Reference Sources

1.  Encyclopedia of Politics: the left and the right.      JA 61 .E54 2005 Floor 4

2.  Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History.   Ref.  E 169.1 .E624 2001 Floor 2

3.  Dictionary of American History.    Reference E 174 .D52 2003 Floor 2

4.  Encyclopedia of American Political History.    Reference  E 183 .E48 2001 Floor 2

5.  Encyclopedia of Fundamentalism.   BL 238 .E63 2001 Floor 1

6.  The Religious Right:  a reference handbook.    BR 526 .U88 2001  Floor 2  Circulation Desk

 

Online Catalog

To search for books, click on “find books and other materials” on the Milner Library Web Site.  The Online Catalog offers the “Advanced Search” as well as the “Quick Search” (with any word, title, author and subject searching).

If you are working from a bibliography, the “Quick Search -- Title” search is the most direct way to find specific books.  The “Quick Search -- Author” may also be useful for finding any books written by a specific person.

For searching by subject, use “Quick Search -- Subject” or the “Advanced Search -- Subject Words”.  If you find very few or no books using the subject searches, try the “Quick Search -- Any Word Anywhere” search.  Examples of subjects are:

Conservatism—United States

Fundamentalism—History 

United States—Politics and Government—(time period)

To find books about a particular person, look under the name of the person using the “Quick Search -- Subject” or the “Advanced Search -- Subject Words”.
To find books written by a particular person, search the person as an author using either the “Quick Search – Author” or the “Advanced Search – Author Words”.

To locate primary sources, look for subject divisions such as Sources, Correspondence, Diaries, Personal narratives, etc.  

The My Account link in the Online Catalog shows items checked out, request information, fines and fees, and offers online renewal of books.

For materials not available in Milner Library, use the I-Share link to search other libraries.  Use the Request function to have books sent to Milner from other libraries. 

To search for books and other materials in libraries worldwide, use WorldCat  --  available under “find articles on your topic" on the Milner Library website.

Databases and Article Indexes

Milner Library has several databases that provide access to journal articles.  To search any of the online databases, click on "find articles on your topic" on the Milner Library Web Site.

Under "Databases by subject", click on the down arrow to view the list of subject areas.  Scroll down the list until you find History or a related subject; click on the subject to view a list of databases. 

Under "Databases by title", click on the down arrow to view the list of databases and indexes.  Scroll through the list to find the database you need; click on the title to enter the database and begin searching. 

To search multiple databases at the same time, try the “Search It” option.

The sources listed below are good places to begin your research.

1.  America History and Life.
The major index to journal articles on United States and Canadian history.

2.  Historical Abstracts.
The major index to journal articles on world history.

3.  JSTOR.
Online full text database of articles from journals in the humanities and social sciences.  
Covers earlier years of selected journals, but not the most recent years.

4.  Project Muse. 
Provides online full text access to scholarly journals in the humanities and social sciences.
Most current years are covered; some journals include 5-10 years of earlier issues.

5.  Social Sciences Abstracts.
Covers journals in political science, sociology, anthropology, geography, economics, etc.

6.  PAIS International.
Public Affairs Information Service covers journals related to politics and government.

7.  Dissertations & Theses.
Indexing for dissertations accepted at accredited institutions since 1861.  
Full text of dissertations available from 1997 to the present.

Depending upon your topic, other databases such as, Academic Search Premier, 
Education Abstracts,  Communication & Mass Media Complete, Periodical Abstracts or  CQ Weekly may be helpful for your research.



Locating Journals

The Find It link is available in most databases.  Click on this link for full text access and to search for a journal in the Online Catalog.

To determine if a journal is available online in full text or in print form in Milner Library, go to the "find articles on your topic" page.  Under  Online journals, magazines and newspapers, click on Find It.   A “Find e-Journal” page will appear;  type in the name of your journal and click on Go.    The “Find e-Journal” screen also has subject searching, advanced search and citation linker.

Examples of Primary Sources

Congressional Publications 
Provides indexing and some full text for Congressional hearings, House & Senate documents and reports, legislative histories and U.S. Serial Set publications; Congressional Record, etc.  covers historical and current Congressional information. 

Academic Universe – Legal section
Contains the full text of federal and state court cases, as well as the text of current federal and state statutes.

Historic Documents
Includes speeches, international agreements, Supreme Court decisions, U.S. government reports, scientific findings, and cultural discussions from 1972 – present.

Public Papers of the Presidents.
Documents AE 2:114 (date)  Floor 4.
Volumes containing major speeches, memos, policy statements, etc. of presidents from Hoover to George W. Bush.

Newspapers

Milner Library retains some newspapers for many years on microfilm.  The microfilm for most newspapers is located on Floor 2 in the northeast corner.  Microfilm of newspapers may also be borrowed from other libraries through InterLibrary Loan.  The following are examples of newspapers held in Milner Library.

1.  New York Times.  1851 - present.
New York Times archive online search at http://www.nyt.com;  citations & first paragraph of articles.

2.  Chicago Tribune.  1845 - present
Chicago Tribune Online.  1985 - present. 
Historical Chicago Tribune.  1849 - 1985

3.  Christian Science Monitor.  1956 – present.
Christian Science Monitor archive online search at: 
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/advancedsearch.html; citations and first paragraph of articles.

4.  Washington Post.  1972 – present.
Washington Post archive online search at:  http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/search.html;  citations and first paragraph of articles.

5.  Academic Universe – News section
Full text database includes coverage of U.S. newspapers, wire services, and transcripts of radio and TV news broadcasts.

6.  Newspaper Source.
Database containing indexing for many national, state and local papers; includes the full text of some, but not all newspaper articles.

InterLibrary Loan

In addition to the Request function in the Online Catalog, Milner Library also offers InterLibrary Loan services through the ILLIAD system.  A link to InterLibrary Loan is available on the Milner Library web site.  Login in to the ILLIAD system with your ULID and password.  New users will need to establish an account within ILLIAD.  ILLIAD allows for article and book requesting, as well as reviewing past requests and accessing articles received electronically.

Vanette Schwartz
Office:  Milner Library 416 
Phone:  438-3486
E-mail: vmschwa@ilstu.edu