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USING THE HISTORIAN'S LIBRARY

(HISTORY SENIOR COLLOQUIUM)

state historical society The major historical collections on the UW-Madison Campus are Memorial Library and the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

State Historical Society of Wisconsin / Memorial Library / Finding Primary Sources / Important Collections of Primary Sources/ Primary Sources on the Library Website /Secondary Sources/ Finding Articles on Your Subject

top of page The State Historical Society of Wisconsin (http://www.shsw.wisc.edu/index.html)

The Library and Archives of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin are an outstanding resource for American history, and for any historian interested in the foreign relations of the United States. In addition to being a national and state resource, the SHSW Library and Archives are the American History Library for students at UW-Madison.

  • Library (http://www.shsw.wisc.edu/library/index.html). 2d floor of the SHSW building
  • Madcat (http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/) lists many of the items available at the SHSW Library, but you will need to ask the Reference librarians at the SHSW Library for help in finding the many other historical materials there which are not found in Madcat.
  • Archives (http://www.shsw.wisc.edu/archives/index.html). 4th floor of the SHSW building
  • Arcat (http://www.shsw.wisc.edu/archives/arcat.html)and the Archives' Searchable Online Finding Aids are the primary online resources for searching the holdings of the Archives Division of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. More information: Arcat Information (http://www.shsw.wisc.edu/archives/arcatinf.html)

top of page Memorial Library (http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/Memorial/)

Memorial Library includes all kinds of resources for history. Although its emphasis is on history of parts of the world outside of the United States, its collections of microfilm and microfiche, government materials, rare books, electronic databases and other materials provide useful materials for Americanists as well as in-depth resources for history of the rest of the world.

Madcat provides information about much of the materials available in Memorial Library. **History students need also to use the card catalog, located on the second floor of Memorial Library, to find older materials which are not listed in Madcat.**

In addition to the help provided by the Reference librarians (2d floor of Memorial Library), there are Subject Specialist Librarians who can help you as you research your senior thesis. Get in contact with your subject specialist librarian early in your project planning for advice on how to find the materials you need.

Other useful information about Memorial Library:

top of page FINDING PRIMARY SOURCES ("Doing" history)

LOCATING PRIMARY SOURCES USING MADCAT

Many primary sources are available in Memorial Library and at the Historical Society in published, not archival, form. In addition to looking things up by author and title, there are some MADCAT strategies that can help you locate these published primary sources.

  • Make use of the SUBJECT TERMS that are often assigned to published primary sources. Some of these are standardized and can work with many historical topics. You can use a keyword search to combine the basic historical subject term with subterms that are often used for primary sources. Some of the most useful subterms are:
    • SOURCES (often used for collections of historical documents),
    • CORRESPONDENCE (for collections of letters)
    • PERSONAL NARRATIVES (for diaries, memoirs, eyewitness accounts)
    • INTERVIEWS
    • Try as well: document? (for documentary histories) and diary or diaries

      Basic information on using keyword searching in Madcat http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/help/search.htm

      HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF A KEYWORD SEARCH FOR CIVIL WAR DIARIES BY WOMEN:

    madcat civil war search

     

  • If you are interested in a PERSON, look up that person as an AUTHOR. Anything by that person is a primary source
  • LOOK FOR MICROFILM OR MICROFICHE. This is a format that many primary sources come in

    FOR EXAMPLE: Search Madcat by Keyword: women AND wisconsin AND microfilm

    • Examples of Microfilm and Microfiche collections include:
      • HISTORY OF WOMEN (Memorial Library, Microforms/Media Center, Room 443)
      • CIVIL WAR UNIT HISTORIES ( Historical Society Library Microforms Room)
      • WOMEN AND VICTORIAN VALUES, c. 1837-1910 :ADVICE BOOKS, MANUALS AND JOURNALS FOR WOMEN (Memorial Library, Microforms/Media Center, Room 443)

      •  

  • Look for BIBLIOGRAPHIES OF PRIMARY SOURCES. Use the subject term "bibliography" as part of your MADCAT search.

