SHANGHAI AND LOS ANGELES IN FACT, FICTION AND FANTASY
History 190-192
Professor Wasserstrom
Kay Collins
Interim History Research Librarian and
U.S. Government Information Librarian
Langson Library
(949) 824-7290
kcollins@uci.edu
Top of Page
Strategies for finding Primary Resources
Finding Books
Finding
Journal Articles
Selected
Primary Resources
UCI Libarary
Subject Guides
Special
Collections Around Southern California
General Hints
for Searching
- ANTPAC --to
locate books at UCI
- Melvyl
-- to locate books at all the UC Libraries. Expands your
search. Use "Request" button to have a book send to you at
UCI.
- WorldCat -- to
identify books which may not be in the UC system.
Use the Interlibrary Loan Request Form on ANTPAC to request copies on ILL.
- RLG
Union Catalog -- catalog of libraries and their books; many are
specialized and have different holdings from the other 3. Use the
Interlibrary Loan Request Form on ANTPAC to request copies on ILL.
- Center for Research Libraries
-- Unique resources available for loan. Various languages.
Some primary resources as well as secondary.
General:
- America History and Life --
dedicated to history articles for U.S.
and Canada.
Only database devoted to
history which also provides limiting the search to the time period being
researched. Can also limit a search to book
reviews. Try for articles about L.A.
- Historical Abstracts --
dedicatd to history articles for the rest of the world, other than the U.S.
and Canada.
Better for articles about Shanghai.
From the top drop down menu you can search both America History and
Life and Historical Abstracts at once.
- JSTOR -- search full-text of
articles. Do not look here for recent years. There is usually
a 3-5 year moving wall that does not include current titles
- Project Muse -- search
full-text articles. Includes current issues.
- Web of Science -- locate
scholarly articles on broad range of subject areas. Use the UCeLinks
button to help locate articles cited
- Readers' Guide Retrospective -- Index
to major and popular journals for most of
the 20th Century.
- The
Nation Digital Archive, 1865 forward -- The Nation has
long been a major publisher of outstanding articles on politics, economics
and social issues in the U.S.
- Periodical Archives Online and Periodicals Index Online -- Cover
articles in the humanities and social sciences back as far as 1770.
Various languages. The archive includes full-text articles but is
not as complete in its indexing and the Index. UCeLinks helps locate
articles not directly linked within the Index database.
- Humanities
Index -- Very complete index to the humanities, including some
unusual publications. Begins with publications 1984, including some
history.
- CQ Researcher Plus
Archives -- Great place to begin locating full-text background
information on important topic of the time. Best for subjects with a
national bent. Outstanding analyses of topics.
Subject Specific Databases:
- Sociological
Abstracts -- social aspects of your topic. Not devoted to
history but will include historical information
- PAIS
International and/or PAIS
Archive -- especially good for public affairs, including politics,
economics, some social coverage. The Archive best for the very early
years. Note, covers more than United
States.
- Cross search
several related databases at a
time. When you get to either the PAIS or Sociological Abstracts search screen, next to the
"Change" is a drop box. Use that to select the
"Subject Area" , Social
Sciences. Then do a keyword search.
- Urban Studies and Planning --
look for articles of an historical nature.
- Ethnic NewsWatch --
publications of all sorts, from 1960 to present. Ethnic and
minority publications. Make sure to select the right database Select
more databases box; there are 3 with varying time periods.
- Proquest Reference Asia -- (Sometimes
called Proquest Asian Business and Reference). Includes both Los
Angeles and Shanghai
article citations and a lot of full text articles.
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Selected Primary Resources online and off
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- Historical
New York Times --
- Historical
Los Angeles Times --
- Historical
Wall Street Journal --
- Search these
individually or all together. Must make sure
each box has a check in it by clicking on "Select more
databases" , scrolling to the bottom and selecting the titles
wanted. Can also select dates of coverage.
- Historical Newspapers on
microfilm can be found in Langson Library, Second Floor, Current Periodicals room. There are many Orange
County papers and selected
national newspapers like the Atlanta Constitution and the
Washington Post. This requires the user to browse the
paper, page by page and day by day. If you get a good date from
using one of the Historical papers listed above, it can help pin point a
range of dates.
