Charles Babbage's Analtyical Machine |
Professors Lamoreaux and Jacob Ellen Broidy
|
Ada Lovelace, Mathematician |
This guide is designed as an introduction to print ("real") and online ("virtual") resources critical for accessing materials on culture, political economy, and technological change in Europe and the United States from 1680 to 1850 located at 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
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. Selected Primary Sources - Microform
10. Other Useful Websites
| 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.
1.1.1. Topic Identification and Description: Identify a topic of interest and describe it in as narrow and focused way as possible. Consider subtopics, perspective you wish to take, geographical and/or chronological focus. Ask: What? Who? When? Where?
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 truncation 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:
wom#n = woman or women
scien? = science, scientific, scientist
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 the industrial revolution in England, 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.
1.2. Considerations in assessing
the quality and usefulness of an item (for print and electronic resources):
| 2. UCLA Library Homepage |
This is the front door to a wide variety
of print and electronic resources in U.S. and European history, economic
history, and the history of science and technology, 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.
| 3. Guides to the Literature |
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
| 4. Finding Books / Monographic Publications: ORION2 and MELVYL® Catalogs |
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 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 ).
One of the best and most efficient
ways to identify subject headings for your topic is to do a keyword or title
search in ORION2 or MELVYL, note subject headings for the most promising
items, and click on those headings to execute a search on that subject.
Primary sources come in numerous packages
in the library. Microform and digital are two of the easier packages to
locate. Printed primary materials, especially monographs and archival sources,
can be a bit more illusive. One strategy for identifying them is to add
the word sources to your subject search.
Just to get you started, here are some
possible headings you might find useful:
Just to get you started, here are some possible headings you might find useful:
Economic development - History
Industrial revolution
Science - England (or France, Germany, etc.) - History - 19th (or 17th, 18th) century
Science - History
Science - History - Sources (to locate primary materials)
Science - Political aspects - Europe - History
Science - Social aspects - History
Technological innovations - Economic aspects - History
Technology - History
Individual names (Newton, Babbage, Lovelace, etc.) are also excellent subject headings.
| 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:
| 4. 3. UC MELVYL® CATALOG |
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. and European History:
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.
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.
Historical
Abstracts (HA) 1955-
The "world's leading historical bibliography"
covers the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding North
America but including the rest of the Americas). Includes English-language
journals (1,700+), books, and disseratations.
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.
History of Science, Medicine
and Technology
This database integrates four major bibliographies in the history of Science, Isis Current Bibliography of the History of Science, Current Bibliography in the History of Technology, Bibliografia Italiana di Storia della Scienza, and the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine.
| 6. Finding Book Reviews |
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.2. 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.
Search Hint: On search page under Scope: Limit to Books Reviews Only3. Expanded Academic Index
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 1st 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
| 7. Full-Text Journals on the Web |
Access from either the UCLA Homepage E-Resources site (use dropdown menu; click on United States History or 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.
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.American Periodicals Series (APS) Online
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.Index to Early American Periodicals
Indexes the 89 periodicals appearing in the 1740-1800 segment of APS.JSTOR
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.Project MuseHistory titles include:
American Historical Review 1895-1999
American Quarterly 1949-1995 (plus links to recent content 1996-2003)
Annals of the Association of American Geographers 1911-1998
Comparative Studies in Society and History 1958-1998
Economic Geography 1925-1998
Economic History Review 1927-1998
Eighteenth-Century Studies 1967-1995 (plus links to recent content 1995-2003)
English Historical Review 1886-1998
Ethnohistory 1954-1999 (plus links to recent content 2000-2003)
History and Theory 1960-1999
Journal of Contemporary History 1966-2000
Journal of Economic History 1941-1998
Journal of Interdisciplinary History 1970-1998
Journal of the History of Ideas 1940-1995 (plus links to recent content 1996-2003)
Reviews in American History 1973-1994 (plus links to recent content 1995-2003)
William and Mary Quarterly 1892-2000British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 1950-1998
Isis 1913-2001
Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London 1938-1998
Osiris 1936-1998
Philosophy of Science 1934-2001
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1970-1994
Science, Technology, & Human Values 1978-2000
Science & Technology Studies 1986-1987
4S Review 1983-1985
Social Studies of Science 1975-2000
Science Studies 1971-1974
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.History Cooperative
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 QuarterlySearch by journal title in ORION2 and click on Online Access
America's "newspaper of record," this site provides searchable access to the full-text of the New York Times from 1851 to 1999.
