IAS 102: sample course guide

Three important databases for research in History.

• America: History and Life
  Indexes over 2,000 journals published worldwide on the history of the US and Canada from prehistory to the present. Includes all key English-language historical journals; selected historical journals from major countries, state, and local history journals; and a targeted selection of hundreds of journals in the social sciences and humanities.
  
• Historical Abstracts
  Indexes over 2,000 journals, as well as historical book reviews and dissertations, published worldwide about all aspects of world history (excluding US and Canada) from 1450 to the present.
  
• JSTOR
  Includes over 1000 scholarly journals with access to more than 2 million articles. JSTOR does not include the most recent 3-5 years of the journals.
  

This database lists secondary sources on the history of science, technology, and medicine.  To read the articles, use the UC eLinks button.

• History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
  Articles on the history of agriculture, biology, construction, chemistry, energy, engineering, geology, linguistics, mathematics, medicine, music, philosophy, physics, social sciences, town planning, transport engineering, and zoology.
  

Isis Current Bibliography ("Isis CB")

   * Updated annually in the journal Isis.

   * Entire bibliography available for free via WorldCat (www.worldcat.org). Just include "xisi2" in your search terms (e.g., "eugenics xisi2").

   * Searchable for a fee through the HSTM database (see below)

   * Excellent selection of published monographs, articles, and other sources in the history of science, technology, and medicine (most content related to science).

HSTM ("HistSciTecMed") Database

   * Powerful search front-end for the following bibliographies: Isis CB (1974-present), Italian Bibliography of the History of Science (1982-present), Current Bibliography in the History of Technology (1987-present), and the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine (1991-2004).

   * Moderate learning curve. Effective searching requires learning HSTM's thesaurus of subjects and terms. For more information, see "Isis Currently Bibliography in the History of Science" at http://www.ou.edu/cas/hsci/isis/website/ and Weldon et. al., and "Searching Smartly in the HistSciTechMed Database" at http://www.hssonline.org/publications/Newsletter2010/April-searching-smartly.html.

Newspapers are excellent primary sources for many topics. Remember to search words that were in vogue during the period you are studying.  For example in the 1950s search 'negro' instead of 'Black' or "African American.' 

• Early American Newspapers
  Access to hundreds of historic newspapers, fully text-searchable. Includes American newspapers from 1690-1820.
  
• Archive of Americana
  A family of primary source collections providing references to books, pamphlets, broadsides (Early American Imprints, Series I and Series II), newspapers (Early American Newspapers) and government publications (American State Papers and U.S. Congressional Serial Set).
  
• California Digital Newspaper Collection
  Offers over 200,000 pages of California newspapers spanning the years 1849-191l: the Alta California, 1849-1891; the San Francisco Call, 1893-1910; the Amador Ledger, 1900-1911; the Imperial Valley Press, 1901-1911; the Sacramento Record-Union, 1859-1890; and the Los Angeles Herald, 1905-1907. Additional years and other early California newspapers are forthcoming.
  
• Historical Newspapers (ProQuest)
  Full text of American newspapers from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
  
• Historical Newspapers Online
  Indexes newspapers covering all aspects of British life and world affairs in the 19th and 20th centuries.
  

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.
  

• House of Commons Parliamentary Papers
  Provides full-text access to thousands of 19th Century Parliamentary Papers. Includes all the "sessional papers" of the British Parliament: bills, reports of committees, papers presented by Royal Commissions and government departments, treaties and international agreements, command papers, and statistics.
  
• Historical Newspapers Online
  Indexes newspapers covering all aspects of British life and world affairs in the 19th and 20th centuries. Contains four major historical resources: Palmer's Index to the Times which covers The Times (London, 1790-1905); The Official Index to the Times (1906-1980); The Historical Index to the New York Times (1863- 1922); and Palmer's Full Text Online (1785-1870).
  
• C19: The Nineteenth Century Index
  Comprehensive coverage of nineteenth-century books, periodicals, official documents, newspapers and archives. C19 Index draws on the Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue, The Wellesley Index, Poole's Index and Periodicals Index Online to create integrated bibliographic coverage of over 1.4 million books and official publications, 64,891 archival collections and 15.6 million articles published in over 2,500 journals, magazines and newspapers.
  
