Historical Research: A Research Guide

Reference Books

Album of American History. New York: Scribners, 1944- . R 973.022 A345

Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Scribner's, 1957- . R 920.07 D554

Dictionary of American History. New York: Scribners, 1976-1978. R 973.03 D554a

Iowa Official Register. Des Moines: State of Iowa, 2005. R 328.777 I64o 2005-06.

Petersen, William John, Iowa History Reference Guide. Iowa City: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1952. R 977.7 P44

Petersen, William John, The Story of Iowa: the Progress of an American State. New York: Lewis Historical Publ, 1952. R 977.7 P44

Electronic Reference Books (Password required from off campus)

Tompkins, Vincent, Ed. American Decades. Detroit: Gale, 2001. 5690 pp. 10 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Thomson Gale.

Rose, Cynthia, Ed. American Decades: Primary Sources. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 6906 pp. 10 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Thomson Gale.

Kutler, Stanley I., Ed. Dictionary of American History, 3rd ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 5539 pp. 10 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Thomson Gale.

Trager, James, Ed. The People's Chronology. 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Thomson Gale.

Journal databases (library web page)

EBSCOhost Academic Search Premier

(Password required from off campus)

Issues & Controversies in American History

Google Scholar

Web Sites

NIACC Library Web Page http://www.niacc.edu/library/

National History Day – Research Central

http://www.nhd.org/ResearchSources.htm

National History Day – Iowa

http://www.nhd.org/Iowa.htm

The Iowa Heritage Digital Collections http://iowaheritage.org/

State Historical Society of Iowa

Cultural & Educational Links

http://www.iowahistory.org/links/index.html

Archives & Records Program

http://www.iowahistory.org/archives/index.html

Iowa History Project http://iagenweb.org/history/

American Women’s History: a Research Guide http://www.mtsu.edu/~kmiddlet/history/women.html

Infomine http://infomine.ucr.edu/index.html

Academic Info http://www.academicinfo.net/hist.html

Best of History Web Sites http://www.besthistorysites.net/

Veterans History Project http://www.loc.gov/vets/

History on the Web http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/history/tm/

Primary Sources on the Web http://www.eduplace.com/ss/hmss/primary.html

Iowa Magazines (NIACC doesn’t own, but check WorldCat for availability in Iowa Libraries)

Annals of Iowa

Iowa Journal of History & Politics

Iowa History Illustrated (Palimpsest)

Books

Search for books in the library’s Online Library Catalog (library web page). Suggested call numbers: 977.7 (Iowa History), 973 (U.S. History) 305.42 (Women’s History), NetLibrary (Electronic books).

Search for books in other libraries by using WorldCat or SILO Locator (library web page). Ask your local librarian or teacher librarian about Interlibrary Loan.

Research Tips & Helps

Doing History: a Guide to Historical Research http://www.lawrence.edu/dept/history/HistoryResearchGuides.htm

Guides for Citing Sources

http://www.niacc.edu/library/citation.htm

Making Sense of Oral History

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/oral/

Primary Sources Research http://www.library.yale.edu/ref/err/primsrcs.htm

Step-by-Step Guide to Oral History

http://dohistory.org/on_your_own/toolkit/oralHistory.html

Using Primary Sources on the Web http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/History/RUSA/

Web Site Evaluation Guide http://www.library.uni.edu/instruction/guidewebevaluation.pdf

Compiled by Karen Dole, NIACC Librarian 8/07