- If you wish to make
copies of pages, one option is to take the film down to the first floor
once you have identified your pages. There you can download to a
memory stick or burn a CD from a blank that you bring.
- More current
issues of New York Times, Los
Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal.
- To search all of each
of these papers, click on " Select more
databases", then select the paper of database you want to
search. These 3 are under Proquest Newspapers.
- Newspapers for the last 5 to
10 years can be searched via Access
World News and LexisNexis
Academic (newspaper section). Be sure to use their
Help and Tips sections as searching full text is unique and different than
each other and other databases.
- Cities
Around the World -- photographs from cities around the world,
including L.A. and Shanghai.
From the collection of the American Geographical Society Library.
From street scenes to work places, a picture might help.
- LexisNexis Congressional --
Can limit search by date range and type of
Congressional Publication. Use ANTPAC and Melvyl to locate
copies. Covers topics from sidewalks to urban sprawl.
- Archive of Americana --
Composed of several resources about early U.S.,
from early books of fiction to newspapers and gaovernment documents.
Be sure to check the dates of the resource. Can search them all at
once or each set separately. The U.S. Congressional Serial Set
covers the early part of your time period. Use the indexing in LexisNexis
Congressional (above) to identify later publications in the Serial Set
and from other historical Congressional Publications.
- House of Commons
Parliamentary Papers

The House of Commons Parliamentary Papers are vital to the historical
record of Britain,
its former Colonies and the wider world. They are among the richest and
most detailed primary sources for the history of the 19th Century.
- Empire Online

"This database is being published in five sections between 2003 and
2007 offering approximately 60,000 images of original documents linked to
essays by leading scholars in the field of Empire Studies. The sections
cover Cultural Contacts, 1492-1969 (2003); Empire Writing and the
Literature of Empire (2003/4); The Visible Empire (2004/5); Religion and
Empire (2005/6); and Race, Class and Colonialism, c1783-1969
(2006/7)." Texts in English principally, also French, Portuguese,
Spanish, German. Can search by topic or place or name. Limit to time
period needed.
- Calisphere
-- University of California
gateway to primary resources. Though aimed at teachers, can help
with many other users as well.
- Best of History Web
Sites -- Can select type or time of history and web sites of
primary history sites are ranked and linked.
- Tutorial for finding
primary resources -- Best part
gives examples of how to locate primary resources in books. E.g.,
memoirs, autobiographies, letters, interviews, diaries, etc.
- 19th Century Masterfile --
Indexes 19th Century Literature, including books, newspapers,
periodicals and government publications. Most do not have full-text
links. Use the index to locate the titles. Can limit search by
date.
- Nineteenth Century
microfiche collection of various literature.
The paper indexes are in order by author. To gain subject access to
the fiche, there is a CD-ROM in the Langson
Library Multimedia
Resources Center.
(Microfiche M 218).
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UCI Library Subject Guides
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Created by subject librarians to help locate information sources by general
subject, some of these may be of help with specialized topics. Remember,
many of the online resources may include publications that go back as far as
you like. Just look for material that they cite that might cover your
time period. Many resources will include some historical
information.
These Subject Guides are all linked off of the Library Home Page. Some you may want
to consider:
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Special Collections around Southern
California
|
- UCI
Libraries Special Collections -- Specializes in Orange
County and California
collections but also have much more, including Los
Angeles. Books are cataloged in
ANTPAC. But also have special collections of papers, UCI Archives,
etc. Can help identify collections where a visit might prove
fruitful.
- Online Archive of California -- Look
here for indexes and user guides to historical special collections in
various libraries throughout California.
Some is available online, others require visiting the institution.
- County
Archives -- Most counties have
a governmental archive. These are usually official government
archives.
- University government
documents and also Special Collections. Some of the university
archives also collect for a specific county, e.g., UCI collects for Orange
County in the Government
Information Section; UCLA collects for Los Angeles,
etc.
- Major public libraries may
also have archives of publications. For instance, Anaheim Public has
an Orange County Archive and Los Angeles Public Library has some great
resources. They have a Regional
History page
- USC has a strong LA
collection. Check out their Archival
Research Center. They have an LA page .
- Southern
California Library for Social Science Research is strong in
labor and social justice history in LA.
