History 302
Reagan’s America:
Society, Culture and Politics in the 1980s
Reference Works | Collections of Primary Source Documents |
Locating Additional Primary Resources in The CAT | Finding News Articles |
Finding Magazine Articles | Finding Scholarly Rresearch Articles | Popular Culture: Novels, Movies, Songs
Reference Works
Reference works are helpful at two points in your research: when starting out (by offering overview articles), or later when you encounter unfamiliar terms during your research
American Decades: Volume 9, 1981-1989, Call # E169.12.A419 1994, Social Sciences Encyclopedias Section., 2nd Floor Paterno. Also Primary Sources: 1981-1989 (Call # E169.1.A471977 2004)
Britannica Book of the Year, Call # AE5.E364, Arts & Humanities Ref., 2nd Floor Pattee
Encyclopedia of the Reagan-Bush Years, Call #JK511.L48 1996, Social Sciences Ref., 2nd Floor Paterno
Gale Virtual Reference Library,
iPoll & Gallup Brain (Online). Results of opinion poll conducted since 1935.
Statistical Abstract of the United States(Online)
Collections of Primary Source Documents
The library has acquired many anthologies of primary source documents. For example,
- Historic Documents Online
- Presidents from Reagan through Clinton, 1981-2001 : Debating the Issues in pro and Con Primary Documents (Call # E176.1.P922 2002, Social Sciences Reference)
- America Firsthand (Call # E173.A72, Pattee Stacks 1)
Speeches -- Most speeches are collected in anthologies. The standard collection is called Vital Speeches of the Day. This prints important speeches on a monthly basis. For other collections see the online guide to finding Speeches.
Return to Table of Contents
Locating Additional Primary Resources in The CAT
There's no foolproof recipe for locating primary sources, but here are some suggestions:
- Search the library’s catalog (The CAT) for works by historical figures as Authors (e.g. Jesse Jackson, Ronald Reagan)
- Search The CAT for a topic (Iran-Contra, Nuclear Freeze Movement, etc.) and add one of the following terms to your search; "documents", "sources", "oral history", "diaries", "personal narratives" or "letters".
Finding News Articles
In addition to the databases below, the library has many newspapers on microfilm in the News and Microforms Library, Ground Floor of West Pattee. To find a particular newspaper search the CAT by title. To browse newspapers by state or time period use Microfinder
- Academic Universe
- Includes the Washington Post since 1977, Christian Science Monitor since 1980
Centre Daily Times Index, 1981-2002
- GLBT Life
- Index to sources in gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender studies.
- Index to Black Newspapers (selected years only)
- Call # A13.B53, News and Microforms Library, Ground Floor, West Pattee
NY Times Historical, 1851-2002
- Ethnic NewsWatch
- Articles in "ethnic" news sources; Native Americans, African-Americans, etc.
- Underground Newspaper Collection -- Alternative "left-wing" newspapers.
- Search The CAT by the title to see a list of papers in the collection.
Finding Magazine Articles
- Academic Universe
- Current news & magazine articles, some publications back to the 1980’s
- Alternative Press Index
- Call # HN1 .A48, Social Sciences Reference, 2nd Floor Paterno.
An index to articles published in "left-wing" magazines
- The Nation Digital Archive (1865-)
- Full-text of the liberal weekly magazine.
- Popular Periodical Index (1973-1990)
- Call # AI3 .P76, Arts & Humanities Reference, 2nd Floor Pattee
An index to about 30 non-academic titles, including TV Guide, Spin, etc.
- Proquest Direct
- Popular and scholarly sources, some publications back to the 1980’s.
- Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, Arts & Hum. Indexes, 2nd Floor Pattee
- An index to articles in over 200 American magazines.
- Index to Periodical Articles by and About Blacks
- Call # Z1361.N39 I6, Arts & Humanities Reference, 2nd Floor Pattee
Covers articles in African-American publications
Finding Scholarly Research Articles
Available at http://www.lias.psu.edu/alall.html unless otherwise indicated
- America: History & Life (Articles in history journals)
- GLBT Life (Index to sources in gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender studies)
- HAPI, Hispanic American Periodicals Index
- International Index to Black Periodicals Full Text
- PsycInfo (Index to Psychology Journals)
- Religion Index One (CD-ROM index to articles on religious topics)
Call # BL1 .A8, Arts and Humanities Reference Desk - Sociological Abstracts (Articles in Sociology journals)
- Women’s Studies International (Index to books and articles about women)
- Web of Science (citation index – use to find out who has cited a work)
- WorldWide Political Science Abstracts (articles in Political Science sources)
Full-Text History Journals
History Cooperative, JSTOR, Muse and Periodical Archives Online provide full-text of selected history journals. Check each database separately to see which titles they include and the years. America: History and Life contains links to most of these journals.
Popular Culture: Novels, Movies, Songs
If you know the title or author of a work, use The CAT to find a copy.
To find songs when you do not know the title or artist use the subject heading: "Popular Music, 1981-1990". You can substitute other forms, e.g. "Jazz, 1981-1990" or "Rock, 1981-1990".
To find movies when you do not know the title or director use the subject heading for the type of movie you want to find. "feature films" is for general movies. More specific categories are "action films", "romance films", "adventure films", "comedy films", etc.
To locate a novel by subject try the Fiction Catalog (Call # Z5916.W74)
To locate Reviews see the following web guides
Book Reviews
Film Reviews
To find out which books, films, or songs were influential in the decade go to one of the the items listed under Reference Works .
Questions???
Stop by the nearest service desk, or feel free to contact me directly.
Eric Novotny Office: W215 Pattee Telephone: 814-865-1014 E-mail: ecn1@psu.edu, IM: HistoryLibrarian