HST 290: Revolutions and Civil WarsSearching for Sources

Dr. Lisa PollardMs. Sue Cody

How are your research skills?

• Do you like doing research? – Why or why not?– What confuses/frustrates you

most about doing research?– What questions do you have

about conducting research for this class?

• How would you rate your current research skills?– Strong/Satisfactory/Needs

improvement/Poor (Take a vote.)

How much do you know about your topic?

Where do you plan to start?

Which finding aids are most useful?• For books?• For scholarly articles?• For government

documents?• For articles written during

the time studied?• For other primary

sources?

Finding Books

• Library Catalog – local & UNCP/FSU

• WorldCat– 9,000 libraries

• Google Books• Some article databases

lead to books– Cited directly– Book reviews

Randall Online Catalog: Keyword v. Subject

• What’s the difference?• What are some useful

Subject Headings for the Slaves’ participation

in the Revolutionary War– Start with a keyword search,

then look for subjects in the records retrieved.

Keyword/Subject features• Keyword

– Finds words anywhere in record.

– Look at records to see subject headings.

– Search lots of terms, word variations

• Subject Headings– Controlled

vocabulary– May not be

“natural language” but may find more

– Hierarchical arrangement helps narrow topic

– Searches only the subject field

Suggested Subject Headings• See the Research guide• Check headings in records you find by

keyword or other searches• Use the LCSH database or print volumes.• In the catalog, search by any segment of a

heading – rotated display• Same terms used in WorldCat

Searching Personal Names

– Keyword searches • Either order • Try name variations, e.g.,

initials

– Author/Subject • Last name first• Consistent use• Example: Lee, Robert E.

Online Catalog—Special Features

• Subject links for related items• Call numbers for related items

(usually)• Library of Congress outline

– http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html

• SuDoc arranges by agency• Cover, summary, reviews• Location maps• Expanding search to UNCCLC• Repeating search

Journal Holdings & Access

• Bibliographies will cite useful publications

• Follow the citation trail!• Search your citation

– Does the library have it?– What format or location?– What online access?

Working from a known citation• Stokes, Karen D. ed. “Sherman's Army

Comes to Camden: The Civil War Narrative of Sarah Dehon Trapier." South Carolina Historical Magazine 109, no. 2 (April 2008): 95-120.

• Welford, R. R. “The Loyalty of the Border States,” Debow’s Review 32 (1862): 81-87.

• Davies, Kate. "Revolutionary Correspondence: Reading Catharine Macaulay and Mercy Otis Warren." Women's Writing 13, no. 1 (2006): 73-97.

Database Exploration

• America: History & Life• Jstor• Project Muse• Search your topic

Search tips

• And, Or, Not– And narrows– Or adds synonyms/related– Not excludes (use carefully)

• Truncate for word variations – (revolution* = revolution,

revolutions, revolutionary)

• Words anywhere or phrase? – “Revolutionary War”

Questions?

What will you do when you have questions?

Ask for help – it’s what we do!

codys@uncw.eduhttp://library.uncwil.edu/askref.html

HST 290: Revolutions and Civil WarsSearching for Sources

Part 2:Locating Primary Sources

Dr. Lisa PollardMs. Sue Cody

Primary Sources

• Dairies, journals, other writings of “players”

• Eyewitness/Observer accounts• Memoirs, autobiographies

(written later)• Official documents

– Laws, treaties, reports, orders, transcripts of proceedings, addresses, etc.

• Advertisements

Primary or Secondary?• Scholarly article analyzing the

correspondence of women writing during the Revolutionary War.

• Text of the Stamp Act of 1765.• Book titled Tragic years, 1860-1865

: a documentary history of the American Civil War

• Book compilation of runaway slave ads.• Book by a historian about the

Presidential election of 1860.

Primary or Secondary?• Transcript of Rep.

Vallandingham’s speech about conscription during the Civil War.

• Collection of essays about Civil War propaganda.

• New York Times report on the Battle of Gettysburg , dated 1863, from the New York Times Archive database.

Randall Online Catalog

• Standard Subheadings – Correspondence– Diaries– Personal narratives– Sources– Treaties– See guide for others

Randall Online Catalog

• Search specific persons or organizations – United States Sanitary

Commission as author– William T. Sherman as author

• Look for items not tagged as primary source– Primary documents may be

included in secondary sources– Eyewitness authors may not be

tagged as sources.

WorldCat

• May find items at Randall that catalog search didn’t (records enhanced later)

• Finds items for ILL requests– Rare items not lent– Rare items may be

reprinted & available

• Websites included – often w/ free access!

Bibliographies—Follow the trail• Book-length (Reference

Collection)• Secondary sources (books

and journal articles)• Types

– Classified (easiest to find primary sources)

– Alphabetical– Footnotes/Endnotes

Use the Research Guide!

Links to a variety of sources for your researching pleasure.

Questions?

What will you do when you have questions?

Ask for help! It is what we do!

• codys@uncw.edu• http://library.uncwil.edu/askref.html