Outline of this guide: Reference Works Primary Sources Secondary Sources

Related guides: Book Review Sources Course Reserves/E-Reserves for this class Narrowing or Broadening a Topic RefWorks: A Guide Research Log Research Planner Scholarly Articles: How to Identify Them

• Reference Universe
  Don't know where to begin? Try Reference Universe, an index of the indexes in many of the library's reference books and e-books. Reference Universe will tell you which titles contain information on your topic.
• Style Guides
  • Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago, IL: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2003.
    Reference R 808.02 C53 2003
  • A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers. Kate Turabian; rev. Wayne C. Booth et al. 7th ed. Chicago, IL: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2007.
    Reference Desk 808.02 T929m7
  • A Pocket Guide to Writing in History. Mary Lynn Rampolla. 5th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007.
    Reference Desk R 907.2 R177p
• Biographical Works
  • American National Biography. Ed. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. 24 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999-2002.
    Reference R 920.073 A512
  • Biography Reference Bank. H.W. Wilson, 2003- .
  • Black Biography, 1790-1950: A Cumulative Index. Ed. Randall K. Burkett et al. 3 vols. Alexandria, VA: Chadwyck-Healey, 1991.
    Reference R 920 B627
  • Black Women in America. Ed. Darlene Clark Hine. 2nd ed. 3 vols. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2005.
    Reference R 920.7 B6271 2005
  • Lesser-Known Women: A Biographical Dictionary. Beverly E. Golemba. London: Lynne Rienner, 1992.
    Reference R 920.7 G625L
• General Works on U.S. History
  • American Foreign Relations since 1600: A Guide to the Literature. Ed. Robert L. Beisner. 2nd ed. 2 vols. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2003.
    Reference R 016.327 A512
  • The Asian American Encyclopedia. Ed. Franklin Ng. 6 vols. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1995.
    Reference R 973.049 A832
  • The Columbia Guide to American Environmental History. Carolyn Merchant. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2002.
    Reference R 304.2 M554c
  • The Columbia Guide to Asian American History. Gary Y. Okihiro. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2001.
    Reference R 973.04 O41c
  • Credo Reference
    A collection of electronic reference books; useful for quick answers to questions. Includes the Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century. For more detailed information, be sure to consult the Gale Virtual Reference Library too.
  • Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History. Ed. Ed. Mary Kupiec Cayton and Peter Williams. 3 vols. New York: Scribner's, 2001.
    Reference R 973.04 E564
  • Encyclopedia of American Economic History. Ed. Glenn Porter. 3 vols. New York: Scribner, 1980.
    Reference R 330.973 E56
  • Encyclopedia of American Social History. Ed. Mary Kupiec Cayton et al. 3 vols. New York: Scribner's, 1993.
    Reference R 301.097 E56
  • Encyclopedia of American Social Movements. Ed. Immanuel Ness. 3 vols. New York: Sharpe Reference, 2004.
    Reference R 303.484 E56
  • Encyclopedia of U.S. Foreign Relations. Ed. Bruce W. Jentleson and Thomas G. Paterson. 4 vols. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1997.
    Reference R 327.73 E561
  • Gale Virtual Reference Library
    A collection of over 120 electronic reference works. Includes:
    • Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 10 vols. New York: Scribner's, 2003.
      Reference R 973 D554 2003
    • Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. Ed. Colin Palmer. 6 vols. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference, 2006.
    • Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy. Ed. Alexander DeConde et al. 2nd ed. 3 vols. New York: Scribner, 2002.
      Reference R 327.73 E56 2002
    • Social Change in America: The Historical Handbook. Ed. Patricia Becker. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2006.
    • ... and many more!
  • Encyclopedia of Women in American History. 3 vols. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, 2003.
    Reference R 305.409 E56
  • The Harvard Guide to African-American History. Ed. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 2001.
    Reference R 973.04 H3391
  • War and American Popular Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. Ed. M. Paul Holsinger. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1999.
    Reference R 973 W253
• 1887-1950
  • The Columbia Guide to American Women in the Nineteenth Century. Catherine Clinton and Christine Lunardini. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2000.
    Reference R 305.4 C641C
  • Encyclopedia of the American West. Ed. Charles Phillips and Alan Axelrod. 4 vols. New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1996.
    Reference R 978 E56
  • Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. Ed. Robert McElvaine. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan, 2004.
    Reference R 973.91 E56
  • Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century. Ed. Paul Finkelman. 3 vols. New York: Scribner's, 2001.
