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Library

Sociology 14: America in the 1970's

Professor: Seth Ovadia
Librarian: Leanne Pander (lpander@bowdoin.edu; x3260)


Bicentennial Logo. Commissioned by the American
Revolution Bicentennial Commission

 

» Start with the Library Gateway, library.bowdoin.edu

Overview of General Research Methods

The Getting Started link takes you to information about library research strategies, finding materials in the Bowdoin libraries and through NExpress or MaineCat, loan periods, evaluation of websites, and other FAQ’s. This is the place to start learning about what a research library has to offer!

Research Guides

There are extensive guides to resources in Sociology and History on the library web site under Research by Subject.

Finding Books

Library of Congress Subject Headings are the “official” vocabulary for looking up books on any topic.  Some suggested SUBJECT headings include: 

You may also try KEYWORD searching; it’s less precise, but sometimes yields excellent results.

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Finding Journal Articles

The Library subscribes to more than 100 scholarly Indexes/Databases designed to help researchers find published articles and other materials.  Coverage ranges from general and popular topics to scholarly and peer-reviewed journal articles.  Some indexes include the full text of articles, while others list only citations, some with abstracts.  These resources are NOT the same as Web Search Engines; they access information that is NOT available for free on the web.  Reference librarians can help you select the most relevant resources for your topic; see also the Core Databases listed on each “Research by Subject” guide. Several useful indexes are listed below.

Academic Search Premier: dates vary
A multi-disciplinary index containing indexing and full text for more than 3,600 scholarly and popular journals.   Selected coverage back to the 1970’s and earlier, with most from 1990’s to present.

America: History and Life: 1964+
Journal article abstracts and citations of reviews and dissertations covering United States and Canadian history.

Humanities and Social Sciences Retrospective:  1907-1984
Coverage includes a wide range of interdisciplinary fields covered in a broad array of humanities and social sciences journals.

Lexis-Nexis Academic: dates vary
Full text of worldwide newspapers, newswires, and transcripts.  This is a great source for articles in the mainstream press, covering 1980’s to present; a few newspapers are included from the 1970’s.

Readers Guide Retrospective:  1890-1982
Comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and reflects the history of 20th century America. 

Sociological Abstracts:  1952+
Indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences; includes abstracts and links to relevant web sites.

FULL-TEXT NEWSPAPERS ONLINE FOR 1970’S:

There are additional newspapers on microfilm with issues from the 1970’s: 

  • Baltimore Afro-American (called Afro-American, 1978+)
  • Bangor (Maine) Daily News (1972, 1974, 1978 only)
  • Chicago Tribune (1974+ only)
  • Lewiston (Maine) Daily Evening Journal
  • Los Angeles Times (1974+ only)
  • Portland (Maine) Press Herald
  • Times Picayune (New Orleans) (1974+ only)
  • Times Record (Brunswick, Maine)

Do We Own the Journal?

Use the Journals section of the Library Gateway to determine whether we own a particular journal in print or electronic format.  If we do not have the journal you need, use Interlibrary Loan to request an article from another library.

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Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

Through this service, libraries all over the world cooperate by sharing books and journal articles.  Register for an ILL account through the Library Gateway.  Always fill out ILL request forms completely, and include the “Source of Citation;” i.e., exactly where you found the information about the article.  Allow one to two weeks to receive your articles.

NExpress

A shared catalog for Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, Middlebury, Wellesley, Williams, and Northeastern. Allows you to request books or journal articles directly online.

MaineCat

The statewide catalog listing the holdings of Colby, Bates, the University of Maine, and other Maine libraries, as well as Bowdoin. You can request books (not articles) directly online.

Web Sites

Don’t believe everything you find on the Web! Much of it is biased, misinformed, or fraudulent. See Evaluating WWW Sources on the Getting Started page for suggestions.

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Selected Reference Books

Also try browsing the reference shelves in the call number areas adjacent to these encyclopedias:

Day by day, the seventies. 2 vols.
Main Ref folio D427 .D39 1970-79

Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: a political, social, and military history. 3 vols.
Main Ref DS557.7 .E53 1998

Encyclopedia of American social history. 3 vols.
Main Ref HN57 .E58 1993

Encyclopedia of American social movements.  4 vols.
Main Ref HN57 .E594 2004

The Greenwood guide to American popular culture.  4 vols.
Main Ref E169.1 .G7555 2002

St. James encyclopedia of popular culture.  5 vols.
Main Ref   E169.1 .S764 2000

War and American popular culture: a historical encyclopedia.
Main Ref  E181 .W26 1999

Handbook of American popular culture.  3 vols.
Main Ref  E169.1 .H2643

Encyclopedia of urban America : the cities and suburbs.  2 vols.
Main Ref  HT123 .E5 1998

Civil rights in the United States. 2 vols
Main Ref  E184.A1 C47 2000 

Historical Dictionary of the 1970s.
Main Ref  E839 .H57 1999