History 4010: Research Information

Reference: Exploring a Topic

Browse the reference collection in the D and E areas to see what encyclopedias are available.

Some excellent books include:

Cambridge Ancient History REF D57 .C252 v.12 2005

Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History REF D23 .B45 2005

AHA Guide to Historical Research REF D20 .A55 1995

Secondary Sources (Historiography)

The Brandel Library has a strong collection of research databases that are available for history research. All are available on the Databases and Online Resources page. Primary databases for history articles include:

Jstor: full-text archive of scholarly journals. Articles are usually at least three years old and older.
Project Muse: also contains scholarly journals, many in full-text. Current articles are available.
SAGE Premier: tons of full-text articles, many of which include social topics.
CSA Soc Abstracts: an index database with information related to the social sciences.

Remember that if you are writing a paper on the history of another subject (such as the history of medicine, or literary history), you can also use those subject databases.

Our Catalog and the I-Share catalog both have large and varied history book collections.

Primary Sources

Primary Source Collections in our Library:

Remember that you can always search our catalog for potential primary sources, such as authors of published books, titles that you know of, or even primary source collections. (This works best when you search a topic and then use "sources" as a subject search.)

You also have access to the following databases from our Databases and Online Resources webpage:

Black Thought and Culture: Full-text of 1297 African American non-fiction works spanning from colonial times to the present.
Chicago Defender (1905-1975): Search Chicago's African American newspaper online in full-text.
Chicago Tribune: Search the full-text of the Chicago Tribune back to the 1870s.
Harper's Weekly: Search the full-text of this illustrated newspaper from 1857-1912.
Historical Statistics of the United States: Full-text statistics drawn from a range of years in the history of the US; check out the economic, demographic, and crime data available.
Women and Social Movements: Full-text images and text documenting women's social movements from 1963-present

Other Libraries and Collections in Chicago That You Can Access For Primary Sources:

The Newberry Library has amazing collections of material on the renaissance and middle ages, native americans, and a wealth of other topics. Sources range from printed materials to manuscripts.
The Chicago History Museum has a good set of archives that detail local history, from local newspaper microfilms to letters to photos and original books.
The Harold Washington Library has an archive that you can use to research the city, the library, or other topics of interest. Both regional libraries (the Sulzer and the Woodson) offer local collections as well.
The F. M. Johnson Archives and Special Collections, located in the lower level of Brandel Library, has among its holdings wonderful records about North Park University, the Evangelical Covenant Church, and Swedish immigrants in Chicago.
Try a Google search to see if any other good sources of primary source documents in the area exist.

Finally, here are some online primary source archives that you can use for free (all mainly American documents)