    FOR EXAMPLE:

    civil war bibliography

    Examples of bibliographies of primary sources include:

    Arksey, Laura. American diaries: an annotated bibliography of published American diaries and journals to 1980. (Memorial Library Reference Stacks Room 262: CT214 A74 1983 and Historical Society Library)

    Messick, Frederic M. Primary sources in European diplomacy, 1914-1945 : a bibliography of published memoirs and diaries.( Memorial Library Reference Stacks Room 262: D443 M44 1987)

    Ferguson, Mary Anne. Bibliography of English translations from medieval sources (Memorial Library Reference Stacks Room 262 : Z6517 F47 and Memorial Library Stacks Regular Size Shelving Call Number: Z6517 F47 1974)

    ....there are many others

    Reference librarians and subject specialist librarians can help you find many more resources.

  • Look for materials at CRL (Center for Research Libraries)

    UW-Madison is a member of the Center for Research Libraries, an important repository for historical materials such as newspapers, microform collections, National Archives microfilm. Its collections are international. Many but not all CRL materials are listed in Madcat. These materials are available via Interlibrary Loan (http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/Memorial/ill.htm)

    CRL Website (http://wwwcrl.uchicago.edu/)

top of page IMPORTANT COLLECTIONS OF PRIMARY SOURCES

In addition to published primary sources found in the form of books, government publications, newspapers and periodicals in both Memorial Library and the State Historical Society Library, there are other locations in which primary sources make up most or all of the materials. Although some of the holdings of these collections are cataloged, many are not. Early in your research, you should plan to ask the librarians in these collections about these collections, how to access them, and what they might have for you.

These important collections include:

top of page PRIMARY SOURCES ON THE LIBRARY WEBSITE

The Web resources below are selected from and available via the E-BOOKS, E-TEXTS AND MULTIMEDIA section of UW-Madison Libraries Homepage (http://www.library.wisc.edu).

top of page FINDING INFORMATION ABOUT HISTORICAL SUBJECTS:SECONDARY SOURCES ("reading about history")

USING MADCAT TO FIND BOOKS ON YOUR SUBJECT:

Take advantage of the SUBJECT approach to MADCAT. If you know one good book on your topic, look it up and bring up the "FULL" display. Then click on the SUBJECT HEADINGS listed there to find other books on this topic.

    • Remember that "HISTORY" is used as a subject subterm for many topics, especially the history of places. It can often be combined with other terms as well.

      • For example: Subject = france history louis

      This will give you books on French history which are about any of the kings of France named Louis.

    • For books about a person, look up that person as a SUBJECT
    • For books about an event, try looking up that event as a SUBJECT

     

    • USE THE "BIBLIOGRAPHY" subterm to find books which list material written about your subject
      • for example do a GUIDED KEYWORD search: "vietnamese conflict" in SUBJECT and "bibliography" in SUBJECT

       

      • Useful bibliographies include:

        The American Historical Association's guide to historical literature / general editor, Mary Beth Norton. Locations: Historical Society Library Reading Room Call Number: Z6201 A55 1995 :Memorial Library Reference Stacks Room 262 Call Number: D20 A63 1995

        Harvard guide to American history/Frank Friedel. Location: Memorial Library Reference Stacks Room 262 Call Number: Z1236 F77 197

        ....and many others. Ask reference and subject specialist librarians to help you find and use these.

  • CAUTION! THERE ARE MANY TRICKS TO SUBJECT SEARCHING. BE SURE TO ASK REFERENCE LIBRARIANS FOR HELP IF MADCAT DOES NOT SEEM TO HAVE WHAT YOU WANT.

top of page FINDING ARTICLES ON YOUR SUBJECT:

The resources below are selected from and available via the JOURNALS, MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS section of the UW-Madison Libraries Homepage (http://www.library.wisc.edu). Don't hesitate to ask librarians for advice about the best resources for your particular subject.

If you are searching from your home computer, you can talk directly online with a Reference Librarian using Libraries Live Help:

GENERAL:

JSTOR is a fulltext database of more than 80 journals in the fields of African-American studies, history, and related subjects. It includes some of the most important journals for historians. **IMPORTANT**

Other databases which include some fulltext articles for historians are: Academic Search Full-Text, Gender Watch, Humanities Abstracts and Full-Text, Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, Social Sciences Index/Abstracts and Full-Text, ProQuest Research Library. Ethnic Newswatch (1990-to date) indexes 100 ethnic newspapers, magazines and other publications and provides the full text of the articles which can be displayed or printed.