    Reference R 973.5 E56
    Available online in Credo Reference.
  • Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 4 vols. New York: Scribner's, 1996.
    Reference R 973.03 E562
  • The Harry S. Truman Encyclopedia. Ed. Richard S. Kirkendall. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1989.
    Reference R 973.91 T867e
  • Historical Dictionary from the Great War to the Great Depression. Neil A. Wynn. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2003.
    Reference R 973.91 W988h
  • Historical Dictionary of the New Deal: From Inauguration to Preparations for War. Ed. James S. Olson. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1985.
    Reference R 973.917 H673
  • Historical Dictionary of the 1940s. Ed. James Ryan and Leonard Schlup. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2006.
  • Historical Dictionary of U.S. Diplomacy from the Civil War to World War I. Kenneth J. Blume. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2005.
    Reference R 327.73 B658h
  • The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia. Ed. Anne Cipriano Venzon. New York: Garland, 1995.
    Reference R 940.3 U58
• 1950 to Present
  • The Civil Rights Movement: References and Resources. Paul T. Murray. New York: G.K. Hall, 1993.
    Reference R 016.323 M983c
  • The Columbia Guide to America in the 1960s. David Farber and Beth Bailey. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2001.
    Reference R 973.923 C726
  • The Columbia Guide to the Cold War. Michael Kort. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1998.
    Reference R 909.82 K85c
  • The Columbia Guide to the Vietnam War. David L. Anderson. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2002.
    Reference R 959.704 A546c
  • The Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America. Ed. David Bradley and Shelley Fisher Fishkin. 3 vols. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1998.
    Reference R 323.1 E56
  • Encyclopedia of the Korean War: A Political, Social, and Military History. Ed. Spencer C. Tucker. 3 vols. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2000.
    Reference R 951.904 E56
  • Encyclopedia of the McCarthy Era. William K. Klingaman. New York: Facts on File, 1996.
    Reference R 973.918 K65e
  • Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 4 vols. New York: Scribner's, 1996.
    Reference R 973.03 E562
  • Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History. Ed. Spencer C. Tucker. 3 vols. Santa Barbara, CA: 1998.
    Reference R 959.704 E561
  • Historical Dictionary of the 1950s. Ed. James S. Olson. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2000.
    Reference R 973.92 O52h
  • Historical Dictionary of the 1960s. Ed. James S. Olson. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1999.
    Reference R 973.923 H673
  • Historical Dictionary of the 1970s. Ed. James S. Olson. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1999.
    Reference R 973.923 H6731
  • Historical Dictionary of the Korean War. Ed. James I. Matray. New York: Greenwood, 1991.
    Reference R 951.904 H673
  • John F. Kennedy: A Bibliography. Comp. James N. Giglio. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1995.
    Reference R 016.973 K35g
  • The Sixties in America. Ed. Carl Singleton. 3 vols. Pasadena, CA: Salem, 1999.
    Reference R 973.92 S6252

1. General Search Tools
   • Consult the reference sources and bibliographies listed above.
   • Library Catalog
     To locate primary sources, do a keyword search and add one or more of the following words:
     • sources
     • correspondence
     • diaries
     • personal narratives
     • pictorial works
     For more details, see below.
   • WorldCat
     To locate primary sources, do a keyword search and add one or more of the following words:
     • sources
     • correspondence
     • diaries
     • personal narratives
     • pictorial works
     Note: Rare and archival materials cannot be borrowed on interlibrary loan. You can sometimes locate microfilm or microfiche copies of these documents in WorldCat; try doing an advanced search, enter your keywords or subject terms, and then apply a "subtype limit," choosing "Microform" as the format.
     For more details, see below.
2. Diaries
   • American Diaries: An Annotated Bibliography of Published American Diaries and Journals. 2 vols. Laura Arksey et al. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1983-1987.
     Reference R 016.92 A721a
     Vol. 1: Diaries Written from 1492 to 1844
     Vol. 2: Diaries Written from 1845 to 1980
   • American Women's Diaries [microfilm]
     Microfilm cabinet C-2
     This collection includes handwritten diaries from the colonial period through the beginning of the twentieth century. It is in three parts: New England Women (8 diaries), Southern Women (32 diaries), and Western Women (600 diaries).
