HIST 200 : Keys to Historical Research

NOTE : This page is no longer being updated. For a list of current Web pages, see the Research Tools Website.

Reference Books - a valuable resource!! The following are just a few examples of the many sources available to help you get overviews of your topic and locate other sources of information:

American National Biography [Ref CT213 .A68 1999]

A 24-volume set of short (1-2 page) biographies of influential Americans of the past. Each biography ends with a short bibliography and information on where the subject's papers are kept.

Handbook of North American Indians [Ref E77 .H25]

A multi-volume set published by the Smithsonian Institution. The chapters on this part of the United States can be found in Volume 12 (Plateau).

American Indians : A Select Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications. [Shelved at Reference Desk. Ref E93 .U53 1984]

This catalog guides you to microfilm of historical documents from the National Archives, covering:

Records of the Oregon Superintendency (of Indian Affairs), 1848-1873

Records of the Washington Superintendency (of Indian Affairs), 1853-1874

State Department Territorial Papers, Washington Territory, 1854-1872

Interior Department Territorial Papers, Idaho, 1864-1890

State Department Territorial Papers, Oregon, 1848-1858

State Department Territorial papers, Idaho, 1863-1872

Records Relating to Indian Treaties, 1772-1868

The Annals of America [Ref E173 .A793]

A 21-volume collection of short speeches, essays, biographies, landmark court decisions, and editorials related to events in American history. Published by Encyclopedia Britannica.

Reference Library of Hispanic America [Ref E184 .S75 R44 2003]

A 4-volume encyclopedia of essays and biographies on the experience of Spanish-speaking people in the United States. The general bibliography for the entire set is located in Volume IV.

What Historical Novel Do I Read Next? Volume 3 [Ref PN3441 .B87 W438 2003 v.3]

A guide to historical novels, including indexes to works by time period and subject of the story. Each novel summary includes a brief evaluation of the novel's historical accuracy. This reference also refers you to "Other Books You Might Like" on the subject.

Government Documents

The Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States [GovDocs AE 2.114:]

Containing the public messages, speeches, and statements of the Presidents, from President Eisenhower to President George W. Bush.

Foreign Relations of the United States [GovDocs S 1.1:945-50]

The official documentary record of major foreign policy decisions, compiled by the Historian of the Department of State. The LCSC Library has volumes covering 1945-1976.

Search Catalogs to find books on your subject:

LCSC Library Catalog - provides information about the materials owned by the LCSC Library and other North Idaho Academic Libraries, including North Idaho College and the University of Idaho. Also has a link to WIN Libraries, so you can search Gonzaga, Whitworth, and VALNet Libraries.

Research Center at Nez Perce National Historic Park

You can search the catalog (limit location to Idaho) before visiting the Research Center.

Materials must be used on-site. They don't check anything out. Find more details, including a link to their policies, by clicking on the link for the Research Center above.

WorldCat - A catalog of items held at libraries throughout the world. Many of these materials can be borrowed through inter-library loan.

Use the "Advanced Search" to limit your search to LCSC or another library.

The results will include chapter titles from within books!

The Library code for LCSC is WKO.

The Library code for University of Idaho is NTD.

The Library code for Gonzaga is WUG.

Google Books - Info from their Website: "Just do a search on Google Book Search or on Google.com. When we find a book whose content contains a match for your search terms, we'll link to it in your search results. Click a book title and you'll see, like a card catalog entry, some basic information about the book. You may also see a few snippets of text from the book showing your search term in context. If the publisher or author has given us permission through our Partner Program then you'll see a few full pages from the book and if the book is out of copyright, you'll be able to page through the entire book." Click on the "About This Book" link and look for a link called "Find This Book in a Library" to locate the nearest library holdings.

Journal articles

Academic OneFile - a general journal index covering many disciplines, not just Social Sciences. Contains full-text of some articles.

InfoTrac US History - a subset of Academic OneFile, this database provides some full-text articles related to American history.

InfoTrac World History - a subset of Academic OneFile, this database provides some full-text articles related to non-US history.

ProQuest Newstand - contains full-text of articles from 27 newspapers, including The New York Times.

History Cooperative - Search for articles in a selected number of history journals. Once you find articles, check the LCSC Journals Lists to see if we have paper, fiche, or online access to that article.

SocINDEX with Full Text - contains full text for 253 "core" coverage sociology journals dating back to 1895, and 72 "priority" coverage journals. This database also includes full text for 547 books and monographs, and full text for 6,711 conference papers.

Google News Archive - News archive search provides an easy way to search and explore historical archives. In addition to helping you search, News archive search can automatically create timelines which show selected results from relevant time periods. Many of these articles may be purchased individually from the provider. Remember to check the LCSC Journals Lists to see if we have paper, fiche, or online access to the articles.

Social Sciences Index - a paper index in the LCSC Library, 1974-present. Provides citations only.

For articles prior to 1974, refer to International Index to Periodicals, a paper index, 1907-1965, or to

Social Sciences & Humanities Index, a paper index, 1965-1974.

Poole's Index to Periodical Literature - a paper index in the LCSC Library, 1802-1900. A guide to general-interest magazines of the period.

Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature - a paper index in the LCSC Library, 1900-present. A guide to general-interest magazines, such as Time, Newsweek, Ladies Home Journal, etc.

New York Times Index - a paper index in the LCSC Library, 1969-2004 .

Web Sites

Northwest Digital Archives - Finding aids for archive and manuscript collections from 19 archives in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. A good resource for locating primary source material.

Columbia River Basin Ethnic History Archive - Digitized archival holdings. A project of Washington State University Vancouver, the Idaho State Historical Society, Oregon Historical Society, Washington State Historical Society, and Washington State University Pullman.

Digital Collections, University of Washington Libraries - Digitized archival holdings, with an emphasis on photographs.

Special Collections and Archives at the University of Idaho - Discover what they hold and how to access the collections.

Idaho State Historical Society - Web page of the Historical Society's Library and Archives.

American Memory - Digitized archival holdings from the Library of Congress.

Historical Census Browser - Retrieve census information from 1790 to1960. Provided by the University of Virginia Library.

American Rhetoric - A gateway to famous and important speeches, maintained by Michael E. Eidenmuller, University of Texas, Tyler.

APA Citation Style - examples of citations in APA Format for your list of References.

APA Interactive Tutorial - Developed by Mr. Kevin Schoepp.

MLA Format - Guidance provided by the University of Illinois Writers' Workshop.

MLA Tutorial - Developed by the librarians at Indiana State University.

Westlaw - Online legal research service provides quick, easy access to West's vast collection of statutes, case law materials, public records and other legal resources, as well as current news articles and business information.

USA.gov - A search engine for government Web pages, with an emphasis on the Executive Branch of the Federal Government.

GPO Access - Searchable database of Web pages, with an emphasis on the Legislative Branch of the Federal Government. Provided by the Government Printing Office.

Thomas - An easy-to-search source for legislative information, provided by the Library of Congress.

I-Docs - An online collection of paper and digital resources selectively chosen from published Idaho Government Documents.