Outline of this guide: Reference Sources Primary Sources Secondary Sources

Related guides: Course Reserves/E-reserves for this Class Book Review Sources RefWorks RefWorks: A Guide Research Log Research Planner

• 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
  • Biography Reference Bank. H.W. Wilson, 2003- .
  • Dictionary of German Biography. Ed. Walther Killy and Rudolf Vierhaus. 10 vols. München: K.G. Saur, 2001-2006.
    Reference R 920.043 D485-T
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. ed. H.C.G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. 60 vols. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2004.
    Reference R 920 N2111
  • Who's Who in Nazi Germany. Robert Wistrich. New York: Macmillan, 1982.
    Reference R 920.043 W817w
• Historical, Cultural, & Social Background
• Gale Virtual Reference Library
  A collection of over 200 electronic reference works. Includes:
  • Encyclopedia of Modern Europe: Europe 1789-1914. Ed. John Merriman and Jay Winter. 5 vols. Detroit, MI: Scribner's, 2006.
  • The Encyclopedia of Modern Europe: Europe since 1914. Ed. John Merriman and Jay Winter. 5 vols. Detroit, MI: Scribner's, 2006.
  • Historical Dictionary of the 1940s. Ed. James Ryan and Leonard Schlup. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2006.
  • New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Ed. Maryanne Horowitz. 6 vols. Detroit, MI: Scribner's, 2005.
    Reference R 901.9 D554 2005
    The Library also has a copy of the first edition, the Dictionary of the History of Ideas, edited by Philip P. Wiener (5 vols.; New York: Scribner, 1973-1974), shelved in Reference at call number R 901.9 D554.
  • Reference Guide to World Literature. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. 3rd ed. 2 vols. Detroit, MI: St. James Press, 2003.
    Reference R 809 R332
  • ... and many more!
• Oxford Art Online
  Contains the full text of:
  • Dictionary of Art. Ed Jane. Turner 34 vols. New York: Grove’s Dictionaries, 1996.
    Reference R 703 D554
    Note: Oxford Art Online also contains updated entries and bibliographies for the Grove Dictionary.
  • The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Michael Clarke and Deborah Clarke. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2003- .
  • The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. Ed. Michael Kelly. 4 vols. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1998.
    Reference R 111.85 E56
  • The Oxford Companion to Western Art. Ed. Hugh Brigstocke. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2001.
    Reference R 703 O982
  • ... and over 5,000 images.
• British History
  • Bibliography of British History: 1914-1989. Ed. Keith Robbins. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.
    Reference R 016.942 R634b
  • The Cambridge Historical Encyclopedia of Great Britain and Ireland. Ed. Christopher Haigh. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1985.
    Reference R 942 C1781
  • The Encyclopedia of Britain. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1999.
    Reference R 942 E56
  • Encyclopedia of the Victorian Era. Ed. James Eli Adams. 4 vols. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 2004.
    Reference R 942.08 E56
  • Historical Dictionary of London. Kenneth J. Panton. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2001.
    Reference R 942.1 P198h
  • The 1890s: An Encyclopedia of British Literature, Art, and Culture. Ed. G.A. Cevasco. New York: Garland, 1993.
    Reference R 942 E34
  • Twentieth-Century Britain: An Encyclopedia. Ed. Fred Leventhal. Rev. ed. New York: Peter Lang, 2002.
    Reference R 942.082 T971
  • Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia. Ed. Sally Mitchell et al. New York: Garland, 1988.
    Reference R 942.08 V645
• German History
  • Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Epoch: An Annotated Bibliography of English-Language Works on the Origins, Nature, and Structure of the Nazi State. Paul Madden. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 1998.
    Reference R 016.943 M179a
  • Dictionary of German History, 1806-1945. Wilfried Fest. New York: St. Martin's, 1978.
    Reference R 943 F418d
  • Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. Ed. Christian Zentner and Friedemann Bedürftig. Trans. Amy Hackett. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1991.
    Reference R 943.086 G878-T
  • German Culture and Society: The Essential Glossary. Ed. Holger Briel. New York: Oxford, 2002.
    Reference R 943.08 G373
  • A Historical Dictionary of Germany's Weimar Republic, 1918-1933. Ed. C. Paul Vincent. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1997.
    Reference R 943.085 V773h
  • Imperial Germany: A Historiographical Companion. Ed. Roger Chickering. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1996.
    Reference R 943.08 I342
  • Modern German: An Encyclopedia of History, People, and Culture, 1871-1990. Ed. Dieter K. Buse and Juergen C. Doerr. 2 vols. New York: Garland, 1998.
    Reference R 943.08 M689
  • The Third Reich, 1933-1939: A Historical Bibliography. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1984.
    Reference R 016.943 T445
  • The Third Reich Almanac. James Taylor and Warren Shaw. New York: World Almanac, 1987.
    Reference R 943.086 T243d
  • The Weimar Era and Hitler, 1918-1933: A Critical Bibliography. Peter Stachura. Oxford: Clio Press, 1977.
    Reference R 016.943 S775w
• Science & Technology
  • Access Science. McGraw-Hill, 2005- .
    Contains the full text of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology as well as research updates, biographies, and technology news.
  • Isis: Current Bibliography of the History of Science and its Cultural Influences
    Published annually in Isis, a journal that focuses on the history of medicine, science, and technology.
    1913-2002: available through JSTOR
    2002 to present: available through the University of Chicago
  • The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science. Ed. J.L. Heilbron. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2003.
    Reference R 509 O98