Palmer's Index to the Times (Historical Newspapers Online)
Contains Palmer's Index to the Times, 1790-1905 and full-text of the Times covering the same period.
| 8. Selected Primary Sources on the Web |
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. 35,345 (published in 1799). Upon completion, Evans
Digital will consist of more than 36,000 works and 2,400,000 images. The
digital edition covers 1639-1800.
Early English Books Online
(EEBO)
From the first book published in English through the age of Spenser and
Shakespeare, this incomparable collection now contains about 100,000 of
over 125,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue
(1475-1640) and Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700) and their revised
editions, as well as the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661) collection and the
Early English Books Tract Supplement.
Illustrating Traveler: Adventure and Illustration in North American and the Caribbean 1790-1895
An exhibit mounted by the Beinecke
Library at Yale of illustrated traveler's narratives and original art by
illustrators from the late 18th to the late 19th century.
Making of America: University
of Michigan Collection
Making of America: Cornell University
Collection
| 9. Primary Sources in Microform and Print |
The History of Science and Technology microform. Series 3: The Papers
of Charles Babbage, 1791-1871.
Guide: YRL Q125 .H58 1991. Film held at SRLF.
Landmarks II (Landmarks of Science).
A comprehensive collection of the source material in the history of
science comprising the significant contributions to the advancement of science
and technology. Search by individual entries or by the main title. Guide
and microfiche both located in the Microform & Media Services Department,
2nd floor, YRL.
Industrial Revolution: A Documentary History.
Contains: The Boulton and Watt Archive and the Matthew Boulton Papers
from the Birmingham Central Library. part 1. Lunar Society correspondence
(16 reels). part 2. Muirhead I : notebooks and papers of James Watt and
family (12 reels). part 3. Engineering drawings (8 reels). part 4. Matthew
Boulton correspondence (24 reels). part 5. Engineering drawings (5 reels).
part 6. Muirhead II - notebooks and papers of James Watt and family (33
reels). part. 7. Matthew Boulton correspondence and papers, subject material
and individual correspondents, including Garbett, Rennie, Southern and Wilkinson.
part 8. Muirhead III and IV - notebooks and papers of James Watt and family.
part 9. Journals, notebooks and diaries of Matthew Boulton (12 reels). part
10. Matthew Boulton correspondence (20 reels) -- series 3. The papers of
James Watt and his family formerly held at Doldowlod House now at Birmingham
Central Library. part 1. Correspondence, papers and business records, 1687-1819
(20 reels). part 2. Correspondence, papers and business records, 1736-1848
(20 reels). part 3. Correspondence, papers and business records, 1736-1848
(25 reels).
Guide: YRL HC254.5 .I382 1992. Film held at SRLF.
Goldsmiths'-Kress Library of Economic Literature
An extremely important collection of early economic literature (pre-1850).
The Rosenfeld Management Library owns the microflm and a detailed guide
to the collection.
Guide: MANREFR STAX H31 .G57 guide. Film also held at Rosenfeld
Management Library. Individual author and title entries in ORION2,
plus series entry.
Robert E. Gross Collection of Rare Books in Business & Economics.
Pre-1800 imprints and manuscripts on trade and commerce from the sixteenth
to the eighteenth centuries. Online
finding aid available.
The Nineteenth Century: General Collection: Guide to Contents.
Large microfiche collection of reproductions of 19th century books from
the British Library and other British and U.S. libraries covering politics,
economics, history, philosophy, medicine, science.
Guide: YRL M&MS DA530 .N56 1980 guide. Fiche held at UC Irvine; available
via ILL.
| 10. 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/
Economic
History Association
http://www.eh.net/EHA/
History of Science Society
http://hssonline.org/main_pg.html
Society for the History of Technology
- SHOT
http://shot.press.jhu.edu/
Collections
and Internet Resources in United States History (UCLA Library page)
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/yrl/colls/ushist/index.htm#lists
Louise
M. Darling Biomedical Library. History & Special Collections Division
- UCLA
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/biomed/his/index.html
Internet Scout Project - The
Scout Report
http://scout.wisc.edu/index.php
Voice of the Shuttle
http://vos.ucsb.edu/
ejb3/04