Library
History 311: Experiments in Totalitarianism: Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia
Study Guide
| Professor: Paige Herrlinger Librarian: Ginny Hopcroft Spring 2008 |
 Ottokar von Landwehr: "Plan for a War Memorial" from private collection by Patrick Horvath and Prim. Dr. Werner Horvath |
The purpose of this guide is to help you locate the library’s information resources most useful for research in this class. The reference librarians at the library will be glad to assist with specific questions. You may also consult Ginny Hopcroft by phone x3298 or via email at ghopcrof@bowdoin.edu
Catalogs for Books
Bowdoin College Library Catalog
Access to Bowdoin Library's holdings of books, videos, government documents, etc.
MaineCat
Includes the holdings of most Maine libraries. It has an online request button—requests from Colby and Bates take 1-2 days.
NExpress
Combines access to the library holdings of Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, Wellesley, Williams and Northeastern; requests usually arrive in 2 days.
WorldCat
Combined database of library catalogs nationwide.
Google Book Search
A tool that searches the full text of books Google has scanned at major libraries around the world. Because the search engine is different and because some of these libraries are not part of WorldCat, different materials may be identified. The full text of books currently under copyright is usually not electronically available, but those books may be borrowed through our traditional interlibrary loan service.
Reference Books
Encyclopedia of Russian History
Main Ref DK14 .E53 2004 4 vols.
The Modern encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet history
Main Ref DK14 .M6 1993
Historical Dictionary of Russia
Main Ref DK36 .R39 1998
Russia and the Soviet Union: a Bibliographic Guide to Western Language Publications
Main Ref Z2491 .H64
Historical Dictionary of Germany
Main Ref DD84 .T48 1994
Encyclopedia of the Third Reich
Main Ref DD256.5 .G76313 1991
Encyclopedia of the Third Reich
Main Ref DD256.5 .S57 1976
The Nazi Era 1919-1945: a select bibliography of published works from the early roots to 1980
Main Ref Z2241.N27 K47 1982
Indexes and Databases
Some of these databases are strictly bibliographic, i.e. they provide citation only. Others contain the full text of the journal articles, for all or some of their indexed publications. To discover whether Bowdoin Library either holds the journal in print or provides access to the full text, please select the “Find Journals” search screen on the Library Gateway and enter the name of the journal in the search form.
Academic Search Premier
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.
Historical Abstracts
This scholarly bibliographic source indexes articles, books and dissertations about the history of the world, except the U.S. and Canada, published throughout the world. It is a subject index with citations and abstracts. Coverage is 1964 to present.
Arts and Humanities Search
Arts and Humanities indexes the contents of scholarly periodicals and books in the arts and humanities, published from 1980 to the present. The scope is international.
History Journals in the J-Stor Electronic Journal Service
The J-Stor service makes available fulltext 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.
PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) 1915-1976
PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) 1972-present
PAIS includes "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." Formats are periodical articles, books, government documents or the reports of public and private organizations, both domestic and international.
Primary Sources
For information on primary sources, please read the CBB Guide to Primary and Secondary Sources.
Foreign Relations of the United States
Govt Doc S1.1
Documents on German Foreign Policy
Govt Doc S1.82
Documents on Germany, 1944-1985
Govt Doc S1.2
Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals under Control Council law no. 10, Nuremberg, October 1946-April, 1949
Govt Doc D 102.8:
Harvard Law School Library’s Nuremberg Trials Project
New York Times Archive 1851-2004
The Times (London) Archive 1785-1985
Browse the library stacks in the subject areas for Russian history and/or politics and for German history and/or politics. There are a number of books—speeches, journals, memoirs, other writings—by Stalin, Hitler and other prominent figures in Germany and Russia.
Eurodocs
http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Main_Page
Avalon Project
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm
Research Tips
The Getting Started page http://library.bowdoin.edu/1st/ gives a good overview of the process of library research. Below are some tips for effective historical research:
- Use both subject and keyword searching in any electronic database, including the library catalog. Because different parts of the bibliographic record are searched, you will receive different results.
- When you find a relevant book or article in an electronic database, check the subject headings in the catalog record, or the descriptors if the citation is from an index, to find additional search terms.
- Proceed from secondary sources to primary sources. Gain background on your time period, issues, key persons, etc. before starting the more complex process of identifying primary documents. For more information on primary sources, please read the CBB Guide to Primary and Secondary Sources.
- Check for footnotes and bibliographies in secondary sources. They will often lead you to other relevant secondary sources and authors, as well as to primary sources.
- Browse the library shelves in your subject area.