HIST 101: Early Modern Europe

Often you need to find a specific article for which you already have the citation.  How do you do it?

• Google Scholar If you have the proxy server set up, you may be able to link to a pdf or html file of the article

• Citation Linker This function of UC-eLinks allows you to search for a specific article without knowing which database it may be listed in.  You may have to study your citation to determine if it's an article, a chapter in a book, or something else, in order to use Citation Linker.

PT9876.22.A6933 L8413 2010 

What is this number?

It's called a 'call number', and every book in the library has a unique one, which is printed on the spine of the book.

The call numbers tell you where the book is shelved, if you know how to read them.

To use library databases from off campus you have to set up the proxy server: this changes your browser settings.

• Different browsers [Firefox, Chrome, Safari...] have different instructions- they are all here.
• You can set it up on multiple devices
• You log in with your CalNet ID
• There's an alternative: the VPN

These databases include primary sources.

• Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)
  Contains over 150,000 items published in Great Britain and its colonies, including those in North America, during the 18th Century. The resource is thus a rich source of information about the American and French Revolution, scientific and medical advances, literature, law, religion, industry, and all aspects of life in the 18th century.
  
• Electronic Enlightenment
  Searchable and browseable database offering extensive access to the web of correspondence between the greatest thinkers and writers of the long eighteenth century and their families and friends, bankers and booksellers, patrons and publishers. Coverage includes letters and documents, document sources such as manuscripts and early printed editions, scholarly annotations, and links to biographies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, newspapers, and other online resources.
  
• Gallica
  The Bibliotheque Nationale de France's digital library provides free electronic access to one of the world's largest collections of digitized books, periodicals, documents, manuscripts, images and audio-visual resources. One can browse (Decouverte), search (Recherche), or explore thematic groupings of materials (Dossiers).
  
• Electronic Text Collections in Western European Literature
  Lists literary texts freely available on the Internet in Western European languages other than English.
  
• Eighteenth Century Journals
  Consists of the full-texts of important and often rare journals and newspapers printed between the late seventeenth and early nineteenth century in Great Britain. The collections cover all aspects of British life including history, science, music, society, literature and theater.
  
• Early English Books Online (EEBO)
  Indexes over 125,000 volumes of early works printed in England or in English. These works constitute a significant portion of items included in the English Short Title Catalog. It contains most of the works indexed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalog (1475-1640), Wing's Short-Title Catalog (1641-1700) and the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661) collection.
  

One of the most powerful ways to find primary sources in the Library is to use the names of people.  An essential part of your background reading should be to note down names of people involved in your topics.

Names can be searched in the catalogs [Oskicat and Melvyl] in specialized ways: as authors or as subjects.  Even people you do not consider authors in the conventional sense may be listed as authors, if:

• their correspondence is available
• their manuscripts are available
• interviews with them are available
• their diaries are available
• published versions of these are available

When searching for primary sources, it's a good idea always to search those names as authors, as well as keywords.  Works where the person is listed as an author will always be primary sources.

Use a database efficiently

Databases allow you to search for articles by subjects, words in the text, authors, and more.  Use the UC e-links  button to find the article in full text or to search Melvyl for the print copy or to request it from another library.

Searching principles:

• Start with just one or two search words
• Look for specialized terminology – thesaurus, descriptors, subject headings-- you can use to target your searching
• If you get too many results, add additional search words or use more specific words
• If you get too few hits, use fewer terms or use more general terminology
• Save relevant citations and email them to yourself, always

• Arts and Humanities Citation Index (Web of Knowledge)
  Indexes over 1,000 of the leading arts and humanities journals, and provides searching of footnoted citations. Use the link above, then under Current Limits, specify Arts and Humanities Citation Index.
  
• JSTOR
  The Nordstrom's of secondary source databases, not just history, but all disciplines.
  

If you've never used Zotero before, use the QuickStart Guide to get started.

Change your preferences if you want  Zotero to

• set your default citation style
• search the full text of pdfs you save
• Automatically attach associated PDFs and other files when saving items

To use Zotero to find specific articles in our library's databases, set up the Open URL resolver with this link: http://ucelinks.cdlib.org:8888/sfx_local? 

An in-depth discussion of the relative virtues of Endnote and Zotero,

Research Advisory Service for Cal Undergraduates

Book a 30-minute appointment with a librarian who will help refine and focus research inquiries, identify useful online and print sources, and develop search strategies for humanities and social sciences topics (examples of research topics).

Schedule, view, edit or cancel your appointment online (CalNetID required)

This service is for Cal undergraduates only. Graduate students and faculty should contact the library liaison to their department or program for specialized reference consultations.

Javascript required to chat

When you use this chat widget a reference librarian from Berkeley, or another UC campus, or another academic library around the US may be answering your question.  We share information about our libraries to make sure you get good answers.

If the librarian can't answer you well enough, your question will be referred to a Berkeley librarian for followup.

Have fun chatting.

• Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students
  A comprehensive but easy-to-skim web guide to writing history papers. Recommended by History Dept faculty.

• Library Subject Guides
• Library Course Guides