History 316: World War II / Professor St.Cordery (Fall 2005)

Below are listed library resources and research strategies pertaining to the research of American history.

Overall tips

• Not just for history anymore: many topics (such as womein in America or the railroad in the Union) can be found not only in their relation to American history, but also as their own areas of study (in women's studies or technology, for example).
• Check the bib: historians are especially good about generating and organizing bibliographies and lists of related materials. Even if the book or article that you found does not add to your knowledge of the subject, check out the bibliography at the end.
• What's it called? when searching online databases, remember that different products use different subject vocabularies. For example, America: History & Life uses relatively simple subject headings, while WorldCat and HIP offer many longer, more specific subject headings (see below for examples of these).

Call numbers

Browsing the shelves is a simple, powerful method for finding materials on your topic. You can quickly evaluate the scope of a book by checking its table of contents, index and bibliography. In fact, even if a book's contents aren't what you are looking for, its bibliography may list tens or hundreds of more useful sources.

Depending upon your exact topic, you may wish to browse different sections of the collection. Books that concentrate on American history are conveniently grouped together in the E and F classes:

E	United States history
E 171 - 180 E 186 - 199 E 201 - 298 E 300 - 453 E 456 - 655 E 660 - 738	General history Colonial history, 1607-1775 The Revolution, 1775-1783 Revolution to the Civil War, 1775-1861 Civil War period, 1861-1865 Late nineteenth century, 1865-1900
F 1 - 975	United States local history
F 1 - 105 F 106 - 205 F 206 - 295 F 296 - 395 F 396 - 475 F 476 - 590 F 590.3 - 705 F 721 - 785 F 786 - 850 F 850.5 - 951	New England Atlantic coast The South Gulf States Old Southwest Old Northwest The West. Trans-Mississippi Rocky Mountains New Southwest Pacific States

To see a brief outline of the entire Library of Congress classification system, click here.

Reference resources in Hewes Library

Reference materials can provide an excellent starting point and factual repository. Encyclopedias and dictionaries are perfect for quickly establishing the importance of an historical figure, timelines of commerce, ideas or war, and bibliographies on all manner of issues. The resources below, among others, may be found in the Reference Collection on the Main Level.

• American national biography (24 vol.) REF CT 213. A68 1999
• American eras (8 vol.) REF E 169.1 A47197 1997
• Encyclopedia of American cultural & intellectual history (3 vol.) REF E 169.1 E624 2001
• Encyclopedia of the United States in the nineteenth century (3 vol.) REF E 169.1 E626 2001
• American chronicle REF E 169.1 G664 1999
• Dictionary of American history (6 vol. + suppl.) REF E 174. A43
• Encyclopedia of American history (11 vol.) REF E 174. E53 2003
• American immigrant cultures: builders of a nation (2 vol.) REF E 184. A1 A634 1997
• Colonial America to 1763 REF E 188. P86 1999
• Encyclopedia of the American Revolution REF E 208. B68
• Encyclopedia of the American Civil War (5 vol.) REF E 468. H47 2000
• Encyclopedia of the Confederacy (4 vol.) REF E 487. E55 1993

Books in Hewes Library

The Hewes Library Catalog, allows you to locate any item in Hewes Library: our books, videos, CDs, and more.

For your history purposes, we recommend a mixture of HIP searching and browsing. Use the catalog to identify some promising titles. When you locate these books on the shelves, explore the surrounding titles too. Spend some time. Look around. You may find something much better than what you went up there for in the first place.

Last but certainly not least: found a good book? Use its bibliography!

Online resources

Subject headings for HIP / WorldCat

Both the Hewes Library Catalog and the WorldCat database use the Library of Congress Subject Headings. This system of classification makes it possible to locate books and other library materials on almost any specific topic. Below is a list of subject headings that may be especially useful to students in History 111. This list is not complete, but should provide good starting points for a variety of topics:

Slavery, Civil War and related topics

• Andersonville Prison
• Antislavery movements -- United States
• Confederate States of America -- History
• Fugitive slaves -- United States
• Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863
• Military nursing -- History
• Secession -- Southern States
• Southern States -- Politics and government -- 1775-1865
• Underground railroad
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Causes
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Hospitals
• United States.Army -- Military life -- History -- 19th century
• Women -- Confederate States of America -- History

People

• Authors, American -- 19th century
• Authors, American -- 19th century -- Biography
• Clark, George Rogers, 1752-1818
• Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889
• Generals -- United States -- Biography
• Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Relations with African Americans
• Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Views on slavery
• Morrill, Justin Smith, 1810-1898
• Poe, Edgar Allen, 1809-1849
• Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896
• Tubman, Harriet, 1820?-1913
• Washington, George, 1732-1799

Exploration, Westward expansion, and related topics

• California -- Gold discoveries
• Explorers -- West (U.S.) -- History -- 19th century
• Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.)
• Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806)
• Northwest, Old -- Description and travel
• Northwest, Old -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
• Northwest, Old -- Social life and customs
• Oregon National Historic Trail
• Overland journeys to the Pacific
• Pioneers -- West (U.S.) -- Biography
• United States -- Territorial expansion
• West (U.S.) -- Discovery and exploration
• Women pioneers -- West (U.S.)
• Women pioneers -- West (U.S.) -- Biography

Colonial Era

• Boston Massacre, 1770
• Boston Tea Party, 1773
• Tea tax (American colonies)

Other topics

• Appalachian Region, Southern -- Social conditions
• Chinese -- United States
• Church and state -- United States -- History
• Deism -- United States
• Erie Canal (N.Y.) -- History
• Hatfield-McCoy Feud
• Illinois -- History -- 1778-1865
• Indians of North America
• Indians of North America -- Cultural assimilation
• Irish -- United States -- History
• Philosophy, American
• Railroads -- United States -- History
• School lands -- United States
• United States -- Emigration and immigration -- History
• United States -- History -- War of 1812

Human resources: your local librarians

Hopefully, the ideas and resources above will help you to get started in your research. If you have any questions, comments or difficulties, please contact a librarian at the Reference Desk: (309) 457-2301. Ask early and ask often: the more time that you give us to help, the more we can do for you.