HI 1314: Introduction to Early American History

S. Bullock

Off campus?

Access resources with proxy.

Background Information

Franklin Borrowing Books

The free web: search engines and other free web sites such as Wikipedia
Grolier Encyclopedia and Encyclopedia Americana or Encyclopædia Britannica Online .

Library Reference & Electronic Resources

Dictionary of American History. Reference E 174 A43 2003 10 volumes
Historical Statistics of the United States. Reference HA202 A385 2006 5 volumes or online
Biography Resource Center. check for background information, dates, etc.

Information Choices: Discerning Academic/Scholarly Sources

Use different types of information to get broad coverage of your topic.

Historians use Primary Source materials when they research
Good researchers understand the differences between scholarly, popular, trade and other information. See Popular Magazines or Scholarly Journals: What's the Difference?

List 2 types of primary source materials:
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Quickly review the 5 items below. What type of sources are the following? Newspapers, popular magazine, book review, scholarly article, primary source material? Who's the intended audience for each?

Benjamin Franklin on Population: From Policy to Theory. Population and Development Review Vol. 17, No. 4. (Dec., 1991), pp. 639-661.
The self-made model. (Benjamin Franklin). U.S. News & World Report 136.23 (June 28, 2004): p44
Drawing the Lightning Down: Benjamin Franklin and electrical technology in the Age of Enlightenment Michael Brian Schiffer, Berkeley : University of California Press, c2003.
Benjamin Franklin to the Federal Convention 17 Sept. 1787
The Lightning-Rod Man: Franklin of Philadelphia The Business History Review, Vol. 61, No. 4. (Winter, 1987), pp. 615-620.

Books

Search the Library Catalog for items @ WPI or WorldCat to search beyond our library.

QuickFIND - Multi-database Search for Books & Articles

Start with QuickFIND multi-database search to retrieve results from 11 databases (including the library catalog & Worldcat for books) on your topic with one search. There are 3 ways to search:

Find Articles about Your Research Topic

All databases listed are WPI subscriptions. But check out Google Scholar, a web search of scholarly sources.

America, History & Life and Historical Abstracts: References to articles on historic topics. Click on FullTextFinder to track down full articles or options to obtain the full text.
Humanities International Complete: Abstracts and full text of important scholarly journals in humanities.
ThomsonGale PowerSearch: Articles on all topics, click More Search options, limit the results to peer-reviewed publications. Contains articles back to the 1980s but good coverage of historical topics.
JSTOR: Complete full text of important scholarly journals in a variety of academic fields. Coverage: Varies by publication but many back to late 1800s.
Project Muse: Search full text of major historical and global studies journal, most academic sources.
More History Databases

Filter and Follow Up...

Scan results: use subject headings/descriptors, keywords, phrases found to expand search
Scrutinize article titles, number of pages, and journal title
Browse promising abstract and conclusion sections of long studies
Bibliographies can clue you in on the value of the article as well
Find an interesting author? Search for more articles or for his/her web site
Notice an agency, association or expert mentioned in an article? Follow up!

Search one of the above databases for at least one article on your topic. Jot down the reference here in Chicago style. You may also want to email yourself the article.
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Example of a work from a library subscription service:: Jennings, Francis. "An Early Political Paper; of Benjamin Franklin." The American Journal; of Legal History 8, no. 3 (July 1964): 264-266,; http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-; 9319%28196407%298%3A3%3C264%3AAEPPOB%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V.

What journal or magazine is this article from? Is it available in full text? Or just an abstract? If only an abstract is found, find the full text, using the library's Journals, Magazines, & Newspapers list.

Only Finding a Citation? Getting the Full Text

Is the journal online or here in the library? Use FullTextFinder to link to full articles or retrieval options within database results or search our Journals, Magazines, & Newspapers list
Visit another library: Search WorldCat to find one
Request delivery from another library: Interlibrary Loan.

Questions?

Stop by the reference desk or set up a research consultation.

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Last modified: May 13, 2008, 13:17 EDT