History

This and other research guides are on the ACC Library web page under
Research Guides & Tutorials: http://library.sunyacc.edu

Adirondack Community College, 640 Bay Road, Queensbury, NY 12804
(518) 743-2260

Books | Reference books | Articles | Web sites

At any point in your research, please consult a reference librarian. Librarians are available whenever the library is open at (518) 743-2200 ext. 2462. Library hours are listed on the ACC Library's home page: http://library.sunyacc.edu.

Finding Books:

To find books or multimedia items, search the ACC book catalog (ACC Library web page > Finding Books > Catalog):

• Reference books, on the library’s main floor, don’t leave the library, so are always available.
• Circulating books, on the upper level of the library, may be checked out for four weeks.
• Videos, DVDs and music CDs may be borrowed by faculty. Students may use equipment near the video/DVD shelves.

Search tip: Start with a keyword search. When you find an interesting book, look for the subject headings in the book's online description. Click on any that refine your search best. Here are some subject headings to consider using:

Reference Books:

Reference books, on the main floor, can help you select a research topic. They also offer quick background information and overviews on subjects.

In t he Library of Congress call number system, "D" is the call number for World and European history. Books on American history are under the "E" and "F" call numbers.

Before writing your paper, look at this book. It offers information on history topic selection, starting your research, writing about history, evaluating sources, building an argument, using footnotes and much more: Writing history: A guide for students by William Kelleher Storey Ref. D 16 .S864 2004 (Note: acopyis kept at the Reference Desk)

To get an overview of your subject, you may want to browse through reference books such as:

World History:

American History:

CQ's Electronic Encyclopedia of American Government:
This database offers thousands of concise, up-to-date explanations of the who, how, and why of American democracy.
It is under this link: ACC Library Web page > Finding Books > Reference.

Gale Virtual Reference Library:

You can search thousands of full-text chapters from more than 250 reference books published by Gale Cengage Learning. The ACC Library owns many of these books in printed format also. The Document Title search will search for your term in the chapter titles, giving you full-text chapters from the reference books. The content is the exactly the same as the original printed books. Find this database with these links: ACC Library Web page > Finding Books > Reference > Gale Virtual Reference Library. (Note: This is a subscription database. ACC students, faculty and staff may log in from off-campus with their campus network user names and passwords.)

American Civil War Reference Library, 2000
American Revolution Reference Library, 2000
Dictionary of American History, 3rd Ed., 2003
Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy, 2nd Ed., 2002
Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, 2nd Ed., 2000
Encyclopedia of the Great Depression, 2004
Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa, 2nd Ed., 2004
Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World , 2004
Europe, 1789-1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of Industry and Empire, 2006
Europe since 1914: Encyclopedia of tehe Age of War and Reconstruction, 2007
French and Indian War, 2003
Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, 1999
History behind the Headlines: The Origins of Conflicts Worldwide, 2003
Reference Guide to Holocaust Literature, 2002
Renaissance: An Encyclopedia for Students, 2004

Finding Articles:

Journal articles offer current and specific information and research. Search for journal articles by subject through any of the ACC Library's dozens of article databases. Many but not all offer full-text links to articles. (If needed, ask a reference librarian about finding an article though another database, print sources or interlibrary loan if it's not full-text.).

Article databases are subscription-only products. ACC students and faculty may search these from home by following screen directions. To get your ACC student username and password, see Lookup Account and Password on the Student Portal page. For a full list of journals ACC Library receives, see the online Periodicals at ACC list or check the card file at the Circulation Desk.

From the ACC Library Web page, go to Finding Articles. Then, choose either:

• General Databases to find articles on a current, popular or multidisciplinary topic and need a mix of newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals; or
• Subject Databases to find specialized articles on one subject only, such as business, science, literature, nursing, etc.

Among the General Databases are:
● EBSCO's Academic Search Premier: Over 8000 journals; about half are full-text.
● JSTOR: full-text; 117 journals covering the arts, sciences and social sciences.
● New York Times: Current (1980-present) and historical editions (1851-2003).
● WilsonSelectPlus: Completely full-text; 1+ million articles from 1400 journals.
● New York State Newspapers: includes New York Times full-text.
● Opposing Viewpoints, CQ Researcher, more.

