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Gender and Colonialism Professor Laura Mitchell Winter Quarter 2004 Finding and Using Primary Sources |
Librarian contacts:
| Bill Landis
Manuscripts Librarian Special Collection and Archives 500 Langson Library 824-3113 blandis@uci.edu |
Joan Ariel
Research Librarian for History 386 Langson Library 824-4970 jariel@uci.edu |
The following general resources are good starting points for your research:
The guide covers the following areas:
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Tertiary sources include bibliographies, indexes, abstracts, encyclopedias, and other reference resources.
Secondary sources are those that analyze, assess, or interpret a topic under investigation, typically utilizing primary sources to do so.
Primary sources (adapted from a definition on the Yale University Library Web site) are firsthand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. The nature and value of a source cannot be determined without reference to the topic and questions it is meant to answer. The same document, or other piece of evidence, may be a primary source in one investigation and secondary in another. The search for primary sources does not, therefore, automatically include or exclude any format of research materials or type of records, documents, or publications.
Primary sources typically can include archives and manuscript material, photographs, letters and diaries, scrapbooks, newspapers and clippings, government publications, oral histories, magazines, published books, printed ephemera, and video and audio recordings.IMPORTANT: Note that these categories are not mutually exclusive. You might, for example, use an index created in the 1950s (a tertiary source in the categories above) as a primary source for terminology used to name events, groups, or concepts in the 1950s.
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Start with topical analysis
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Although there are many sources for beginning to think about your topic and the various terms that might be used to represent it in indexes, bibliographies, databases, and catalogs, the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) is a good place to start in tracking terms that are useful in your research. LCSH is the basis for subject indexing of resources available in the ANTPAC (UCI) and MELVYL (UC-wide) library catalogs. Subject indexing terms can be a powerful search tool in many online catalogs and indexing databases, and these same subject headings found in records for known items can lead serendipitously to other interesting resources. A subject heading is a word or term that describes, often quite broadly, the contents of an information resource. "Authorized" headings for U.S. libraries are generally those found in LCSH, a five-volume set with a bright red cover located in the Langson Library's Reference Area (1st floor). In addition to usage in catalog records for books, videotapes, and other library resources, many abstracting and indexing databases of articles use LCSH as the basis for their subject indexing.
The following is a highly selective list of subject headings that might prove useful in looking for information resources on the very broad topics of gender and colonialism. Finding the terms "Sources" or "Archival resources" appended to any of the subject headings below on a record in an online catalog is an indication that the item you've found is substantially composed of primary source material. Note, however, that these terms are applied unevenly by catalogers and indexers, so not finding them does not mean something is not a potential primary source.
Many of these terms can be subdivisions of, or subdivided by geographic
regions (e.g., Africa--Dependency on foreign countries, Anti-imperialist
movements--Asia, Southeastern)
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The following is a highly selective list of titles, located in the Reference area on the first floor of the Langson Library, that might be useful for finding terminology, names, dates, overviews, and events relating to research topics for this class. UCI Libraries call numbers are included in parentheses following the resource title.
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| ANTPAC |
ANTPAC provides quick and efficient access to the holdings of the UCI Libraries. ANTPAC should be your first stop for accessing books, periodicals, media, and other research materials.
ANTPAC is available via a Web interface in the UCI Libraries as well as from home or office. You can access ANTPAC via the UCI Libraries homepage (http://www.lib.uci.edu/) or directly (http://antpac.lib.uci.edu/).
Output options: Remember that you can mark records in ANTPAC, assemble a list of those marked records, and export that list to yourself via e-mail.
| Melvyl |
If your ANTPAC search does not produce the desired results, or if you want to expand your retrieval of materials, you will want to search the holdings of other libraries, particularly other UC libraries. The California Digital Library (CDL) Melvyl catalog (http://melvyl.cdlib.org/) opens doors to worlds beyond UCI.
To research a topic, select Subject or Power search. Subject searches require word(s) from authorized LC subject headings. Power searches allow you to combine search types (including title words, subject, or exact subject) and, if desired, to limit your retrieval by date, language, or library location.
Save: Use the Save feature to create your own topic bibliography within a single database or across several databases. Once you have saved the items for your bibliography, click on Saved Lists to view, print, e-mail, or download. Make sure you give your list a relevant subject, indicating topic and date. You may also want to add an annotation for your list indicating the databases you searched.
Output options: You can e-mail, print, or download your search results.
Request: You can also request materials identified in a Melvyl search via the Request option (as long as the items are not currently available at UCI). Keep in mind, however, that Interlibrary Loan can occasionally be a slow process, best undertaken at the beginning of your research.
| Articles: Periodical Indexing and Abstracting Services |
The most convenient direct access to periodical indexes and abstracts is through the UCI Libraries website's Article Databases (http://www.lib.uci.edu/online/databases.html). Here you will find an alphabetical listing of all indexes and abstracts available through CDL or licensed directly by the UCI Libraries.
Periodical indexes, whether online or print, can be very useful for finding primary sources, both in examining sources cited in footnotes in secondary analyses, and in finding materials published contemporaneously with topics or events that you are researching.
Note: Always pay attention to the type and chronological scope of the database you are using as you select your search terms.
See Joan Ariel's Library Research Guide for this class for information on and links to specific databases: http://sun3.lib.uci.edu/%7Ejariel/190GenderColonialism.html
| Articles: Full-text Journals and Newspapers Available on the Web |
Full-text journals, surprisingly even academic journals, as well as newspapers may be useful as primary sources for research topics for this course.
| Specialized Internet Resources |
Although the Internet provides access to information resources that
are often of dubious quality or authority, for historians there are a growing
number of sites worth visiting. Among the most useful are collections
of primary documents, visual resources, and listservs where you can chat
with colleagues around the world. Google (http://www.google.com/),
if you haven't used it, is an excellent internet search engine for finding
resources. One stragegy with Google is to use topical terms for your research
topic accompanied by "primary sources" (quotes are important here). Just
a few selective examples of web sites of possible interest are listed below:
| Government Information |
The U.S. and other world governments produce a mind-boggling amount of information. The following are just a few resources that might be of use. UCI Libraries call numbers are supplied in parentheses after the resource title. The latter two resources below are available from the UCI Libraries homepage list of "Research Resources A-Z." The first is an index to information produced by the U.S. Congress, much of which is available through the UCI Libraries, though much of it is uncataloged. The second is an index to full-text, scanned government documents available online. Please contact the Langson Library reference desk for additional assistance with finding government documents.
| Primary Sources and Special Collections and Archives |
Special Collections and Archives, on the fifth floor of the Langson
Library, has numerous collections of printed brochures, planning documents,
newspapers, maps, photographs, pamphlets, and manuscript materials documenting
topics relevant to research for this course. Most materials is cataloged
in ANTPAC. If you are interested in exploring whether or not there are
resources available for your topic in UCI Special Collections and Archives,
contact Bill Landis (contact information at the top of this handout). Special
Collections and Archives is open from 10AM - 6 PM, Mon-Fri. and 1-5 PM
on Sat. throughout each academic quarter.
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The following items were used in the hands-on exercise for this class. Special Collections and Archives call numbers are provided for each item in bold.