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This guide lists core resources for quick information and as a starting point for research. If you are researching a paper once you have narrowed your topic you will probably want to consult additional resources, including books and journal.
Background and Reference Information
A select list of sources to help you put events, movements, people and places into historical context. All these titles are available at North Seattle Community College Library
Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History
Ref E169.1.E624 2001
First part of this three volume set is a chronological survey of American History, introducing the key ideas of each period. The second part contains more in depth but very accessible articles on a list of subjects that include slavery, Feminism, Civil Rights, and the Vietnam War.
The Routledge Atlas of American History
Ref G1201.S1R68 2003
Excellent resource for maps that put historical events or trends into context.
Dictionary of American History
Ref E174.D52 2003
This 10 volume set is organized alphabetically by subject, nevertheless if you don't find your term, be sure to use the index in the last volume to see if your topic is listed underneath a different term. Good for background and quick answers.
Finding Books
Search the NSCC library online catalog by going to the Library homepage to find books, journals and other material in our collection. http://dept.sccd.ctc.edu/nslib/ Start out searching by keyword revelance. When you find an item that looks helpful, click on the subject terms to find other like items.
Finding Articles
An efficient way to find scholarly journal articles is to look in a paid subscription database. See the list below for the subscription databases that you can access through NSCC. If you have access to the Seattle Public Library or the King County Library System you have access to additional databases. When you are searching one of these databases be sure to check that you want either “scholarly journals” or “refereed journals.” It is also a good idea to check the box to get “full text.”
JSTOR
Accessible at the NSCC library and at home with your student net ID. Use JSTOR to find the full text of articles in major English Language journals. JSTOR provides the full text of journals such as the American Historical Review, Journal of American History, Journal of Southern History and William and Mary Quarterly.
Academic Search Premier
Accessible at the NSCC library and at home with your student net ID. A very large, multi-disciplinary database, which includes scholarly journals as well as newspapers and popular magazines. Indexes over 8,000 journal titles, including more than 4,600 full-text journals.
Proquest Direct
Accessible at the NSCC library and at home with your student net ID. The ProQuest Direct database provides access to articles from over 2,000 magazines, journals and newspapers. The majority are available full text -- meaning the entire article is available to read, print, send by email, or download to disk.
History Resource Center
The History Resource Center: U.S. provides integrated access to over 1,000 historical (primary) documents, more then 30,000 reference articles, and over 65 full-text journals covering themes, events, individuals and periods in U.S. history from pre-Colonial times to the present.
List of Scholarly History Journals in print at NSCC Library
American Historical Review
Journal of American Ethnic History
Pacific Affairs
Oregon Historical Quarterly
Pacific Historical Review
The Western Historical Quarterly
Pacific Northwest Quarterly
William and Mary Quarterly
Primary sources on the internet.
When searching for primary sources in the internet a good starting place is one of the databases listed below.
AMDOCS:Documents for the Study of American History http://www.vlib.us/amdocs/
Primary source documents listed chronologically by the year they were originally created starting with the chronicles of Eric the Red. If you need a primary source document from a particular time period this would be a great starting place.
American Memory Collection
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
Fabulous collection of primary sources created and maintained by the Library of Congress.
History Matters: The U.S. History Survey Course on the web
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/wwwhistory/
Excellent site for information on United States History. This web page will take you to an annotated list of history databases, many of which include extensive holdings of primary sources.
For a brief overview of primary sources go try this page from the Library of Congress http://lcweb2.loc.gov/learn/educators/video/prsource/prsrc.html or this one from the American Library Association http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/History/RUSA/
Primary Sources in Print at NSCC
The Annals of America
Ref E173.A793
Twenty volume set organized chronologically. Great place to quickly find a primary source document for a particular time period.
See the information on Web Site Evaluation. Be sure that your information comes from a reputable authoritative source. This site, part of the Library Research Tutorial has a lot of other good information on how to search and how to evaluate sources.
For a great web site with searching tips and tricks, see Elinor Appel's site. l See the information on Web Site Evaluation. Be sure that your information comes from a reputable authoritative source.
Focused search: To search only selected databases for primary and secondary sources on United States History use the google search box below.
Need Additional Help?
Your friendly librarians at North are happy to assist you.
You will be able to find me at the reference desk
Monday – noon to 3:00;
Tuesday 3:00 – 6:00;
Wednesday 8:00 – noon;
Thursday 9:00 to noon.
If you would like to make an appointment with me, Ann Ewel, your Social Science Librarian, please email me at aewel@sccd.ctc.edu .