History 191D
American Society and Culture during the Cold War
Spring 2008
Library Research Guide
Ellen Broidy
Librarian for U.S./British History and Women’s Studies
ejbroidy@library.ucla.edu
Getting to this page:
Go to the UCLA Library’s webpage (www.library.ucla.edu) and follow these simple steps:
Introduction
This guide is designed as an introduction to print ("real") and online ("virtual") resources critical for conducting research on topics related to American society and culture during the Cold War, with an emphasis on primary sources, located the UCLA Library and beyond. It is extremely selective, both in terms of the sources cited and the research strategies recommended (or implied). 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
1.1 Search tips ~ systems and serendipity: Successful research is often a combination of systematic approaches and, when appropriate, serendipity.
1.2 Topic identification and description: Identify a topic of interest and describe it in as narrow and focused a way as possible. Consider subtopics, perspective you wish to take, geographic or chronological focus. As the four “W” questions: What” Who? When? Where? If you are so inclined, asked Why?
1.3 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 terms (e.g., violence) as well as precise descriptors such as genital mutilation.
1.4 Truncation: Use truncation symbols (?, *, or #) to build on the root of a word or, if the system permits, within a word to expand your retrieval. The specific symbol depends on the system you’re searching.
Examples:
subvers? = subversive(s), subversion
wom#n = woman, women1.5 Call numbers: Call numbers are determined by the first/primary subject heading assigned to the publication. Thus there is an excellent chance that most, although by no means all, books on the U.S. during the Cold War will be classed and shelved together. Once you find some promising call numbers for your topic, browse the shelves in that area for serendipitous discoveries of other items that might be of interest or use.
1.6 Search documentation: Keep careful track of your research process and progress: sources consulted, date ranges covered, search terms used, as well as all promising citations. Use a notebook, index cards, e-mail messages to yourself, or an online system such as EndNote.
1.7 What to keep in mind when assessing the quality and usefulness of print and electronic resources:
Author: Credentials? Scholar? Academic field? Other publications?
Publisher: University press? Other scholarly publisher? Trade press?
Notes: Bibliography? Index? Footnotes?
Date: Original publication date? Date of revision, new edition?
Reviewed: If a book, can you locate a (favorable) book review?
2. UCLA Library Homepage
This is the front door to a wide variety of print and electronic resources in Women’s Studies; MELVYL®, the union catalog for the University of California libraries; and subject-related webpages developed at UCLA.
3. Finding books: UCLA Library and MELVYL® Catalogs
Identifying and locating books on your topic is most conveniently done through a keyword or subject search in the UCLA Library Catalog or the UC systemwide MELVYL® Catalog. Keyword searching is the most flexible, usually producing the largest retrieval (but also including “false drops” or unintended results) while subject searching can often be more precise (but limited) because it relies on an authorized list of subject terms called Library of Congress Subject Headings.
3.1 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.
A subject heading is a word or term that describes, often quite broadly, the contents of a book, 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 listed in Library of Congress Subject Headings, a four-volume set with a bright red cover located near the reference desk in YRL.
Some useful headings include:
Anti-communist movement – United States – History
Communism – United States – History
Subversive activities – United States – 20th century
United States – Social condition – 1945-
United States – Civilization – 1945-
Cold War – Social aspects – United States
Cold War - Sources
One of the best and most efficient ways to identify subject headings for your topic is to do a keyword or title search in the catalog and then check the subject headings assigned to the book. Note the most promising heading(s) and click on the link to the UCLA Lbrary Catalog execute a subject search.
The UCLA Library Catalog provides quick and efficient access to the holdings of the UCLA Library. The catalog should be your first stop for books, periodicals, media and other library materials.
Circulation status of materials – lets you know whether a book is available (on the shelf), checked out (and the date it’s due back), or missing.
Serials information – catalog lists both print and electronic serials, with UCLA holdings.
Personal circulation data – allows you to keep track online of materials you have checked out of the Library. Click on My Account and type in your UCLA Bruin Card number.
If your UCLA Library Catalog search does not produce the desire results, you may want to search the holdings of other libraries, particularly other UC libraries. The UC MELVYL® Catalog opens up doors to worlds beyond UCLA (yes, the rumor is true. There is intelligent life out there).
To get to the MELVYL® Catalog, use the link on this website or click on the Search and find and then Other catalogs. MELVYL® is the first in this list. To research a topic, you may use either the default Basic search option or click on Advanced in the gold bar at the top of the page.
