American History Research

Developing a Search Strategy

• Look at our dictionaries and encyclopedias located in the reference collection for definitions of terms related to your topic and for general background information.
• Search our databases and journal collection to find recent articles on your topic.
• Search the Library Resource Catalog for resources relating to your topic.

Reference Collection

The reference collection is located on the main floor of the library. Some useful resources include:

• The ABC-CLIO Companion to the 1960s Counterculture in America
  Looks at the major individuals, groups, and events of the 1960s.
  Call Number: E169.O2 H3515 1997
• American National Biography
  Gives brief biographical information on the lives of major American figures.
  Call Number: CT213.A68 1999 24 vols.
• The American Revolution : an Encyclopedia
  Provides summaries of military and naval developments for the 1775-1783 era; explains political and diplomatic themes; and includes essays on famous and lesser-known generals, colonels, admirals, sea captains, partisan leaders, Loyalist figures, frontiersmen, Indian chiefs, and enlisted men.
  Call Number: E208.A433 2 vols.
• The Asian American Encyclopedia
  Looks at Asian immigrant experience, including Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, Japanese Americans, Asian Indian Americans, Vietnamese Americans, and so forth.
  Call Number: E184.O6 A827 1995 6 vols.
• Dictionary of American Biography
  Provides biographical essays on noteworthy Americans from the Colonial Period to the present.
  Call Number: E176.D563
• Documents of American History
  Includes significant documents from 1492 through 1898.
  Call Number: E173.D59 1988 v.1
• Encyclopedia of African-American Civil Rights
  Surveys the individual activists, organizations, newspapers, events, and legislation of the Civil Rights Movement.
  Call Number: E185.61.E54 1992
• Encyclopedia of American Political History
  Covers major issues, themes, institutions, processes, and developments throughout American history.
  Call Number: E183.E5 1984 3 vols.
• The Hispanic-American Almanac
  Covers the range of Hispanic civilization and culture in the United States.
  Call Number: E184.S75 H557 1993
• The Reader's Companion to American History
  Gives short essays describing important American events and people.
  Call Number: E174.R43 1991

Journals--print and online

The Newbury College Library provides access to scholarly and popular articles in both print and online format. Magazines, journals, and newspapers are known as periodicals. Search the Library Resource Catalog by Journal Title to determine if the Library subscribes to a particular title.

Full-text articles are accessible by using the Library's databases. Home access requires using a valid Newbury College library card. These databases provide access to full-text articles, abstracts (short summaries of the articles), and extended citations (the title, source, date, issue, and page numbers of the article). Full-text articles may be printed within the Library. To retrieve articles that are only available as abstracts or extended citations, you should first check our Periodical Holdings List to locate the articles in hard copy or request them from Interlibrary Loan--see the Reference Librarian for help. The following databases are useful for researching topics in American history:

• Expanded Academic Index ASAP
  Provides full-text articles from general, special, and academic periodicals, including topics in American history.
• General Reference Center Gold
  Provides access to full-text articles from general interest magazines, including American Heritage and History Today.
• JSTOR
  Provides full-text articles from back issues of journals published in the following subject areas: African American Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, Ecology, Economics, Education, Finance, History, Literature, Mathematics, Philosophy, Political Science, Population Studies, Sociology, and Statistics.

Library Resource Catalog

• If you are searching for resources within the Library, the catalog displays its items first. You can also choose to search all Minuteman libraries at once or specify another location.
• You may search for resources by Location, Keyword, Author, Title, Journal Title, Format or Subject Heading.
• The item record displays where a resource is located along with its call number and availability.
• The call number identifies where a book or other library resource is located in the library. The Newbury College Library uses the Library of Congress (LC) Classification System, which is comprised of 21 categories with numerous subdivisions under each category. Browse the following subdivisions for relevant information:

Read a call number line by line: