History 192W
Research Seminar: The U.S. in the 1950s
Professor Jon Wiener
Winter Quarter 2004

Library Research Guide

Librarian contacts:
Joan Ariel
Women's Studies and History Librarian
386 Langson Library
824-4970
jariel@uci.edu		 Bill Landis
Manuscripts Librarian
Special Collection and Archives
500 Langson Library
824-3113
blandis@uci.edu		 Kay Collins
U.S. Government Information Librarian
108 Langson Library
824-7290
kcollins@uci.edu

This guide is designed as an introduction to print and online resources critical for accessing materials in the UCI Libraries and beyond.  It is extremely selective, both in terms of the sources cited and the strategies recommended.  All reference and "finding" sources listed are available at UCI; however, a number of these point to materials located at libraries, both real and virtual, beyond the borders of UCI.

The following general resources are good starting points for your research:


The guide covers the following areas:

Sources for Historical Research

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.

Good Research Skills

Start with topical analysis

Keep track of what you're doing in research notes/notebook Searching skills that will transfer to all tools and resources


Analyzing your topic: Library of Congress Subject Headings

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 United States in the 1950s. 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.
 

Analyzing your topic: Specialized Reference Sources

The following titles, located in the Reference area on the first floor of the Langson Library, provide good overviews of aspects of the U.S. in the 1950s and can serve researchers as excellent resources for basic facts, names, events, and other terminology that can be useful in searching for sources, both primary and secondary.  UCI Libraries call numbers are included in parentheses following the resource title.

Search tools and research materials at the UCI Libraries and beyond

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/).

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 topi, select Subject or Power search. Sucject 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. The following is a selective listing of indexes most useful for History topics.

Note: Always pay attention to the type and chronological scope of the database you are using as you select your search terms.

WEB-BASED INDEXES

History:

Multidisciplinary: PRINT INDEXES

Unfortunately, the 1950s is a time period that generally falls prior to most online newspaper and magazine indexing services, so you will also need touse print indexes to assist in your search for resources on your topic for this course.

Especially as historians, you can never forget those indexes still available only in print form. Especially for contemporary publications from the 1950s, the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature (available in the Langson Library Reference Department on the 1st floor, call number AI3 .R4) can serve as a great topical index to what was being written during the 1950s about the events and subjects you are researching.

Many academic journals in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Sciences from the 1950s are indexed in the International Index to Periodicals (available in Langson Library Reference, call number AI3 .I58).

For newspaper indexing, the New York Times Index (Langson Library Reference, call number AI21 .N44) can be quite helpful, even for unindexed newspapers other than the New York Times. If you find the date of an event that is covered in the times, chance are good that you may find information in other newspaper issues on or around that same date.

Articles: Full-text Journals and Newspapers Available on the Web

Convenient access to available online full-text journals is available at:

Specific Collections: Examples of Specific Journals: Newspapers:


Collections of Full-text Primary Sources Online


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.

Try the URLs listed below for a sampling of interesting and perhaps informative Web sites.


Government Information

The U.S. Government produces 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.  If you really want to use government information in your research, it would be a good idea, near the beginning of the quarter, to e-mail Kay Collins (phone # and e-mail at the top of this guide), U.S. Government Information Librarian regarding available information resources. You can also limit your search retrieval sets in ANTPAC to items located in "Langson-Gov Info" by using the "Limit/Sort" button.

Primary Sources and Special Collections and Archives

Primary sources for the Cold War period include articles and advertising in popular magazines, media (film and television), speeches by national leaders, presidential papers, FBI reports, congressional hearings, and documentary films. Here is a brief sampling of some primary sources available at UCI Libraries, with call numbers (all in the Langson Library) supplied in parentheses after the resource title. Especially for contemporary publications, the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature and the newspaper indexes cited can serve as great topical indexes to what was being written about the events and subjects you are researching at the time they were actually happening.

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 relevant topics like planning, growth, and marketing in Orange County during the 1950s-1980s. If you are interested in exploring the possibility of taking a local angle to your research topic, please contact Bill Landis (phone # and e-mail are at the top of this guide) to discuss.