History

Getting Started

Background sources like encyclopedias can help you as you begin a research assignment. Encyclopedia entries provide short syntheses of widely accepted scholarship and facts. Scholarly encyclopedias are more trustworthy than most free websites, and provide additional depth because they focus on specific regions, time periods, or themes. Some are now available online through the library, such as:

Oxford Reference: History - collection of online history-related encyclopedias. Campus and residence hall access.

Many more print encyclopedias are available in the Grace Library. Examples include:

• Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History REF 903.22 M45b
• Encyclopedia of World Environmental History REF 304.203 K87w
• A Global Encyclopedia of Historical Writing REF 907.2 W88g
• Medieval Italy : An Encyclopedia REF 945.0303 K67m
• The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History REF 305.4203 Ox2w

Research Databases

Start your search for history articles in these databases.

EBSCO - Select the "History Databases" option.  

JSTOR - Do a general search (good for interdisciplinary topics), or limit to history by going to "Advanced Search."

Books in the Franklin College Libraries

To locate history books, use the Franklin College catalog. Start with an "Anywhere" (keyword) search on your topic, or a Title or Author search if you are looking for a specific book. Books on similar subjects are shelved together, so you can find one title in the catalog and then browse the shelves for more books. Books in the General Collection can be checked out at the Circulation Desk.

Reserve Collection: Many books have been placed on reserve by professors. To determine whether a book has been placed on reserve, check the catalog (which will say "reserve" along with a professor's name). Reserve books can be used in the library for a limited amount of time.

eBooks: Search our new Humanities eBook Collection for more history books (these books do not appear in the catalog). Additional resources for public domain eBooks (older, copyright-free books) are listed on our electronic resources page.

Finding Primary Sources

"Primary sources" in history are documents created at the time of the event or events being studied--for example, letters, diaries, government documents, photographs or speeches. Primary sources are the "raw material" that historians look at as they interpret the past. They produce secondary sources--articles and books that analyze past events. As a history student, you will make use of both primary and secondary sources. Try including the following words in your searches of the Franklin library catalog to find published primary sources:

• sources (ex: "Cold War" and sources)
  
• diaries
• correspondence
• interviews
• personal narratives
  

Libraries, museums, and other organizations have digitized primary source documents and made them available online. Some of the websites in the next section are collections of primary sources. The following link is a guide to finding and using these sources:

Using Primary Sources on the Web - guide from the American Library Association.

Selected History Websites

Conversations with History - interviews and podcasts from UC Berkeley Institute of International Studies.

British Academy Portal - links to a variety of history-related topics.

American Memory - US history collection from the Library of Congress, includes image & sound files.

Harvard Open Collections Program - Harvard University Library digital collections. Topics include expeditions, Immigration to the US, and Islamic history.

Gallica Digital Library - digitized documents from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.