JSTOR:
JSTOR is the best database to start your history research. Before you click on the JSTOR link on the General Databases page, read our tips on that page. Here's a 2-minute narrated Flash tutorial produced by JSTOR demonstrating how to search this database: http://www.jstor.org/templates/jsp/_jstor/templates/info/about/archives/tutorials/Search_Tutorial.swf
(Note: Tutorial loops at end.)


HarpWeek:
Under the Subject Databases link, HarpWeek could be useful for for history research. It offers full-text articles with pictures from Harper's Weekly magazine's Civil War issues, from 1857- 1865.

History Journal Articles:   In Periodicals area on main floor
ACC Library subscribes to thousands of periodicals online and hundreds in paper form, such as:

Recommended print indexes:                            (To find articles over 20 years old)

The ACC Library has the New York Times on microfilm back to the 1850s, when the newspaper started. We also now have the fulltext New York Times Current (1980-present) and Historical (1851-2003) databases, under Finding Articles > General Databases. Use ProQuest's Print button for best results.

Citing information with Chicago style:
Refer to the Writing History book mentioned above and other writing guides at the Reference Desk. Remember that articles from an electronic source are cited differently than articles from print journals.

Citation Style Guides: http://dept.sccd.ctc.edu/cclib/Research_Help/Citation_Style_Guides/default.asp
This collection of citation guide guides from the Libraries of Seattle Community Colleges includes information on Chicago/Turabian style.

Web sites:

Here are some recommended Web sites. Of the billions of Web sites in the world, these are more appropriate for college-level research.

Maps:

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps
From Perry-Castañeda Library at University at Texas at Austin; large collection of historical maps. Downloading takes some time for these graphic images.  Many links to other historical maps.

World War II Military Situation Maps, 1944-1945
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/maps/wwii/
From Library of Congress' American Memory collection. View  416 maps and 115 reports on troop positions as Allied Forces move towards Germany, from D-Day Invasion on June 6, 1944 to July 26, 1945. Browse by subject, place, date, more.

Librarian's Internet Index
http://lii.org
Type in "Maps" or "Historical geography Maps" or the name of a country or location.

History: written, pictorial, spoken, filmed

Best of History Web Site
http://www.besthistorysites.net/
Best of History Web Sites is an award-winning portal that contains annotated links to over 1000 history web sites as well links to hundreds of quality K-12 history lesson plans, history teacher guides, history activities, history games, history quizzes, and more."  Quote taken from the website

H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online
http://www.h-net.org/
Electronic discussion groups, essays, more by scholars and teachers on wide variety of historical topics. Based at Michigan State University.

Library of Congress American Memory Project:
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/   
American Memory site offers "written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience."

National Archives
http://www.archives.gov 
Online access to original U.S. historical documents: treaties, laws, presidential papers, veterans' information, much more, from U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

Foreign Relations of the United States
http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/FRUS/
From University of Wisconsin' sDigital Library. The FRUS series is "the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions that have been declassified and edited for publication," from 1860-1960.

University of Rochester Rare Books & Special Collections: Lincoln and His
Circle
http://www.library.rochester.edu/index.cfm?page=379
The project "seeks to digitize and make available the letters to, from, and about Abraham Lincoln that are held in the collections of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at the University of Rochester." Includes
letters from Edwin M. Stanton (Secretary of War); Salmon P.Chase, (Secretary of the Treasury); President Lincoln; William H. Seward (Secretary of State) and many others.


The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799
http://etext.virginia.edu/washington/fitzpatrick/
Washington Resources at the University of Virginia Library

Librarians Internet Index: History Web Sites
http://lii.org/
This subject directory lists top Web sites on many subjects. Click "History" link (under Arts and Humanities). Choose a subdivision such as "United States History," "History by place," "Wars and conflicts," etc.

Univ. at Albany Libraries' History page:
http://library.albany.edu/subject/history.htm
Large Web site from University at Albany listing Web sites for world, U.S. and New York history. 

For more information:

Consult a reference librarian at any point in your research. You may also want to see other online ACC Library research guides.

Updated June 2008/JM/BDA/FS