History 014: The Thirties
Sources for Research
| Professor: Daniel
Levine Librarian: Ginny Hopcroft Fall 2005 |
Picture: A migrant laborer waiting for work in one of the packing houses near Canal Point, Florida. 1939. |
|
The purpose of this guide is to help you locate the library's information resources most useful for research in this class. The library's reference librarians will be glad to assist with specific questions. You may also consult Ginny Hopcroft by phone x3298 or via email at ghopcrof@bowdoin.edu.
Research Strategy
- Consult the "Getting Started"
page for a summary of the research process.
Historical research generally begins with locating books in the library catalog and searching periodical indexes and databases for journal articles. When you find a useful book or article, check the subject headings in the catalog record or any descriptors in an index citation. You may find other relevant terms to enter in your search.
Make use of reference bibliographies and specialized encyclopedias as starting points for research.
Check for footnotes and bibliographies. Bibliographies can lead you to primary sources and other related secondary sources.
In general, search for primary sources after you have done some background reading in secondary sources on your subject. Primary source documents are more easily located if you know specific dates, names, events or terminology. For more information on primary sources, see the CBB Guide.
Use the interlibrary loan system to obtain books, periodicals or documents not held in Bowdoin's Library.
Start research EARLY.
Reference Books
Books available in Main Reference Area or Government Documents Reference:
Encyclopedia of American social history
Main Ref HN57 .E58 1993
Encyclopedia of the United States in the twentieth century
Main Ref E740.7 .E53 1996
Franklin D. Roosevelt encyclopedia
Main Ref E807 .F69 1985
Historical statistics of the United States : colonial times to 1970
Govt Ref C3.134/2:H 62/798-970
Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Main Libr E806 .R749
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Herbert Hoover
Govt Ref AE2. 114
The Reader's companion to American history
Main Ref E174 .R43 1991
United States History : A Selective Guide to Information Sources.
Main Ref E178 .B57 1994
Indexes/Databases
- Some of these databases are strictly bibliographic, i.e. they provide
citation only. Others contain the full text of the journal articles.
To discover whether Bowdoin Library either holds the journal in print
or provides access to the full text, please click the "check availability"
link in the database or the "Journals" tab on the Library Homepage.
If the journal is not available through Bowdoin Library, use Interlibrary
Loan to obtain the article.
Academic Search Premier
Online
Academic Search Premier indexes over 1800 peer reviewed journals in the social sciences, humanities and science, as well as general interest magazines and several important American newspapers. Date coverage varies between periodicals some as far back as 1980; about 60% of the articles are in full text.
America History and Life
Online
This scholarly bibliographic source indexes articles, books and dissertations about the history of the United States and Canada published throughout the world. It is a subject index with citations and abstracts. Coverage is 1964 to present.
LexisNexis Congressional
Online
Congressional Indexes, 1789-1970: this section of LexisNexis Congressional provides bibliographic citations for committee reports, hearings and documents published by the U.S. Congress over nearly two centuries.
Government Documents Monthly Catalog
Online
Government Index Bowdoin's collection of U.S. government documents is not yet fully cataloged, so this online index is used to locate government publications. Produced by the Government Printing Office, the online Monthly Catalog indexes government documents back to 1976. For indexing of earlier documents, please consult the print version of the Monthly Catalog, beginning in 1892 and located in the Government Documents Collection. When you locate a document in this index, please make note of the "Sudocs" number in order to locate the document in Bowdoin's collection.
History Journals in the J-Stor Electronic Journal Service
Online
The J-Stor service makes available full-text articles from selected scholarly journals. All articles from all years of the journal are reproduced, except for the most recent five years. When you go to the J-Stor screen, click the SEARCH button to access a search screen and to choose your subject grouping of journals to search.
Periodical Contents Index
Online
This source provides online indexing to nearly 2400 periodicals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, published from 1770 to 1990. The index presently has 9 million entries and continues to add more. It provides bibliographic access to many of the Library's 19th and early 20th century journals.
Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) 1972-present
Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) Archive 1915-1976
Online
PAIS indexes "publications on all subjects that bear on contemporary public issues and the making and evaluation of public policy, irrespective of source or traditional disciplinary boundaries." Sources may be periodical articles, books, government documents or the reports of public and private organizations in the U.S. and internationally.
Reader's Guide Retrospective
The Reader's Guide is an author/subject index to a broad range of U.S. general interest magazines and journals. A special value of the Reader's Guide for this class is its historical coverage. It begins coverage in 1895 and continues through the present, providing indexing for many of the early twentieth century journals held in the Library's collections.
Primary Sources
- New York Times
Archive 1851-present
Online
New York Times, 1853-present
Microfilm of all issues of this national newspaper since 1853, located in the microfilm room.
Journal Articles written in the Thirties, located in the Library's periodicals collections and accessed through the Reader's Guide Retrospective or PAIS Archive.
Government official publications found in the Government Documents Collection, located through the print volumes of the Monthly Catalog and the Index to the Monthly Catalog. Also ask the Government Documents Librarian.
Letters, diaries and papers of individuals located through the library catalog or by browsing relevant subject areas.
Web Sites
American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/amhome.html
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html
Manuscripts, motion pictures, sound recordings, photographs, prints
from the Library of
Congress.
National Archive Information Locator (NAIL)
http://www.archives.gov/research/
Prototype for a full catalog of National Archives holdings. Digitized
texts, photos and prints, and descriptions of NARA's extensive microform
collections.
New Deal Network
http://newdeal.feri.org/
New Deal Documents and photographs from the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
Institute.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Digital Archives
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/
Digitized documents and photographs from the Roosevelt presidency.
The Depression (from the Internet History Sourcebooks)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook41.html
Compilation of primary source documents from the Great Depression.
This page created and maintained by Ginny Hopcroft. Last updated: September 19, 2005.