K392: "Paths in History"
I. Research using online catalogs and indexes
Use IUCAT (Indiana University Libraries Catalog) to find both primary and secondary sources in the IUB Libraries.
The Keyword or Exact search screen is the default option. Use Exact when you know the author or title of a book, or when you have a citation to a journal article that is not available full text. Enter the title of the journal (not the title of the article) and click on Periodical Title.
Keyword/Keyword Anywhere searches can be a good way to get a quick idea of what is available on your topic, but you’ll often have to sort through a huge set of results.
Example: keyword search for historiography
Using Library of Congress subject heading often produces better search results. Sometimes you have to try a few keyword searches first to discover the subject headings, but you can also try using the IUCAT Browse screen.
Example: browse for historiography united states
Use Advanced Keyword Search to limit results by date, language or format, or to combine keyword and subject searches.
Example: limit a keyword search by date, or use history and sources as subject terms, combined with keywords, to find published primary source materials
WorldCat is similar to IUCAT, but MUCH bigger. It combines the library catalogs of most of the libraries in the US and several large international libraries. Since it’s such a huge database, it has more flexible and complex search options. Take a look at the search limits on the bottom half of the search screen. You can search for many different formats and types of materials.
Example: use WorldCat to search for unpublished primary source materials on microfilm. (Here’s how.)
Historical Abstacts and America: History and Life are electronic indexes to thousands of history journals. All the articles you’ll find in these databases either available fulltext (through JSTOR, an electronic archive of scholarly journals and other online sources) or in print in the Library. (Click on the IU-Link button to locate.)
The Advanced Search screen provides more search options. Use the browsable indexes for "Time Period" "Document Type" and "Subject Terms" to improve your search results.
Depending on the field you are working on within history, you may need to use the core research tools of other subject areas. Use the IUB Libraries' Resources by Subject page to discover these resources.
II. Where are the primary sources?
Many collections of primary sources are available in digitized form now. These (often searchable) full text primary sources have only existed for the last 10-15 years. It’s not clear yet how this type of resource will impact historical scholarship--let's find out! Use them and see what kind of research you can do with them. So far, these resources are heavily weighted towards British and American materials. English-language books, journals and newspapers, from the 15th through the 21st century, are available in big online collections such as Early English Books Online, Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Early American Imprints, Early American Newspapers Series I, II & III, American Periodicals Series Online, the New York Times and the London Times.
There are also many smaller collections on specific topics, such as American Civil War: Letters & Diaries, or the collections available in the Library of Congress American Memory site. (Visit theeuropeanlibrary.org for similar collections from EU countries.) The IUB Libraries pages are a good place to start exploring resources that the Libraries own or subscribe to; for free resources, try web portal sites like the WWW Virtual Library for History.
All of this said, the vast majority of primary source materials that make up the “raw material” of history are still only available in their original, usually paper, form. These materials are usually found in archives and rare book libraries, such as IU’s Lilly Library. Much of the Lilly Library’s collection is NOT in IUCAT, so you will need to consult the more detailed finding aids to their collection to get a full sense of what is available there. Repositories of Primary Sources is a web directory of thousands of libraries, archives and museums around the world, with collections of source material.
Last updated October 10, 2007 by Celestina Savonius-Wroth, cewroth@indiana.edu
