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Historical Information and Library Research

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I. Nature of History  II. Books  III. Articles in Periodicals  IV. Primary Sources  V. Professional Services

I. The Nature of History

A. Introduction: Technological Change and the Historical Record

The foundation of history is memory. Many forms of memory have arisen, one after another, but rarely (despite predictions to the contrary) did a new one cause the older variants to go out of use. In the past man has relied on his own personal memory, oral traditions, inscriptions on stone or papyrus, written or printed text, and electronic data files to pass down information from one generation to the other. Althought there is always a chance that some information may be lost when converted to a "newer" medium, historians work hard to avoid that. Thus, the Internet has become a useful research tool and form of academic communication for today's scholars of history.

B. General Sources and Research Guides

1. References: Identifying Books and Other Sources

  • REF D20 .F757 1990 Fritze, Ronald H., Reference sources in history:
    an introductory guide     /
    Ronald H. Fritze, Brian E. Coutts, Louis A. Vyhnanek
    Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-Clio, 1990. xvii, 319 p. ; 24 cm.
    685 annotated entries, organized in 14 chapters by type of publication

  • REF D20 .S64 1994
    Slavens, Thomas P., Sources of information
    for historical research     /
    Thomas P. Slavens. New York : Neal-Schuman, 1994. x, 577 p
    1138 annotated entries, organized by call number in 29 chapters

  • REF D20 .A44 1995
    The American Historical Association's guide to
    historical literature     / general editor, Mary Beth
    3rd ed. New York : Oxford University Press, 1995 2 v.
    26,926 signed annotated citations to books, articles
    published up to 1992, in 48 subject sections;
    updates 1st ed. (1931) and 2nd ed. (1961)

  • Stacks D4 .I5
    International bibliography of historical sciences.
    Internationale Bibliographie der Geschichtswissenschaften.
    Paris: Libraire Armand Colin,
    v. 14 1939; v. 16-34 1947-1965; v. 37-42 1968-1972;
    v. 45-56 1974-1987.

  • REF E152 .W9 [and incomplete sets in Stacks, GovDocs]
    Writings on American history.
    Other title: Bibliography of books and articles on
    United States history (varies) 1902--1930-40.
    Washington, American Historical Association, Millwood,
    N.Y., Kraus-Thomson.
    v. 1--, 1902--

  • REF E152 .F86 1974
    Harvard guide to American history / Frank Freidel,
    editor, with the assistance of Richard K. Showman.
    : Rev. ed. Cambridge, Mass. :
    Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1974. 2 v.

  • REF E178 .P97 1987
    Prucha, Francis Paul. Handbook for research in American history :
    a guide to bibliographies and other reference works
    Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 1987. xiii, 289 p.

    2. Links

  • H-Net Home Page

I. Nature of History  II. Books  III. Articles in Periodicals  IV. Primary Sources  V. Professional Services

Return to History start page

II. Locating Books

Catalogs identify books by author, title, subject, or keyword and indicate where a book may be found. Using the TTU catalog one can search books, by author, title, subject, or keyword. The TTU catalog can be found at the TTU Library's homepage http://library.ttu.edu

A. Main Entry Book Catalogs

Main entry catalogs are organized by author or, for anonymous works, by title. The following book catalogs identify many rare items.

1. Bibliotheque Nationale

  • Stacks Z927.P2 [NB: formerly Reference!]
    Paris Bibliothèque nationale, Département des imprimés.
    Catalogue général des livres imprimés de la Bibliothèque
    nationale    . Auteurs...Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1897-19.
    v 1-231.