     Guide: Segment 1, New England Women: Reference R 016.973 A5121n
     Guide: Segment 2, Southern Women: Reference R 016.973 A5121s
     Guide: Segment 3, Western Women: Reference R 016.973 A5121w
   • And So to Bed: A Bibliography of Diaries Published in English. Patricia Pate Havlice. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1987.
     Reference R 016.92 H388a
   • North American Women's Letters & Diaries
     This collection provides the full text of letters, diaries, and excerpts of diaries from the colonial era to the mid twentieth century. The texts were written contemporaneously; memoirs are not included.
   • The Published Diaries and Letters of American Women: An Annotated Bibliography. Joyce Goodfriend. Boston, MA: G.K. Hall, 1987.
     Reference R 016.92 G651p
3. Periodicals & News Sources
   Popular Magazines | Newspapers | Other Periodicals
   1. Popular Magazines
      Including weekly and monthly consumer, news, and opinion magazines.
      1. 19th-Century Popular Magazines
         The Davidson College Library has many popular magazines and journals from the nineteenth century as well as works that index and describe them.
         1. Guides and Bibliographies to 19th-Century Popular Magazines
         2. Indexes to 19th-Century Popular Magazines
      2. 20th-Century Popular Magazines
         1. Bibliographies and Guides to 20th Century Popular Magazines
         2. Indexes to 20th-Century Popular Magazines
            See, in particular,
            • 19th-Century Masterfile
              Indexes articles in 479 British and American periodicals published in the nineteenth century.
              Note: The print version of Poole's Index to Periodical Literature (1802-1906), which is part of 19th-Century Masterfile, is available in the Reference Index Area at call number R 050 P82.
            • Periodicals Index Online
              (c. 1665-1995) Indexes journal and magazine articles as well as book reviews in a broad array of humanities, social sciences, and science subjects.
              Search Syntax:
              • Truncation: use an asterisk *
              • Phrase searching: automatic
            • Readers' Guide Abstracts
              (1890 to present) Indexes articles in popular periodicals; also includes citations to book and film reviews.
              Search Syntax:
              • Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
              • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
              • Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
         3. 20th Century Popular Magazines in Little Library
            The Library has many magazines from this time period, including the following titles.
            Note: periodicals with an "[L]" after the title are often considered to be more liberal; those with a "[C]" are often viewed as more conservative. For more information on the bias of individual periodicals, please see Magazines for Libraries, edited by Cheryl LaGuardia (11th ed.; Bowker, 2002), shelved at the Reference Desk at call number R 016.05 K19m.
            • Commentary
              Little Library Bound Periodicals: 1945 to present
            • Dissent [L]
              Little Library Bound Periodicals: 1954 to present
            • Life [C]
              Little Library Bound Periodicals: 1936-1972
              Microfilm cabinet C-15: 1936-1972
            • Monthly Review [L]
              Little Library Bound Periodicals: 1949 to present
            • Mother Jones [L]
              Little Library Bound Periodicals: 1976 to present
            • The Nation
              Little Library Bound Periodicals: 1880 to present
            • National Review [C]
              Little Library Bound Periodicals: 1955 to present
            • New American [C]
              Little Library Bound Periodicals: 1962 to present
            • New Republic [L]
              Little Library Bound Periodicals: 1916 to present
            • New Yorker
              Little Library Bound Periodicals: 1939 to present
            • Newsweek
              Little Library Bound Periodicals: 1936 to present
              Microfilm cabinet C-27: 1933 to present
            • The Progressive [L]
              Little Library Bound Periodicals: 1957 to present
            • The Public Interest [C]
              Little Library Bound Periodicals: 1965-2003
            • Time
              Little Library Bound Periodicals: 1924 to present
              Microfiche cabinet A-2: 1923 to present
            • U.S. News & World Report [C]
              Little Library Bound Periodicals: 1950 to present
              Microfilm cabinet C-40: 1933 to present
            • ...and many others
   2. Newspapers
      1. 19th-Century Newspapers
         1. Indexes to 19th-Century Newspapers
         2. 19th-Century Newspapers in Little Library
      2. 20th-Century Newspapers
         1. Indexes to 20th-Century Newspapers
         2. 20th Century Newspapers in Little Library
            Most of the library's newspapers for the twentieth century are still on microfilm.
            See also the following online collections:
            • Accessible Archives
              Includes the following full-text sources:
              • African American Newspapers: The 19th Century
                Includes Freedom's Journal, Colored American, The North Star, Frederick Douglass Papers, National Era, Provincial Freeman, and The Christian Recorder.