• General Search Tools
  • 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.
• Diaries
  Be sure to search the Library Catalog for separately-published diaries too. For search tips, see General Search Tools, above.
  • And So to Bed: A Bibliography of Diaries Published in English. Patricia Pate Havlice. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1987.
    Reference R 016.92 H388a
  • British Diaries: An Annotated Bibliography of British Diaries Written between 1142 and 1942. Comp. William Matthews. Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1967.
    Reference R 016.92 M44b
• Government Documents
  • Documents on International Affairs. London: Oxford, 1929-1973.
    Little Library Stacks 327 D637
    Library has: 1936-1938, 1947-1962
  • British Government Documents
    • British Documents on Foreign Affairs: Reports and papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print, Part III, From 1940 through 1945. Series B, Near and Middle East. Ed. Paul Preston and Michael Partridge. 10 vols. Bethesda, MD: Univ. Publications of America, 1997- .
      Folio F 327.42 B8622 pt. 3 Ser. B
    • British Documents on Foreign Affairs: Reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print, Part III, from 1940 through 1945. Series E, Asia. Ed. Paul Preston and Michael Partridge. 8 vols. Bethesda, MD: Univ. Publications of America, 1997.
      Folio F 327.42 B8622 pt. 3 Ser. E
    • Cabinet Papers, 1915-1978, from the National Archive (U.K.)
      Digital facsimiles of records of the British Cabinet, including memoranda, Cabinet Secretary's notebooks, and more.
    • Documents on British Foreign Policy, 1919-1939. London: H.M.S.O., 1946-1985.
      Little Library Stacks 327.42 G78d
      Library has: series 1 (27 vols.); series 1A (8 vols.); series 2 (21 vols.); series 3 (10 vols.)
      Covers the period 1945-1975.
    • Documents on British Policy Overseas. Ed. Rohan Butler and M.E. Pelly. London: H.M.S.O., 1984-1997.
      Little Library Stacks 327.42 G78do
      Library has: series 1 (7 vols.); series 2 (4 vols.); series 3 (3 vols.).
    • Parliamentary Debates: The Official Report (Hansard)
      Recent volumes of Hansard are online (1988 to present [House of Commons]; 1995 to present [House of Lords]). A prototype digitized historical Hansard (1803-2005) is also available; this site is under development, so be sure to consult the print version too.
      Library has:
      • Series 1: vol. 1 (1803) - vol. 41 (Feb. 1820)
        Little Library Stacks 328.42 G78pa Ser. 1-3 Ser.1
        General Index: Little Library Stacks 328.42 G78pa Index 1803-1830
      • Series 2: vol. 1 (April 1820) - vol. 25 (July 1830)
        Little Library Stacks 328.42 G78pa Ser. 1-3 Ser.2
      • Series 3 : vol. 1 (Oct. 1830) - vol. 88 (Aug. 1846); vol. 161 (Feb. 1861)- vol. 332 (Dec. 1888)
        Little Library Stacks 328.42 G78pa Ser. 1-3 Ser. 3
      • Series 5
        • House of Commons: vol. 666 (Oct. 1962) - vol. 1000 (March 1981)
          Little Library Stacks 328.42 G78pa-c
        • House of Lords: Series 5: vol. 245 (Dec. 1962) - vol. 650 (July 2003) [missing vols. 247-257, 260-262, 264, 293-296, 407, 452, 526-527, 530, 564-571]
          Little Library Stacks 328.42 G78pa-L
      • Series 6
        • House of Commons: Series 6: vol. 1 (March 1981) - vol. 404 (May 2003) [missing vols. 180, 192-193, 232]
          Little Library Stacks 328.42 G78pa-c
  • German Government Documents
    • Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1918-1945; Series C (1933-1937), The Third Reich: First Phase. Washington, DC: U.S.G.P.O., 1957-1983.
      Government Information Stacks S 1.82:C
    • Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1918-1945; Series D (1937-1945). Washington, DC: U.S.G.P.O., 1949-1964.
      Government Information Stacks S 1.82:D
• Patents
  • esp@cenet, from the European Patent Office
    Contains information about current and historical European patents, including many British patents (1890 to present) and German patents (1870 to present).
• Periodicals & Periodical Articles
  Newspapers | Popular Magazines and Journals | Other Types of Periodicals
  • Newspapers

