Library Research Guide for History Classes
Print Resources
Accessible
through the College of the Canyons Web site,
the
online catalog
will indicate what we own and where it
is located in the collection. For example: find resources on
history-related topics you may want to start by opening the online
catalog and selecting the Subject search option. After you type in
"United States History
” as a subject you will see a number of
different Library of Congress subject headings listed.
To actually a listing of the materials (which
will include both books and visual materials), click on the number on the
left-hand column. The individual item records will provide
you with the following information: the call number of the item, the type
of material (i.e. book, video recording, DVD, pamphlet), any special location
for the items (reserve room, media reserves, reference, etc.), and will tell you
whether or not the item is available. Example:
Main Author: Garraty, John Arthur,
Title: The American nation : a history of the United States / Primary
Material: Book Physical Description: 1 v. (various pagings) : ill. (some col.),
col. maps ; 26 cm. Publisher: New York : HarperCollins College Publishers,
c1995.
Location: Main Stacks Call Number:
E178.1 .G242 1995 Number of Items: 1
Status: Not Checked Out
Also, it is important to keep in mind
that many useful materials are in the reference area (behind the reference
desk.) Unlike the books in the Main Stacks, reference books cannot be taken out
of the library. But you may photocopy the pages that you need. Example of
reference book:
Title: Handbook of North American Indians / Primary Material: Book Physical
Description: v. : ill. ; 29 cm. Publisher: Washington : Smithsonian Institution
: for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1978-1996
Location: Reference Call Number:
E76.2 .H36
Electronic Resources
Subscription
databases at College of the Canyons Library
(Note: to use
the following three databases from off-campus you need to obtain a password.
Please see a librarian to obtain this information.
-
Daily Life Through
History: This database is a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary resource
that supports history, social studies, English, and language students; gives
life to history and context to current events. All of the articles and entries
found on this database are extracted from reference books and research journals.
From the main page you can search by chronological period or geographic
location:
-
Biography
Resource Center
is
a database that features biographical information on more than 165,000
individuals. It covers a wide range of historical periods, disciplines, and
subject areas. The information that
you have access to is drawn from a number of different (mainly) secondary sources. The
entries and articles that you may retrieve are written by journalists, noted scholars, and subject experts
. In many cases you may also be able
to see additional information including bibliographies and links to pertinent
sites on the World Wide Web.
You also find detailed articles on important figures throughout U.S.
history. Example:
-
Encyclopedia
Britannica is an excellent source for finding well-researched and
documented articles on all manner of historical topics. All articles have
been authored by scholars and often include maps, graphs and links to
additional quality resources. There is also the ability to email the
articles and get documentation citing the articles in MLA and APA formats.
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ProQuest
Direct is a database consisting of citations, abstracts and in many
cases full-text articles from over
ten thousand publications, including magazines, newspapers and academic journals. You may save the articles by printing them out, downloading to
diskette, or emailing them to your account.
You may search for your topic from the main page by typing your topic
into the search box. This will direct you to a list of subjects that best match
your topic. By clicking on "View documents" you will be directed
to the articles. You may also select subtopics by clicking on "Narrow by related
topic" Once you retrieve the results, you may mark and email the articles. ProQuest is a large, complex database that allows for numerous
article retrieval options. Please consult a librarian for help in using this
resource or see our
research guide on how to use ProQuest.
-
NetLibrary: COC's
collection of electronic books, eBooks, from NetLibrary. It currently 3000+
titles and can be accessed off-campus through user name and password.
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