              • The Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective
                Includes selected articles from The New York Herald, The Charleston Mercury, and the Richmond Enquirer.
            • America's Historical Newspapers (1690-1922)
              Contains digital facsimiles of over 1,375 seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth-century newspapers; the full text of these newspapers, including all articles, advertisements, and other contents, is keyword-searchable.
              Part of the Archive of Americana.
            • Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2004)
              The library also has a complete run of the New York Times on microfilm as well as a print index (Reference Index Area R 071 N53) and a Personal Name Index (Reference Index Area 071 N53p).
         3. Newspapers held by Other Libraries: How to Find Them
   3. Other Periodicals
      To find articles in other types of periodicals, such as journals, search the following:
      • Accessible Archives
        (c. 1827-1893) A collection of full-text, nineteenth-century periodicals. The library subscribes to the following:
        • African American Newspapers: The 19th Century
          Includes Freedom's Journal, Colored American, The North Star, Frederick Douglass Papers, National Era, Provincial Freeman, and The Christian Recorder.
        • The Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective
          Includes selected articles from The New York Herald, The Charleston Mercury, and the Richmond Enquirer.
        • Godey's Lady's Book
          (1830-1885) Includes articles and over 18,000 illustrations and color plates from this important nineteenth-century magazine for women.
      • Humanities & Social Sciences Index
        (1907 to present). For the period 1907-1984, this database indexes journal articles in both the humanities and social sciences; it also includes the International Index to Periodicals (1907-1965). From 1985 to the present, the focus is on the humanities.
        Search Syntax:
        • Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
        • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
        • Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
      • PAIS International
        (1915 to present) Indexes journal articles, books, government documents, and conference papers in political science, public affairs, and economics.
        Search Syntax:
        • Truncation: use an asterisk *
        • Phrase searching: automatic
        • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
      • Periodicals Index Online
        (c. 1665-1995) Indexes journal and magazine articles as well as book reviews in a broad array of humanities, social sciences, and science subjects.
        Search Syntax:
        • Truncation: use an asterisk *
        • Phrase searching: automatic
      • Women's Periodicals: 18th Century to the Great Depression [microfilm]
        This collection contains over 55 titles; please note that each periodical is separately catalogued and separately shelved in the regular alphabetical sequence in the microfilm cabinets.
        Guides:
        Unit 1 (Economics ; Social & Political Issues): Reference R 016.05 W872 v.1
        Unit 2: Reference R 016.05 W872 v.2
        Unit 3 (Fashion ; Literature & the Arts ; Religion): Reference R 016.05 W872 v.3
4. Government Documents
   The Davidson College Library is a selective federal depository library. To search for government documents available in print or on microform at Davidson, go into the Library Catalog, limit your search to "Little Government Information" (first drop-down menu), and enter relevant search terms.
   See also the following notable collections:
   • Digital National Security Archive
     Contains over 61,000 declassified U.S. government foreign policy documents dating from the mid to the late twentieth century. Includes:
     • The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
     • The Cuban Missile Crisis Revisited
     • U.S. Policy in the Vietnam War, Part I: 1954-1968
     • U.S. Policy in the Vietnam War, Part II: 1969-1975
     These documents were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and are drawn from the collections of the National Security Archive at George Washington University.
   • Foreign Relations of the United States. Washington, DC: U.S.G.P.O., 1861- .
     Government Information Stacks S1.1
     (Some volumes are online)
   • LexisNexis Congressional
     (1789 to present [index]; late 1980s to present [full text]) Indexes current and historical congressional documents, including published and unpublished hearings, committee reports, House and Senate documents, House and Senate reports, and legislative histories. Provides the full text of many recent congressional publications.
     Note: Most of the full-text documents in LexisNexis Congressional date from the late 1980s to the present. Many of the older documents indexed by LexisNexis Congressional can be found in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set (see below).