    • Newspapers available at Davidson
      The library has many historical newspapers, including:
      • The Times (London) [microfilm]
        Library has: 1785 to present
        Location: microfilm cabinets C-35 to C-37
        Index: Reference Index Area R 070 T58)
      Consult the following for information about titles in our collection:
      • 19th Century Newspapers
      • 20th Century Newspapers
    • Newspapers held by other libraries: how to find them
    • Newspapers on the Web
      • The British Library Online Newspaper Archive
        (1851-1918) Contains digital facsimiles of five newspapers: The Daily News, News of the World, The Penny Illustrated Paper, The Manchester Guardian, and The Weekly Dispatch.
  • Popular Magazines & Journals
    • 19th Century Magazines & Journals
    • 20th Century Magazines & Journals

  • Other types of Periodicals
    • The Annual Register. London: Rivingtons, 1758- .
      Library has:
      • 1758-1858, 1860-1962
        Rare Book Room 909 A61
      • 1863 to present
        Reference R 909 A61
      An annual survey of historical, political, and cultural events of the past year.
    • Applied Science & Technology Abstracts
      (1913 to present) Indexes articles from over 1,400 periodicals in a wide variety of applied science and technology fields, including acoustics, aeronautics, artificial intelligence, engineering, food science, geology, information technology, metallurgy, mineralogy, neural networks, robotics, textiles, transportation, and waste management. Includes Industrial Arts Index. Also indexes book 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 ?
• Photographs, Artworks, Print Culture
  • ARTstor
    A collection of over 900,000 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.
  • Deutsche Schutzgebiete - Die Kolonien des Deutschen Reiches
    Postcards and other printed documents depicting German colonies.
  • Das Kaiserreich - Deutsches Reich 1871-1918
    Postcards and other printed materials depicting the German empire.
• Other Examples
  • Eurodocs: History of Germany, Primary Documents
    A collection of links to facsimiles, transcriptions, and translated historical documents. From Richard Hacken, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
  • European Women: A Documentary History, 1789-1945. Ed. Eleanor S. Riemer and John C. Fout. New York: Schocken Books, 1980.
    Little Library Stacks 301.41 E89
  • Goldsmiths'-Kress Library of Economic Literature [microfilm]
    Microfilm cabinets C-15
    The Library has the following portions of this collection:
    • Social
    • Trades and Manufacturers
    Guide: Reference R 016.33 G624 (author and reel listings are also available online
    Based on the collections of the Kress Library at Harvard and the Goldsmiths' Library at the University of London, this microfilm collection includes books from the late fifteenth century through 1850; most works are British, but the collection does include French, German, Italian, Spanish, and other foreign-language materials. Covers a wide variety of topics related to economics, including social conditions, commerce, finance, industry-specific information, trade and manufacturers, and more.
  • Victorian Women: A Documentary Account of Women's Lives in Nineteenth-Century England, France, and the United States. Ed. Erna Olafson Hellerstein et al. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press, 1981.
    Little Library Stacks 305.4 V645

