This guide is designed as an introduction to print ("real") and online ("virtual") resources critical for accessing materials on relevant to the study of the history of early modern natural philosophy 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 Literature
5. Finding Periodical Literature
6. Finding Book Reviews
7. Full-Text Journals on the Web
8. Selected Primary Sources on the Web
9. 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 as narrowly/focused 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 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 (UCLA Library Catalog or MELVYL®).

    Examples:
             natur?    =    nature, natural, naturalist
             philoso*    =   philosophy, philosopher, philosophical
 

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 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  European history, economic history, the history of science and technology, and philosophy including links to the UCLA 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 AHA Guide!

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

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4. Finding Books / Monographic Literature

Identifying and locating books on your topic is most conveniently done through a keyword or subject (heading) search using the UCLA Library 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 the UCLA Library Catalog 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 the UCLA Library Catalog or MELVYL and then display result(s) in long or full format. Note subject headings for the most promising items, click on subject heading to execute a search on that subject.

Another excellent way to "situate" yourself in the catalog is to search by personal name, as author, keyword, or subject (Spinoza as a keyword yields a retrieval of over 1800 items).

4.2 UCLA Library Catalog

The UCLA Library Catalog, provides quick and efficient access to the holdings of the UCLA Library. This should be your first stop for books, periodicals, media and other monographic materials.

The UCLA Library Catalog is directly accessible from the UCLA Library homepage;  click on the Search and Find drop down menu. The Catalog is the first option listed.

The UCLA Library Catalog offers the following unique features:

• Circulation status of material -- tells you whether a book is available (on the shelf), checked out (and date it's due back), or missing;
• Serials information -- you may search by exact beginning of a journal title or by keywords in the title
• Personal circulation data -- the UCLA Library Catalog 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 Course Reserves tab at the top of the basic search screen, you can link to a specific course, check to see what, if anything, is "on-reserve" for the class  in electronic format.

If your UCLA Library Catalog 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.

In the Search and Find drop down menu, click on the second option, Other Catalogs, and then on the first choice offered. 

4.4 WORLDCAT

OCLC FirstSearch catalog of books, web resources, and other material worldwide. Includes citations for books, journals, manuscripts, maps, music scores, sound recordings, films, computer files, etc. Access via the UCLA Library homepage - click on Search and Find, then Other Catalogs.

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6.1. On the Web:

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

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.

3.  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)

7. Full-Text Journals on the WEB

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.

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.

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

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. 

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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.

9. Other Useful Websites

Philosophical Books

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Oxford Companion to Philosophy

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

American Philosophical Association
http://www.apa.udel.edu/apa/

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