History 246A Introduction to the Historical Literature of Early America N. Lamoreaux ~ Fall 2003   Ellen Broidy  Bibliographer for U.S. and British History A1540E YRL 825-1324 ejbroidy@library.ucla.edu

This guide is designed as an introduction to print ("real") and online ("virtual") resources critical for accessing materials on topics in early American history at the UCLA Library and beyond. It is extremely selective, both in terms of the sources cited and the research strategies recommended. All reference and "finding" sources listed are available at UCLA; however, a number of these point to materials located at libraries, both real and virtual, beyond the campus borders.

The guide covers the following areas:

1. Basic Research Strategies and Tips
2. UCLA Library Homepage
3. Guides to the Literature
4. Finding Books / Monographic Materials
5. Finding Articles
6. Finding Book Reviews
7. Full-Text Journals on the Web
8. Selected Primary Sources on the Web
9. Other Useful Websites

1.1. Search tips ~Systems and Serendipity:  Successful research is often a combination of systematic approaches and, when appropriate, serendipity.

1.1.1. Topic Identification and Description:  Identify a topic of interest and describe it as narrowly/focused as possible.  Consider subtopics, perspective you wish to take, geographical and/or chronological focus.  Ask: What? Who? When? Where?

For example:
 

Women and Domesticity in Colonial Massachusetts	not	Women in America
Sexual Behavior in Captivity Narratives	not	Indians in America
Land Law and Legislation in Early America	not	Land in America

 
1.1.2.Search Vocabulary:  Make a list of search terms (keywords) that describe your topic.  Include synonyms, relevant proper names, etc.  Avoid very common words if possible, but also include some general (e.g., United States) as well as precise descriptors.

1.1.3. Truncation:  Use trucation symbols (?, *, or #) building on the root of a word or within a term to expand your retrieval. Specific symbol depends on the system you're using (ORION or MELVYL®).

    Examples:
        captiv?     =    captive, captives, captivity, but also captivation (beware "false drops"!)
        puritan*    =    puritan, puritans, puritanism, etc.
        wom#n    =    woman or women
 

1.1.4. Call Numbers:  Call numbers are determined by the first/primary subject heading of the publication.  Thus, most (but not always necessarily all) books on Indian Captivity Narratives, for instance, will be classed and shelved together.  Once you find a promising call number(s) for your topic, browse the shelves in this area for serendipitous discoveries of other items that might be of interest/use.

1.1.5. Search Documentation: Keep careful track of your research process: sources consulted, date ranges covered, search terms used, as well as promising citations.  Use a notebook, index cards, and/or email messages to yourself, etc.

1.2. Considerations in assessing the quality and usefulness of an item (for print and electronic resources):
 

•     Author:             Credentials?  Scholar? Academic Field (e.g. History?)  Other publications?
•     Publisher:          University Press? Other scholarly publisher? Trade Press?
•     Notes:                Bibliography? Index? Footnotes? Use these to refine and/or expand your research.
•     Journal:              Scholarly journal or popular magazine?
•     Date:                  Original publication date (unless revised); critically important.
•     Reviewed:         If a book, can you locate (favorable ) book reviews on this item?

This is the front door to a wide variety of print and electronic resources in U.S. History, including links to ORION2 (UCLA's online catalog); MELVYL, the union catalog for the University of California libraries; the California Digital Library; and subject-related webpages developed at UCLA.

Guides (or guides to the literature as they're sometimes called) may provide the researcher with a basic introduction to the literature of a topic. Guides often list important bibliographies, dictionaries, directories, encyclopedias, periodical indexes, manuscript and statistical finding aids, etc. They can be a useful first step in beginning research, helpful both in acquainting the researcher with critical sources in the field and assisting in organization and evaluation of research strategies - but note the date of the Harvard Guide!

The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature. New York: Oxford, 1995. 2 vols.
YRL Ref.  Desk Z6201 .G94 1995

Freidel, Frank, ed. Harvard Guide to American History. Rev. ed. 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1974.
YRL Ref.  Desk Z1236 .H19 1974

Blazek, Ron. United States History: A Selective Guide to Information Sources. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1994.
YRL Ref.  Desk Z1236 .B57 1994

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Identifying and locating books on your topic is most conveniently done through a keyword or subject (heading) search using UCLA's ORION2 Catalog or the UC systemwide MELVYL® Catalog. Keyword searching (when available) is the most flexible, usually producing the largest retrieval (often including "false drops"), while subject searching can often be more precise since it relies on authorized Library of Congress Subject Headings.