    2. British Museum 

  • Stacks Z921 .B86 1954  [NB: formerly Reference!]
    British Museum. Dept. of Printed Books.
    General catalogue of printed books. Photolithographic
    edition to 1955. London, Trustees of the British Museum, 1959-66

 

B. Subject Access and the Card Catalog

  • 1. Classification Systems (Subject Access by Collocation)

    For centuries the collections of research libraries have been shelved by accession number or by size and retrieved by attendants. The concept of open shelves changed things so it became useful for books on the same subjects to be located in proximity to each other.

    a. Library of Congress (LCC)

    LCC was developed in the main reading room at the Library of Congress. LCC is now the most common classification system in American academic libraries; its great advantage in that its combination of letters and numbers make it a fairly simple system for finding books in very large collections. The letter D signifies history (outside the Americas), and E and F for the history of the Americas. Here's an explanation of how to read a call number, and here's the LC's own guide to its classification system.

    b. Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC)

    DDC was developed by the American librarian Melvil Dewey. Today it is most commonly used in school and public libraries. Based on the number of digits used, call numbers can be extremely simple in a small library or else very long and difficult to read in large ones. Thus, while the 900s signify history, the digits after the decimal point are optional.

c. Superintendent of Documents Classification (SuDoc)

  • SuDoc is a classification system devised by the US Government Printing Office and used for US government publications. It is not arranged by subject like the above systems, but rather on the agency issuing the documents. It is important to note that when an agency is renamed or its superior agency changes, older publications of the agency keep the original SuDoc number but new may get a different SuDoc number and hence be shelved in a different place. See how to read a SuDoc number.

    2. Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)

    LCSH is a controlled-vocabulary, hierarchical system of subject headings developed by the Library of Congress. Large volumes in the Reference Room and basement of the Library, the "red books," are your guide to LCSH. They specify top-level headings, subheadings, and categories of subheadings that may be used, and provide cross-references to and from narrower, broader, and outdated headings. The LCSH lists the subject trems to use when using the "subject" heading when searching the TTU catalog. Here's a sample entry from the red books that explains its component parts. Fortunately, subject searching in the online catalog now provides ample cross-referencing that helps you find the relevant LCSH.

C. MARC Records and Online Catalogs

The standardization of cataloging practices in the 1970s, allowed library's to enter their holdings onto computers and thus made them accessable via the Internet.  The standardization of catalog record has made it possible to search library catalogs from a great distance.

1. Online Catalog (known as IRIS)

Some Other Online Catalogs

Notre Dame Libraries Catalog (implements the Aleph 500)
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Duke University Libraries
University of Toronto Library
UT Austin (largest research library in Texas; "homegrown"catalog design)
Library of Congress Web Catalog, mounted in August 1999
Bibliothèque Nationale de France: BN-Opale Plus, 6 million + records
Biblioteca Nacional de España: Ariadna, 1.5 million + records

D. Union Catalogs

Union catalogs are combined catalogs for the holdings of many libraries, which also identify the libraries that hold the item. Use them to supplement the online catalog if you need to locate copies of cited items, to confirm a citation, or to conduct an exhaustive search on a subject.

National Union Catalog

Stacks Z881.A1 U518
The National union catalog, Pre-1956 imprints.
London: Mansell v. 1-754; 1968-1981.

Melvyl-T

Melvyl-T, University of California Libraries
This union catalog combines the collections of a number of libraries throughout California.
Like the new TTU Libraries catalog, it is also based on the Aleph 500 system.

WorldCat

WorldCat is the union catalog of most Academic Libraries and the name stands for World Wide Catalog. It now has records for more than 40 million books. It is a FirstSearch database and can be accessed from the list of electronic databases ("Find Articles") page on this site or by clicking here.

4. RLIN (Research Library Group)

In the number of volumes, RLIN is comparable to WorldCat, but because the RLG members include many elite research libraries it is possible to find many rare items that are not in WorldCat. Because we have paid for only one communication port, we ask that you contact a librarian if you would like to arrange for a search session.

Web Access Available Only by Mediated Search; please contact Jack Becker.


5. COPAC (British Academic Libraries)

This is a union catalog for a number of the largest academic research libraries in Britain. It currently has over 6 million records.
COPAC

6. Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog (German language catalog)

Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog

E. Other Online Databases for Books and Research Materials

1. Books in Print Online

The online version of BIP is more up to date than the paper version, also available in the Reference Room.