• Books
  • Library Catalog
    Includes information about books, government documents, and journals, magazines, and newspapers in the Library.
    • To locate appropriate Library of Congress Subject Headings, start with a keyword search and then browse records. Useful subject headings include:
    • 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.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use a dollar sign $
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
    • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
  • ebrary
    A collection of over 38,000 e-books published by over 220 academic, trade, and professional publishers; covers all subject areas. Also includes tools that allow you to create your own virtual bookshelf, bookmark pages, and add and save notes and highlights.
    Note: for full functionality, you need the ebrary Reader. This plugin is on all library and ITS computers, but if you are using your own computer, you can download it from the ebrary home page.
  • 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 ?
• Articles
  Core Resources | History of Science & Technology |
  Popular Culture, Museums, Print Culture | Other Resources
  • Core Resources
    • Historical Abstracts & America: History & Life
      (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 ?
    • Web of Knowledge
      (c. 1900 to present) A multidisciplinary resource that provides citations to articles in thousands of journals in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences.
      Search Syntax:
      • Truncation: use an asterisk *
      • Phrase searching: use double quotations marks " "
      • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
  • History of Science & Technology
    • Applied Science & Technology Abstracts
      (1913 to present) Indexes articles from over 1,400 periodicals in a wide variety of applied science and technology fields, including acoustics, aeronautics, artificial intelligence, engineering, food science, geology, information technology, metallurgy, mineralogy, neural networks, robotics, textiles, transportation, and waste management. Includes Industrial Arts Index. Also indexes book 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 ?
    • General Science Abstracts
      (1984 to present) Indexes articles in over 250 English-language periodicals in a variety of science disciplines, including physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry, environmental science, mathematics, and medicine.
      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 ?
    • Isis: Current Bibliography of the History of Science and its Cultural Influences
      Published annually in Isis, a journal that focuses on the history of medicine, science, and technology.
      1913-2002: available through JSTOR
      2002 to present: available through the University of Chicago

  • Popular Culture, Museums, & Print Culture
    • Annual Bibliography of the History of the Printed Book and Libraries. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1970- .
      Reference R 016.65 I611a
      Covers all aspects of printing and publishing, including periodical publishing.
    • Art Abstracts
      (1929 to present). Indexes over 370 periodicals, including journals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins. Subjects covered include art history, archaeology, architecture, decorative art, film, folk art, graphic art, industrial design, interior design, landscape architecture, museology, photography, and sculpture.
      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 ?
    • Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA)
      (1973 to present) Includes citations to journal articles, books, conference proceedings, essays, exhibition catalogues, and other materials on the history of art in Europe and North America from antiquity to the present. BHA covers both the fine and the decorative arts. Contains records from RILA (International Repertory of the Literature of Art) and RAA (Repertoire d'Art et d'Archeologie).
      Note: BHA uses Library of Congress Subject Headings.
      Search Syntax:
      • Truncation: use a question mark ?
      • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
    • MLA International Bibliography
      (1926 to present). Indexes journal articles, books, and doctoral dissertations in the fields of English, American, European, Asian, African, and Latin American linguistics, modern languages and literatures, film studies, and folklore.
      Search Syntax:
      • Truncation: use an asterisk *
      • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
      • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
  • Other Resources
    Be sure to consult the library's indexes and databases pages too.
    • 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 ?
    • ATLA Religion Database
      (1949 to present) Indexes book reviews on all aspects of religion and theology.
      Search Syntax:
      • Truncation: use an asterisk *
      • Phrase searching: automatic
      • Wildcard: 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
      Includes pdf and HTML copies of journal articles 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 ?