4.1. Library of Congress Subject Headings

Although the advent of online catalogs with keyword search capabilities has sounded the death knell for rigidly structured subject heading/classification schemes, it is still worth considering how language is used to organize materials in a research library. For example, it is possible (and frequently extremely beneficial) to do a subject search in ORION2 or MELVYL® using Library of Congress subject headings.

A subject heading is a word or term that describes, often quite broadly, the contents of a book, journal article, videotape, dataset, etc. All nonfiction books and media are assigned one or more subject headings, allowing for multiple points of access to the same item. "Authorized" headings are found listed in Library of Congress Subject Headings, a four-volume set with a bright red cover located in YRL Reference (Z695.Z8 L524a   ).

The following provides a highly selective sampling of subject headings that might prove useful in researching topics for History 246A:

Congregational churches in the United States – History
Criminal justice, Administration of -- Massachusetts -- History
Female offenders -- Massachusetts -- History
Frontier and pioneer life – United States
Great Awakening
Indian Captivities
Sex role -- Southern States -- History -- 17th century
Sex role -- Southern States -- History -- 18th century
Slavery -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
Slavery --United States --History -- 17^th century
Slavery --United States -- History --18^th century
United States --Church history
United States -- History 1797-1801
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
United States -- Politics and government -- To 1775
United States -- Politics and government -- To 1775 -- Humor
United States--Social conditions-To 1865
United States--Social life and customs-To 1775
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Women
Women -- United States -- History -- 18th century

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4.2. ORION

ORION2, the UCLA's online catalog, provides quick and efficient access to the holdings of the UCLA Library. ORION2 should be your first stop for books, periodicals, media and other monographic materials.

ORION2 is directly accessible from the UCLA Library homepage;  click on the ORION 2 button on the left side of the page (in the blue area, under Quick Links).

ORION2 offers the following unique features:

• Circulation status of material -- ORION tells you whether a book is available (on the shelf), checked out (and date it's due back), or missing;
• Serials information -- serials (journals, newspapers, magazines, etc.) are integrated into a single file with other types of material.
• Personal circulation data -- ORION2 allows you to keep track online of materials you have checked out of the Library. Click on My Account and key in your UCLA Bruin Card number.
• Electronic reserves -- from the Reserves link at the top of the ORION2 page, you can link to a specific course, check to see what, if anything, is "on-reserve" for the class  in electronic format.

If your ORION2 search does not produce the desired results, you may want to search the holdings of other libraries, particularly other UC libraries. The UC MELVYL® Catalog opens doors to worlds beyond UCLA (yes, rumor has it that there is intelligent life out there!). In addition to providing bibliographic access to the holdings of other UC libraries through the MELVYL®Catalog, the California Digital Library (CDL) contains a large number of indexes to periodical literature, some with abstracts or full-text of articles available online (see section III below).

To use the MELVYL® Catalog, click on MELVYL Catalog (Web) in the left-hand Quick Links section of the UCLA Library Homepage.  To research a topic, you may use either the default Basic Search screen or click on Advanced in the gold bar at the top of the page.  Subject searches require word(s) from authorized LC subject headings but word order does not matter.  If you are unsure of a subject heading, try a Keyword search instead.
 

5.  Finding Articles: Periodical Indexes and Abstracting Services

The most convenient direct access to periodical indexes and abstracts is through the UCLA Libray Homepage. Click on Find Online Materials or go directly to http://eresources.library.ucla.edu/. If you know a particular title, you can search for it here or else use the drop-down menu to search by subject area, including U.S. History.

Recommended resources for U.S. History:

5.1
Expanded Academic Index
Both an index and abstracting database as well as a source for full-text on the web. You can limit retrieval to full-text.

5.2.
America: History & Life  (AHL)
The most authoritative listing of periodical literature, book and media reviews, and dissertations in United States and Canadian history.  Covers over 1,700 journals published worldwide.
Search Hints:
            Use Keyword Search to begin, then if desired
            Indicate Time Period: For example, 17c or 18c., or 1620s-80s, etc.  Click on magnifying glass icon to right of time period to browse options.

5.3.
Historical Abstracts  (HA)  1955-
The "world's leading historical bibliography" covers the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding North America).  Includes English-language journals (1,700+), books, and disseratations.

5.4.
Periodicals Archive Online (formerly PCI Full Text)
Indexes thousands of periodicals in the social sciences and humanities from 1770-1995, and currently offers full text of articles for 200 complete journal runs.

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6.1. On the Web:

Generally best to use the book title as your search term.