     Search Syntax:
     • Truncation: use an exclamation point
     • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
     • Wildcard: use an asterisk *
   • Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States
     • Herbert Hoover
       Government Information Stacks GS 4.113: 1929 through GS 4.113: 1932-33
     • Franklin D. Roosevelt
       Government Information Stacks GS 4.113: 1928-1932 through GS 4.113: 1944-45
     • Harry S. Truman
       Government Information Stacks GS 4.113: 1945 through GS 4.113: 1952-53
     • Dwight D. Eisenhower
       Government Information Stacks GS 4.113: 1953 through GS 4.113: 1960-61
     • John F. Kennedy
       Government Information Stacks GS 4.113: 1961 through GS 4.113: 1963
     • Lyndon B. Johnson
       Government Information Stacks GS 4.113: 1963-64 through GS 4.113: 1968-69
     • Richard M. Nixon
       Government Information Stacks GS 4.113: 1969 through GS 4.113: 1974
     • Gerald R. Ford
       Government Information Stacks GS 4.113: 1974 through GS 4.113: 1976-77
     • Jimmy Carter
       Government Information Stacks GS 4.113: 1977 through GS 4.113: 1980-81
     • Ronald Reagan
       Government Information Stacks GS 4.113: 1981 through GS 4.113: 1988
     • George Bush
       Government Information Stacks GS 4.113: 1989 through GS 4.113: 1992-93
       Note: 1992 is online.
     • William J. Clinton
       Government Information Stacks GS 4.113: 1993 through GS 4.113: 2000-2001
       Note: 1993-2001 are online.
   • U.S. Congressional Serial Set
     (1817-1980, but see note below) Contains the fully-searchable text of the Serial Set, a rich collection of primary source materials on all aspects of U.S. political, military, cultural, economic, ethnic, and social history. Includes U.S. Senate and House of Representatives reports, documents, and journals. This collection is part of the Archive of Americana.
     Note: this digital collection is not yet complete. To find documents dating from the late 1920s to 1980, be sure to search LexisNexis Congressional too. The Davidson College Library has print and microfiche versions of many twentieth-century Serial Set volumes, including:
     • A selection of print volumes from the 69th Congress (1925-1926) through the 85th Congress (1956-1958) [incomplete]
       Government Documents Stacks
     • 86th Congress (1958-59) through the 91st Congress (1969-71) [microfiche]
       Microfiche cabinet B-9
     • 92nd Congress (1971-1972) through the 95th Congress (1977-1978)
       Government Documents Stacks
     If you need documents from volumes that are not in our collection, please ask a librarian; we can borrow these volumes from another library for you.
   • United States Government Documents on Women, 1800-1990: A Comprehensive Bibliography. Mary Ellen Huls. 2 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1993.
     Reference R 016.305 H917u
5. Other Examples
   • AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archive
     (1826 to present [images]; 1997 to present [text]) A collection of image, graphics, and text databases from the Associated Press (AP). Over 700,000 AP photographs dating from 1826 to the present are available in two collections: the International Archive (U.S. state, regional and national photographs; international photographs) and the Euro/Asian Archive. The Graphics Database contains diagrams, maps, and charts dating from 1999. The text database contains the full text of AP reports from 1997 to the present.
     Note: Photographs and graphics from the Archive cannot be sold, syndicated, loaned or used for advertising or for trade without the written consent of AP. In addition, users cannot republish any of the photographs on a Web page.
   • American Memory, from the Library of Congress
     Contains a wealth of primary source material for American history, including:
     • America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
     • American Indians of the Pacific Northwest
     • An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera
     • A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
     • Emergence of Advertising in America
     • History of the American West, 1860-1920
     • The Nineteenth Century in Print: The Making of America in Books and Periodicals
     • The Stars and Stripes: The American Soldiers' Newspapers of World War I, 1918-1919
     • Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920
     • Votes for Women: Selections from the National American Woman Suffrage Association Collection, 1848-1921
   • The American Radicalism Collection [microfilm]
     Microfilm cabinet D-51
     Contains reproductions of pamphlets, broadsides, newsletters, program notices, clippings, and unpublished writings from the American Radicalism Collection in the Michigan State University Library's Special Collections Division. The microfilm collection is in four parts:
     Part 1: Leftist Politics and Anti-War Movements
     Part 2: The Religious and Radical Right
     Part 3: Race, Gender, and the Struggle for Justice and Equal Rights
     Part 4: Twentieth-Century Social, Economic, and Environmental Movements
     Guides: Reference R 322.4 A512
   • ARTstor
     A collection of over 500,000 images covering art, architecture, and archaeology from a wide range of cultures and time periods as well as tools to manipulate and analyze those images. For technical requirements, see the Quick Start Guide.
   • Digital Library Federation, Public Access Collections
     A large database of online, digital collections created by libraries, archives, and universities across the U.S.
   • Electronic Text Center at the University of Virginia
     Contains numerous historical and literary texts; search both "Collections" and "User Projects."