- County
History Societies -- most
counties have a history society and they can be very helpful in locating
county history resources
- Special Subject Archives --
For instance Chinatown has an archive. Some
major organizations might have an archive. You might need to check
for a web page or call them for information.
Retuirn to
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General Hints for Searching
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- Descriptive terms to describe
some topics have changed over time. Search on all that might
apply. Not all the databases have a controlled
vocabulary and are searching full-text resources so selected terms
can be important. e.g., Negro -> Blacks -> African Americans;
or, Chinese, Chinaman, coolie, etc. Not always what we currently use
or politically correct.
- Advanced search screens often
provide added ways to either expand or limit a search
- Some of the indexes that
include your time period may not be online. You may need to consult
paper indexes. I can help guide you depending upon your topic.
- Begin your research early.
You will probably be requesting resources via ILL
and that takes time.
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FINDING PRIMARY
RESOURCES: A Suggested Strategy
|
NOTE:
The resources listed on this web page is not all that
is available. Your specific topic or time period may help identify other
potential sources. Watch your reading of articles and books for leads to
others specific to your topic. If you need further help, I would suggest
you contact me directly rather than using the ASK A LIBRARIAN link on the
Library Web Page. Kay Collins, kcollins@uci.edu
Tutorial
on Primary ResourcesTutorial on
Primary Resources—If you are just
beginning to work with primary resources, this tutorial, in 2 parts, might be
useful. Especially helpful is the list of terms to use when searching
books and looking for primary resources which is found in the second part of
the tutorial.
Books
as Primary Resources—Books can either be primary resources or through
its bibliography and footnotes, point you to related primary resources. Use the terms
from the tutorial to help. Sample search: Advanced
Search: keywords Los Angeles
and gang* then as Subject: biography (Or,
use the other terms in later searches depending on your topic)
Government
Documents: Almost every government document (U.S.,
California,
Orange
County,
Los Angeles)
is considered a primary resource. These can be identified from several
places:
- ANTPAC or Melvyl
- GPO via First Search
(publication dates are mostly after your class topic dates, but historical
information can be found)
- Catalog of U. S. Government Publications
(publication dates are mostly after your class topic dates, but historical
information can be found)
- U.
S. Executive Branch Documents,
1789-1909 (Langson Reference J83 U2 1990)
- U.
S. Executive Branch Documents,
1910-1932 (Langson Reference Z 1223 Z7 C59 1990) If the
publications listed here are not at UCI, the microfiche can be requested
via ILL from the California
State Library
- Monthly Catalog of U.S.
Government Publications (Langson Reference Z 1223 A18
) Covers all years.
- Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of the United
States Goverment Publications,
1900-1971. A quick way to search by subject. If you do not
find your specific topic, try a broader one or think of another
synonym.
- Ask a Government Information
Librarian and use their subject guides
Special
Collections at UCI or others in the State
- Many (but not all) of the
books in UCI’s Special Collections Dept. are cataloged and in
ANTPAC.
- Online Archive of California
describes special archives of collections. Search by keyword.
You can also limit by specific library if you want to, e.g., UCI or UCLA
Online
Resources—The guide
above contains links to many potential resources. These are not all
of them, but some of the more likely ones. Which one(s) to use will
depend upon your selected subject, time period, etc.
Ones that have often been useful are
- Newspapers like the Los
Angeles Times, Historical
- LexisNexis Congressional
- Use of the Subject Guides linked from the Library Home
Page can often provide some links to useful resources.
Microfilm or Microfiche--
- UCI has numerous collections
of microforms on a variety of topics. They have guides, either
online or in paper. Depending on your topic, you may need help in
identifying sets that might apply to your topic. Ask Kay Collins
kcollins@uci.edu..
- Orange
County Register--while
the early Los Angeles Times is available online, the older Orange County
Newspapers are available in Microfilm. These are located
in the cabinets in the Langson Library Current Periodicals Room.
- There is a microform
reader/printer connected to a computer down on the first floor of Langson
Library. You can either burn a CD or
download to a flash drive as well as print out articles. Print costs
$0.50/page, while the other just requires you to bring the download
medium.
- Microforms can be requested
from other libraries if UCI does not own them.
Last updated 5 July 2007