1.  America: History and Life.  1964- .

Search Hint: On search page, under Document Type, limit to Book Review.

Search Hint: On search page under Scope: Limit to Books Reviews Only

                Although there is no separate limit for book reviews, citations to reviews are clearly marked in the record.

4.  Historical Abstracts.   1955- .

Search Hint: Unfortunately, Historical Abstracts does not index by Book Review. However, you can sometimes retrieve reviews by adding "review" to a keyword or subject (not title) search.

6.2. . Print Resources: Available in the YRL Reference area 1^st floor or in the YRL stacks, by call number.

1. Book Review Index. 1965- .  YRL Ref. Z1035 A1 B6

2. C.R.I.S. : The Combined Retrospective Index Set to Journals in History, 1838-1974.  11 vols. vol. 4-9 U.S. History. YRL Stacks Z6205 .C112

3. Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Scholarly Journals, 1886-1974. 15 vols.  YRL Ref. Z1036 A1 C65 (Case O)

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Access from either the UCLA Homepage E-Resources site (use dropdown menu; click on United States History and then on either Electronic Journal Collections or Electronic Journals) or search by title in the Find Online Materials portion of the homepage or in ORION2.

Expanded Academic Index

Includes many full-text journals; click on pdf file for full-text online or UC-elinks to connect either to electronic version held by UC or to find out whether UC/UCLA subscribes to the journal in which the article appears.

89 journals published between 1740 and 1800 offer insights into America's transition from a British colony to an independent nation. The journals support research for a range of academic fields. Titles include Massachusetts Magazine, which published America's first short stories, and Thomas Paine's Pennsylvania Magazine, which reported on inventions. One of the first mass printings of the Declaration of Independence, a letter by George Washington on the crucial Battle of Trenton, and the thoughts of Benjamin Franklin are among the highlights of content from this period.

Indexes the 89 periodicals appearing in the 1740-1800 segment of APS.

An archival collection of over 100 journals in history and other subject areas including African-American and Asian studies, ecology, economics, education, finance, mathematics, philosophy, political science, population studies, and sociology. JSTOR does not include the latest 5 years of any journal, but often includes back issues from several decades past.
History Titles Include:

American Historical Review                                 Journal of Southern History
American Quarterly                                                 Journal of the History of Ideas
Eighteenth-Century Studies                                   Renaissance Quarterly
Journal of American History                                 Reviews in American History
Journal of Economic History                                Speculum: A Journal of Mediaeval Studies
Journal of Military History                                   Studies in the Renaissance
Journal of Modern History                                    William and Mary Quarterly
Journal of Negro History

Full text of over 40 journals in History.  Full text coverage varies by journal title but ranges from 1993 to the present. If you have a "favorite" journal, this is an excellent source for book reviews.

UCLA's membership in the History Cooperative provides online access to current issues of major history journals, including:

American Historical Review
Commonplace
Journal of American History
Law and History Review
William and Mary Quarterly

Search by journal title in ORION2 and click on Online Access
 

Early American Imprints: Evans Digital Edition

Full-text searchable database based on the renowned American Bibliography by Charles Evans and enhanced by Roger Bristol's Supplement to Evans' American Bibliography, the digital version currently contains content up to Evans Document No. 28,722 (published in 1795). Upon completion, Evans Digital will consist of more than 36,000 works and 2,400,000 images.

Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures, and the Environment

Centered on present-day Canada and the United States with some limited coverage of Mexico, includes letters, diaries, memoirs, and accounts of early encounters. EENA uses PhiloLogic software, developed at the University of Chicago, to enable in-depth browsing and searching of the bibliographic, image and full-text elements within the database.

North American Women's Letters and Diaries, Colonial - 1950

NAWL ncludes the immediate experiences of 1,017 women, as revealed in approximately 120,000 pages of diaries and letters.  Provides in-depth browsing and searching of both the bibliographic and the full-text elements within the database.

American Colonist's Library: Primary Source Documents Pertaining to Early American History

A searchable collection of historical works which contributed to the formation of American politics, culture, and ideals from 500 BCE(!) to 1800.
 
 

9. Other Useful Websites

American Historical Association
http://www.theaha.org

Organization of American Historians
http://www.indiana.edu/~oah/index.html

H-Net Humanities and Social Sciences Online: List of Discussion Networks
http://www.h-net.org/lists/

Collections and Internet Resources in United States History (UCLA Library page)
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/yrl/colls/ushist/index.htm#lists

Voice of the Shuttle
http://vos.ucsb.edu/
 
 

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