   • The Gallup Brain
     (1935 to present) Contains the Gallup Poll Public Opinion surveys, including more than 125,000 questions and responses from over 3.5 million people.
   • Making of America
     Contains the full text of journals and books from the antebellum period through reconstruction.
     Note: There are two sites for the Making of America:
     • University of Michigan site
     • Cornell University site
   • Martin Luther King, Jr. FBI Assassination File [microfilm]
     Microfilm cabinet C-19
   • Women Writers Online
     Contains the full text of over 200 works written by women in the period 1400-1850.
   • Archives for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Texas at San Antonio Library
     Includes links to Additional Women's Collections across the country.

1. Books
   • Library Catalog
     Includes information about books, government documents, and journals, magazines, and newspapers in the Library.
     • To locate works about a person, do a subject search for the person's name (last name first).
     • To locate bibliographies on a person or topic, do a keyword search and add the following: su bibliography.
     • To locate appropriate Library of Congress Subject Headings, start with a keyword search and then browse records.
     Search Syntax:
     • Truncation: use a dollar sign $
     • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
     • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
   • WorldCat
     Indexes books, periodicals, and other materials held by libraries around the world. Search WorldCat to identify additional books on your topic and then order the books on interlibrary loan.
     Note: It can be helpful to identify relevant Library of Congress Subject Headings in the Library Catalog first; you can then do a subject search in WorldCat to find additional items with these subject headings.
     Search Syntax:
     • Truncation: use an asterisk *
     • Phrase searching: insert a "w" between the words in a phrase (for example, "cold w war")
     • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
2. Articles
   
   • Core Resource
     • America: History & Life and Historical Abstracts
       (Time period covered: 1450 to present [world history]; prehistory to present [U.S. and Canadian history]. Publication coverage: 1954 to present). Indexes journal articles, book chapters, doctoral dissertations, and book reviews. (Each database can also be searched separately.)
       Search Syntax:
       • Truncation: use an asterisk *
       • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
       • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
   • Other Resources
     • Academic Search Premier
       (1975 to present) Indexes popular and scholarly articles in a broad range of subject areas; also includes citations to book reviews and citations to articles in several national newspapers.
       Search Syntax:
       • Truncation: use an asterisk *
       • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
       • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
     • Contemporary Women's Issues
       (1992 to present) Indexes popular articles, scholarly articles, books, newsletters, and reports on all aspects of women's studies, including gender, sociology, education, political science, and health.
       Search Syntax:
       • Truncation: automatic
       • Phrase searching: automatic
     • Essay & General Literature Index
       (1985 to present) Indexes chapters and essays in edited collections.
       Search Syntax:
       • Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
       • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
       • Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
     • Humanities Abstracts
       (1907 to present). Indexes articles in over 500 English-language journals in the fields of archaeology, art, classics, communication, film, folklore, history, languages and literatures, music, philosophy, religion, and theatre. Also includes citations for book, theatre, and film reviews as well as interviews, obituaries, and some original creative works. Includes the full text of selected articles from 1995 to the present.
       Search Syntax:
       • Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
       • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
       • Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
     • JSTOR
       Includes pdf copies of scholarly articles from a core collection of journals; also includes book reviews. Note:JSTOR does not contain articles from the most recent 3-5 years.
       Search Syntax:
       • Truncation: use a plus sign +
       • Phrase searching: automatic
     • PAIS International
       (1915 to present) Indexes journal articles, books, government documents, and conference papers in political science, public affairs, and economics.
       Search Syntax:
       • Truncation: use an asterisk *
       • Phrase searching: automatic
       • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
     • Periodicals Index Online
       (c. 1665-1995) Indexes journal and magazine articles as well as book reviews in a broad array of humanities, social sciences, and science subjects.
       Search Syntax:
       • Truncation: use an asterisk *
       • Phrase searching: automatic
     • Project Muse
       Contains full-text articles from journals published by university and scholarly presses.
       Search Syntax:
       • Truncation: use an asterisk *
       • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
     • Social Sciences Abstracts
       (1907 to present) Indexes journal articles and some book reviews on all social sciences subjects, including history, political science, international relations, law, economics, area studies, gender studies, anthropology, psychology, and sociology.
       Search Syntax:
       • Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
       • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
       • Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
     • Women Studies Abstracts
       Reference Index Area R 050 W872
       (1972 to present) Indexes popular articles, scholarly articles, and books on all aspects of women's studies, including history, education, gender, literature, religion, and art.