• Periodicals Index Online (formerly PCI)
  Indexes millions of articles published in over 4,700 periodicals published between 1802 and 1995 in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. A sister database, Periodicals Archive Online, provides a full-text archive of some 475 journals.
  

Early American Imprints is a major digital collection of American publications, 1639-1800.  You can search by subject words, or browse by genre, subject, author, place of publication, or language.

American State Papers A collection of more than 6,000 government publications including congressional and Executive Department materials. These papers cover the following broad subject areas: foreign relations, Indian affairs, commerce and navigation, military and naval affairs, the post-office department, and more.

American Periodical Series Online Contains digitized images of more than 1,100 periodicals. Includes special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and many other historically significant magazines.

Harper's Weekly [aka Harpweek] Full-image reproductions of Harper's Weekly from its beginning in 1857 to 1912. Provides access to information about 19th and early 20th century advertising, illustrations, culture, history, literature, and notable figures.

Historical Annual Reports [of US businesses]

Of course, the library itself is full of pre-1877 US publications that you can find in Oskicat.

Internet History of Science Sourcebook http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/science/sciencesbook.html. The Sourcebook lists digital collections categorized from Antiquity to the present. It also includes non-western sources.

You can also find primary sources on museum websites, such as the Oxford Museum of the History of Science http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/ (Click "Online Exhibits"); the Smithsonian Institution's Educators page http://www.si.edu/Educators; and Library of Congress "Lesson Plans for Science Teachers" http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/themes/science/lessonplans.html.

Primary sources can be found in a variety of library tools:

• Catalogs:  OskiCat and Melvyl
• Online book and text collections
• Primary Source databases provided by the Library
• Vetted sites on the web:
  
  • Library of Congress
  • Online Archive of California
  • History Matters
  • Internet History Sourcebooks project
    • Travellers' Accounts

For specific search strategies, see the Library's Guide to Finding Historical Primary Sources

To find books, DVDs, maps, sound recordings, manuscripts, and much more - everything except articles - use a library catalog.

OskiCat = UC Berkeley libraries

MELVYL= all UC campus libraries, including all UC Berkeley libraries

What's the difference?

For each item make sure you know the name of the physical library, call number, and whether or not it's checked out, library use only, etc.

A large part of the library's collection is stored off campus in an environmentally secure building called the Northern Regional Library Facility [NRLF].

Submit online requests via the REQUEST button in OskiCat to borrow material shelved at NRLF. To receive electronic or paper copies of book chapters or journal articles, submit an online request via the "Request an article from NRLF (photocopy or web delivery)" link that appears in eligible titles in OskiCat. Staff at public service desks of any campus library can assist you with further questions. 

Log in to Request with your Calnet ID and fill out the screens.  Choose the volume you want, for periodicals:

Suppose you know the name of the journal, newspaper or magazine you want.  Does Berkeley own it?  Search Oskicat to find out.

• Here's how
  [quick video]

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.

• Citing Your Sources - a brief online guide to the main citation styles and a brief discussion on what constitutes plagiarism.
  
• MLA handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th edition. New York : Modern Language Association of America, 2009.
  Doe Reference Reference Hall LB2369 .G53 2009
  Main Gardner Stacks LB2369 .G53 2009
  Many older editions available throughout the UCB libraries.
• The Chicago Manual of Style (UCB-only access)
  15th ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2003. Searchable, online version of the Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition).
  Many print editions available throughout the UCB Libraries.
• Cite Right: A Quick Guide to Citation Styles--MLA, APA, Chicago, the Sciences, Professions, and More (UCB-only access) Charles Lipson. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2006.
  Many print editions throughout the libraries.
• Columbia Guide to Online Style (UCB-only access)
  Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor. 2nd ed. NY: Columbia Univ. Press. 2006.
  Many print editions throughout the UCB libraries.

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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.

"There are no dumb questions!" 

That's the philosophy of reference librarians, who are here to save you time and trouble. If you get stuck, you can talk to a reference librarian at any campus library. 

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