HST 290: Miscegenation & Race in America

Dr. Glen Harris

Your Current Research Skills?How would you rate your current research

skills?StrongSatisfactoryNeeds improvementPoor

What causes you the most anxiety/confusion/frustration with research?

Our plan for the library sessionsReview Research Guide for this

course.Explore various search tools.Learn to identify secondary sources.

Learn to identify primary sources.Become familiar with special services.Interlibrary LoanAsk a librarian

Where to get helpResearch Help Desk

In personTelephoneEmailChat

By Appointment

Resource TypesPrimary vs. Secondary

(more next time)BooksArticles

ScholarlyPopular

Theses & DissertationsWebsites

Finding BooksLibrary Catalog WorldCat

Finds items at UNCW and at libraries worldwide

Google Books ~12 million / ~7 million full-text. Older

books may be available in full text.

Some databases lead to booksCited directlyBook reviews

Keyword vs. Subject SearchingKeyword

Finds words anywhere in record.

Look at records to see subject headings.

Search lots of terms, word variations

Subject HeadingsControlled

vocabularyMay not be “natural

language” but may find more

Hierarchical arrangement helps narrow topic

Searches only the subject field

Keyword vs. Subject in actionWhat is a useful Subject Heading for

Race and film?Start with a keyword search, then

look for subjects in the records retrieved.

Use subject headings to lead you to other titles

Same terms used in WorldCat

Searching Personal NamesKeyword searches

Either order Try name variations, e.g., initials

Author/Subject Last name, first, e.g. King, Martin Luther

Looking at the catalog recordItem Info

Location (click for map)Call #AvailabilityOnline AccessCover, summary, reviews

Subjects for related itemsLibrary of Congress outline

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

LC Call Numbers

Finding Books – LC Call Nos.Alpha-numericSingle letters before doubleFirst number is a whole numberEverything after the decimal point is a decimal value.

LC Call Numbers

WorldCatWill find books & articles from

UNCW and libraries worldwideFinds items for ILL requests (use the

bookmarklet to submit requests)Rare items not lentRare items may be reprinted & available

Websites included – often w/ free access!

Interlibrary LoanUse the

libraryServicesInterlibrary LoanCreate an account/create a new

accountUsername – UNCW domain namePassword – UNCW password

Try it yourself!Find Books

Finding ArticlesHome page Article Search Databases A-Z

Individual databasesDatabases by SubjectCitation Searching

Search tipsAnd, Or, Not

And narrowsOr adds synonyms/relatedNot excludes (use carefully)

Race in filmRace AND FilmFilm OR “motion picture” OR movie

More Search TipsTruncate for word variations

Polit* = politics, political, politician, etc.

Words anywhere or phrase? Be all you can be vs. “Be all you can be”

Try it yourself!Find Articles

Bibliographies—Follow the trailBook-length (Reference Collection)Secondary sources (books and journal

articles)Types

Classified (easiest to find primary sources)

AlphabeticalFootnotes/Endnotes

What can you find?

Working from a known citation• Harris, Glen Anthony, and Robert Brent

Toplin. 2007. Guess who's coming to dinner?: A clash of interpretations regarding stanley kramer's film on the subject of interracial marriage. The Journal of Popular Culture 40, (4): 700-713

Does the library have it?In what format or location?

Next ClassPrimary Sources

What they areHow to find them

Government Documents

Questions?What will you do when you have questions?

Ask for help – it’s what we do!

General Library Helphttp://library.uncw.edu

HST 290: Miscegenation & Race in America

Dr. Glen Harris

Since last time…How’s it going?

Any issues?

Guide

Primary SourcesDiaries, journals, other writings of

“players”Eyewitness/observer accountsMemoirs, autobiographies (written later)Government & other official documents

Laws, treaties, reports, orders, transcripts of proceedings, addresses, congressional hearings, census records, etc.

Cartoons and Advertisements (of the time)

Photographs and imagesMovies!Interviews

Primary or Secondary?Scholarly article on miscegenation laws.The text of the 19th amendment on voting

rightsAn encyclopedia on U.S. social movements.Collection of transcripts of interviews with

NC civil rights activists published in a book.

A News & Observer article about the history of the civil rights movement in NC.

New York Times advertisements, found in the New York Times Archive database.

Randall Catalog & WorldCatSearch general keywords

Suffrage AND interviewSearch specific headings or persons

as author (Stanton, Elizabeth Cady)Look for items not tagged as primary

sourcePrimary documents may be included in secondary sources

Eyewitness authors may not be tagged as sources

Randall Catalog & WorldCatStandard

Subheadings CorrespondenceDiariesInterviewsPersonal

narrativesSourcesCatalogsManuscriptsPictorial Works

PortraitsSpeechesNotebooks/

Sketch-booksArchivesCartoonsDescriptionsDescription and

travel

Periodicals and NewspapersNew York Times Archive

News & Observer Index

Readers’ Guide Retrospective

Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retrospective

Newspapers on microfilm, e.g. Wilmington Morning Star

Digital CollectionsLots of collections

Libraries (UNCW Collections)Library of Congress (e.g. American Memory )

UNC – Documenting the American South

DPLA (Digital Public Library of America)

Official Documents - LegalLexis Nexis Academic

Legal researchA Century of Lawmaking for a New

Nation – LOCHistory of the Federal Judiciary –

Federal Judicial CenterHistorical Publications of the United St

ates Commission on Civil Rights – Thurgood Marshall Law Library

Government DocumentsFDLP – Federal Depository Library Program

was established by Congress to ensure that the American public has access to its Government’s information

anyone can access depository libraries and use its collections

Regional and Selective Depositories UNCW is a large selective at @ 75%

Classified by publishing agencySuDocs

Government DocumentsFdsys – Federal Digital System

America’s Authentic Government InformationFedStats

Statistics from more than 100 agencies and sub-agencies of federal and states government

HeinOnlineCongressional documents, court cases, etc.

Congress.govCongressional Documents

Questions?What will you do when you have questions?

Ask for help –it’s what we do!

General Library Helphttp://library.uncw.edu