HISTORICAL ABSTRACTS indexes and abstracts information in world history and the related social sciences and humanities, excluding the U.S. and Canada. America: History and Life provides for U.S. and Canadian coverage.) It lists articles covering the years 1450 to the present, including approximately 2100 periodicals published in 90 countries in 40 languages. Collections of essays, conference papers, dissertations, and books are also included. ***IMPORTANT***

ATLAS FULLTEXT PLUS contains citations to scholarly books, international journals, dissertations, and book reviews on theology and the practice of all world religions, as well as full-text of articles. . Aspects covered include education, ethics, history, liturgy, observances, and rites. It is only available from workstations in campus libraries.

PCI: PERIODICALS CONTENTS INDEX covers the 18th Century - through 1993. Contains citations for more than 3,500 social science and humanities journals published in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and Germany.

WEB OF SCIENCE (ARTS AND HUMANITIES)Web of Science is a combination of three databases: Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index. It indexes more than 8,000 peer-reviewed journals, providing complete bibliographic data and author abstracts. Every item of significance is listed: articles, reviews, letters, notes, corrections, and editorials. In addition to access by author, title, and institution, it is also possible to search by cited authors and to find articles sharing one or more cited reference. It is possible to search the three databases independently or in any combination.

AFRICA:

Use HISTORICAL ABSTRACTS

ASIA:

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ASIAN STUDIES lists journal articles about Asia in Western language journals and books. HISTORICAL ABSTRACTS (above) also includes Asia.

EUROPE, EASTERN:

ABSEES: AMERICAN BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SLAVIC AND EUROPEAN STUDIES covers North American scholarship on East-Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. It includes citations for journal articles, books, book chapters, book reviews, dissertations, government publications, and more. HISTORICAL ABSTRACTS (above) also includes Eastern Europe

EUROPE, WESTERN:

use HISTORICAL ABSTRACTS (above) for Western Europe from 1450 -- until now. Use International Medieval Bibliography - Online (IMB) for Western Europe from about 300 AD. to about 1500

CLASSICAL STUDIES:

Humanities Index (print and online) and Web of Science/ Arts and Humanities provide coverage of the basic journals in classical studies.For more complete coverage use:The DCB : Database of classical bibliography. Publisher: Atlanta : Scholars Press, 1995- Available on CD-ROM in the Reference Room, 262 Memorial Library.For years not covered in the electronic version, you will need to use: L'Annee Philologique, located in the Memorial Library Greek and Latin Reference Coll. Room 424 Call Number: Z7016 M35 A.

MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE:

International Medieval Bibliography - Online (IMB)) is the major resource for medivalists.

ITER :GATEWAY TO THE RENAISSANCE, covers 400-1700 AD but focuses on the Renaissance.

HISPANIC AMERICA:

HAPI ONLINE (Hispanic-American Periodical Index) contains worldwide information about Central and South America, Mexico, the Caribbean basin, the United States-Mexico border region, and Hispanics in the United States. It covers materials published in more than 400 key social science and humanities journals. HISTORICAL ABSTRACTS (above) also includes Mexico, Central, and South America.

U.S. HISTORY:

AMERICA:HISTORY AND LIFE indexes and abstracts more than 2100 social science and humanities journals in the field of United States and Canadian history. . ***IMPORTANT***

WOMEN'S STUDIES:

ViVa is a bibliography of citations to scholarly articles about women's and gender history. Articles published in English, French, German and Dutch are selected from more than a hundred European, American and Indian Journals.http://www.iisg.nl/~womhist/vivahome.html. HISTORICAL ABSTRACTS and AMERICA:HISTORY AND LIFE (above) also cover women's history.

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Compiled by:

Barbara Walden

European History Librarian/History Outreach Librarian, University of Wisconsin-Madison

for the History Senior Thesis Colloquium, Fall Semester, 2002



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European History: A Guide to Resources
This Site Created and Maintained by Barbara Walden
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© 2001, The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Last Update:September, 2002