than 9 million items that document U.S. history and culture, American Memory is organized into more than 100 thematic collections based on their original format, their subject matter, or who first created, assembled, or donated them to the Library. The original formats include manuscripts, prints, photographs, posters, maps, sound recordings, motion pictures, books, pamphlets, and sheet music.
Women and Social Movements in the United States: 1600-2000
Books, images, documents, scholarly essays, commentaries, and bibliographies addressing the multiplicity of women’s reform activities from Colonial times to the present. The contents are organized as "document projects" collections of primary documents addressing broad topics in US women's history. Available by searching "Find a database by title" window on library homepage. If you are accessing from off campus, use the "Off Campus Sign In" link to use the prozy server.

WWW.history
Listings, reviews, and annotations for more than 800 websites that are useful for teaching and researching American history.

Anti-Imperialism in the United States, 1898-1935
Texts on American imperialism and its opponents, including approximately 800 essays, speeches, pamphlets, political platforms, editorial cartoons, petitions, and pieces of literature.

Virtual Vietnam Archive
Contains 2.7 million pages of scanned material for the Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech, including documents, oral histories, photographs, video, audio, maps, etc.

New Deal Network
Database containing more than 20,000 items relating to the New Deal.

Ad*Access
Presents images and database information for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. Concentrates on five main subject areas: Radio, Television, Transportation, Beauty and Hygiene, and World War II.

Famous Trials
Covers 35 of the most prominent court trials in American history.

History Research Resources, University Libraries, Virginia Tech
Site maintained by Bruce Pencek. Gateway to numerous websites, with ratings.