Web access: enter http://library.ttu.edu/ul/databases/, go to BIP (Updated seminannually)

I. Nature of History  II. Books  III. Articles in Periodicals  IV. Primary Sources  V. Professional Services

III. Locating Articles in Periodicals

Using indexes to find journal articles is the best way to find journal artiles in related subject areas. The indexes provide full citations by an author or on a subject.  Electronic indexes are more convenient than those on paper but their coverage rarely goes back earlier than the 1970s.

A. General Periodical Indexes

  • REF AI3 .P7 1882
    Poole's index to periodical literature.
    Revised edition. Gloucester, Mass. Peter Smith.
    6v. in 7. Vols. 2-6 called also 1st-5th supplements.
    Reprint of the 1882 edition.

  • REF Z7163 .P9 
    Bulletin of the Public Affairs Information Service [PAIS].
    New York [etc.] : Public Affairs Information Service,
    Public Affairs Information Service bulletin (Annual)
    v. 1 (1915)--

    PAIS international
    Boston : SilverPlatter, 1991- Covers: 1972--.  [Electronic version of PAIS, available via FirstSearch]

  • REF AI3 .R502 
    Humanities Index.
    [New York] H. W. Wilson Co.
    Formerly: Social sciences & humanities index.
    v. 1--, 1974--.  [Electronic: Humanities Abstracts, via FirstSearch]

  • REF P24 .M6
    MLA International Bibliography of Books and Articles
    on the Modern Languages and Literatures
    Alongside its primary focus, this index is a good source for cultural history.
    The online version on FirstSearch covers publications from 1963 on.
  • REF PA3017.9 .M351
    L'Année Philologique; bibliographie critique et
    analytique de l'antiquité gréco-latine    , 1924--; predecessor volumes cover 1896-1914.
    The premier international index for classical studies, including history.

  • The Database of Classical Bibliography. This CD-ROM index,
    covering the 1974-1989 volumes of L'Année Philologique, runs on computer M0312 in the Reference Room; ask for the disk at the Reference Desk.
  • Guide to Searching on the Database of Classical Bibliography

  • REF AI3 .A63 
    Arts & Humanities Citation Index.
    Philadelphia : Institute for Scientific Information,
    v. 1--, 1981--
    and online via FirstSearch.

B. Indexes to Historical Periodicals

  • REF D1 .H6
    Historical Abstracts.
    [Santa Barbara, Calif., etc. :
    American Bibliographical Center-Clio
    Press, etc.], 1955--
  • REF D4 .C73
    C.R.I.S. : the combined retrospective index set to journals in history, 1838-1974 
    Washington : Carrollton Press, 1977--
  • REF E152 .W9 
    Writings on American history. 
    Millwood, N.Y. [etc.] : KTO Press [etc.], [1902-81] 
  • REF E5 .A45 and Online via WWW
    America: History and Life
    Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, 1964--

C. Book Reviews

  • America: History & Life [REF E5 .A45 and Online via WWW]:
    ABC-Clio, 1964--
  • REF Z1035.A1 B6 
    Book Review Index.
    Detroit, Gale Research Co., 1965--
  • JSTOR: Find contemporary reviews of many classic works by searching among the history journals and limiting by type: review.
  • REF Z1219 .C96
    Book Review Digest.
    [Bronx, N.Y.] : H.W. Wilson Co., 1906-
    Online via FirstSearch Covers: 1983--)

     

    Free Internet Sources for Book Reviews

  • H-Net Reviews
  • Bryn Mawr Classical Review
  • The Medieval Review

D. Newspapers

  • CP/M AI21 .T5
    The Times, London. Palmer's index to the Times newspaper.
    Other title: Index to the Times newspaper 
    London, S. Palmer [etc.]
    LATER TITLE: Annual index to the Times.
    [Covers: 1785--]
  • CP/M AI21 .N44
    The New York times index.
    New York, The New York Times Company, 1913--
    [Covers 1851--]
  • Newspaper Abstracts: online via FirstSearch (Covers 1989--)
  • Lexis-Nexis: Full text of articles in HTML for large number of major newspapers from last five years, including Spanish, French, and German