4. Finding articles: periodical indexes and abstracting services; full-text e-journals
America: History & Life
Index and abstracts for articles on the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present, published since 1964.
EBSCO Academic Search Complete
Provides selected full-text articles and images from 2,600 scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers, with the earliest citations dating back to 1980. Spans all academic disciplines from arts and humanities to social sciences, science, and technology.
Left Index
Indexes the literature of the left, with an emphasis on political, economic, social and culturally engaged scholarship inside and outside academia. Topics covered include the labor movement, ecology & environment, race & ethnicity, social & cultural theory, sociology, art & aesthetics, philosophy, history, education, law, and globalization
Nation
A progressive journal of politics, economics, education, foreign policy, labor, law and other social issues, literature and the arts. Published since 1865.
New York Times
The New York Times historical (1851-2003) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
Periodical Archives Online
Index to millions of articles published in 4,547 periodicals in the humanities and social sciences from 1770 to 1995, including full text for 200 complete journal runs.
JSTOR
Full text of core scholarly journals from their beginning to approximately five years ago. Disciplines include botany, business, ecology, general science, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, statistics. Browsable by discipline and full-text searchable across all disciplines. Titles of interest include:
American Historical Review
American Journal of Legal History
Comparative Studies of History and Society
History and Theory
Journal of American History
Journal of Contemporary History
Journal of the History of Ideas
Law and Society Review
Project Muse
Full text of current issues (from about 1990) of scholarly journals published by university presses, chiefly in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Browsable by discipline and full-text searchable across all disciplines. See especially:
Journal of Cold War Studies
Cinema Journal
Theater Journal
Film & History
Congressional Publications (Lexis-Nexis)
Contains fully researched CIS legislative histories with full text of bills, debates, reports, and testimony. Also contains clear explanations of the legislative process and search strategies.
Digital National Security Archive
Contains more than 40,000 declassified documents. The National Security Archive is a prolific user of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Digital National Security Archive contains 20 complete collections: Afghanistan, Berlin Crisis 1958-1962, China and the US, Cuban Missile Crisis, El Salvador 1977-1984, El Salvador 1980-1994, Iran-Contra Affair, Intelligence Community, Iran Revolution, Iraqgate, Japan and the US, Military Uses of Space, Nicaragua, Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Philippines, Presidential Directives from Truman to Clinton, South Africa, Soviet Estimate, U.S. Espionage and Intelligence, and U.S. Nuclear History. China and the US, El Salvador 1980-1994, Japan and the US, U.S. Espionage and Intelligence, and U.S. Nuclear History were added to DNSA in 2003.
CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings Index.
Hearings indexed by subject and organization as well as personal name. Print, YRL Ref. Index Table 1B or Online via Lexis Nexis Congressional
CIS U.S. Serial Set Index.
Ongoing collection of U.S. government publications compiled under the direction of the Congress. Includes congressional journals and administrative reports, congressional reports on public and private legislation, and reports resulting from congressionally-commissioned or conducted interviews. Subject index. Print YRL Ref. Index Table 1B or Online via Lexis Nexis Congressional
.
Hollywood Blacklist Oral History Transcripts
Search the UCLA Library Catalog using keywords hollywood blacklist to find transcripts of oral history interviews with key players during the Blacklist period:
Bright, John
Davenport, Mary
Gordon, Don
Jarrico, Paul
Levitt, Helen
FBI file on the National Negro Congress. YRL Microform & Media Service. Microfilm E185.61 F35 1987.
FBI file on the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). Request from SRLF
Online Archive of California
The OAC includes a single, searchable database of "finding aids" to primary sources and their digital facsimiles. Primary sources include letters, diaries, manuscripts, legal and financial records, photographs and other pictorial items, maps, architectural and engineering records, artwork, scientific logbooks, electronic records, sound recordings, oral histories artifacts and ephemera. Use the keywords cold war to see what collections of interest UCLA holds.
Oral History Online
Oral History Online provides in-depth indexing to more than 2,700 collections of Oral History in English from around the world. The collection also provides keyword searching of almost 285,000 pages of full-text by close to 10,000 individuals from all walks of life. It also contains pointers to nearly 3,500 audio and video files and almost 18,000 bibliographic records.
WWW-VL History: The Cold War History 1945-1991
Cold War International History Project
Large collection of source documents on the Cold War from the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars.
Atomic Archive
This site explores the complex history surrounding the invention of the atomic bomb - a crucial turning point for all mankind.