E. Locating Periodicals in the Tech Library

  • Holdings Information in Online Catalog: Use for call numbers of periodicals, and holdings information for many monographic sets and serials.
  • Innopac: This is our authoritative database for all periodical holdings in our library.
  • Electronic Full Text of Journal Articles: The Libraries currently provide two kinds of online access to journal articles, via indexes and e-journal packages.
  • Indexes: 
    Periodical Abstracts     via TexShare/Ovid: links to full text in html for many of the articles it indexes
    WilsonSelect via FirstSearch: links to full text in html for articles indexed in Wilson indexes (including Humanities Abstracts) from 1994 on.
    ECO (Electronic Collections Online) via FirstSearch: Searching across 1300+  scholarly journals since 1995 with links to full text (in PDF) of articles in journals to which we have a paper subscription
  • E-Journal Packages: 
    These provide searching across all the journal titles in the package (usually, unlike the periodical indexes, without controlled vocabulary) as well as browsing by journal issues and tables of contents.
    JSTOR: Complete backfiles of major journals in PDF (15 in history), except for most recent five years.  Especially useful for finding full text of known articles, reviews of older works, and to trace early uses of a term
    Project MUSE: Most recent years of humanities and social science journals of academic presses, mostly in HTML, including 20 history titles.
  • History Cooperative: Recent issues of American Historical Review and Journal of American History, with other titles expected to follow.

I. Nature of History  II. Books  III. Articles in Periodicals  IV. Primary Sources  V. Professional Services

IV. Locating Primary Sources

A. Kinds of Primary Sources

Primary sources may be published, in which case the required skills are like those for finding books and periodicals; or unpublished, in which case these and other skills are needed. Unpublished sources are unique items. It is because they are so widely distributed and difficult to track down that the potential of the Internet for historians is so exciting. The same is true for many rare or older published sources:

  • Writings and correspondence of a person being studied
  • Newspapers contemporaneous to a period under study
  • Government publications, reports, or official records
  • Numerical data
  • Photographs and other images
  • Physical artifacts

B. Types of Source Repositories

C. Forms of Access at Tech

1. Source Publications

In the Online Catalog, use "sources" as part of a  keyword search.
Do the same in WorldCat to find source publications to be ordered via ILL.

2. Calendars

Calendars are chronological compilations of documents, often from various agencies While strictly preserving temporal context, they often obscure the institutional context.

3. Finding Aids and Guides

Archivists rarely catalog individual items in an archives, as this is impractical. Instead, they provide access to intact record groups or series based on provenance, or having a single records creator in common. The creator sketch and scope note in the finding aid for a record series or group then provides the basis for an AMC (Archives and Manuscript Control) catalog record. A guide is a published compilation of finding aids for one repository.

4. Catalogs

Catalogs provide summary information from finding aids' scope notes for multiple repositories. The most important of these is

I. Nature of History  II. Books  III. Articles in Periodicals  IV. Primary Sources  V. Professional Services

V. Professional Services

A. History Departments

B. Research Centers

C. Scholarly Associations

D. Electronic Discussion Groups

E. The Information Profession


 

F. Library Services for History at Texas Tech

I. Nature of History  II. Books  III. Articles in Periodicals  IV. Primary Sources  V. Professional Services

TTU Libraries are not responsible for the content of external sources.
Maintained by Jack Becker, Information Services Librarian for History.
[v] 806.742.2238 ext. 265   [f] 806.742.1964   [e] jack.becker@ttu.edu


 
TTU Libraries are not responsible for the content of external sources. For questions about this page, contact the Webmaster.

This page last modified on 31 Jan 2006, 07:16.


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