HIST 467: Latin America and the U.S.
Research Resources
Primary Sources | U.S. Government Documents |
Early Magazine and News Articles | Finding Books on a Topic |
Scholaryly Articles
Locating Primary Sources in the CAT
- Sources (for printed collections of documents, e.g. Texas AND sources)
- Eyewitness (Mexican war AND eyewitness)
- Personal Narratives (Mexican War AND personal narratives)
- For Speeches, Letters, Correspondence, or Diaries , search by the name of the author, e.g. James Monroe
- Use the Archives and Manuscripts limiter to search for materials in Special Collections
Use the Date limiter in the CAT to find early published material.
Collections of Primary Sources Online
Available from the list of library databases
- Archive of Americana (early U.S. books, pamphlets and newspapers)
- North American Women: Letters and Diaries (From colonial times to present)
- Women's History Online, 1543-1945 (early books and journal articles)
United State Govt Publications
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The U.S. Government issues thousands of reports on legal, social, and political issues. Most are in the Social Sciences Library, 2nd Floor, Paterno. Some government documents appear in The CAT, others require specialized access tools. |
CONGRESSIONAL DEBATES appear in a series of publications: Annals of Congress, 1789-1824, Congressional Debates, 1824-1837, Congressional Globe, 1835-1874, Congressional Record, 1874-Present. Volumes up to 1873 are online: A Century of Lawmaking. Print volumes can be found in the Social Sciences Library, 2nd Floor Paterno.
LEXIS NEXIS CONGRESSIONAL an index to many Congressional documents. Also includes the full-text of the U.S. Serial Set. Copies of most Congressional publications are in the Social Sciences Library, 2nd floor Paterno.
FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1861- (3rd Floor Paterno) The official record of U.S. foreign policy with correspondence and papers on major policies and decisions. Some years are online, http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/FRUS/
EXECUTIVE BRANCH DOCUMENTS (State Dept., U.S. Army, etc.) are often listed in The CAT. Search by topic, or agency. Search the President as AUTHOR in The CAT to find other documents. Many early Presidential messages and addresses are included in The Serial Set (see Lexis Nexis Congressional above)
COURT DECISIONS and LAWS are online via Lexis Nexis Academic Universe. Laws from 1789 are also in U.S. Statutes at Large , Call #, KF50.A3, Legal Alcove, Social Sciences Library, 2nd Floor Paterno
Contemporary News and Magazine Articles
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A snapshot of contemporary opinions and attitudes |
18th and 19th Century News Sources Online
- Accessible Archives, Selected 19th century newspapers, including African-American Sources
- American Periodicals Series, 1741-1900+, 1,000+ magazines up to around 1930
- America's Historical Newspapers, 1690-1922
- British Newspapers, 1600-1900
- British Periodicals (still being developed)
- New York Times Digital Archive, 1851- (current years on Proquest)
- Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers
- Times of London, 1785-1985
20th Century News Sources
- American Periodicals Series, 1741-1900+, covers some magazines up to around 1930
- America's Newspapers, U.S. newspapers back to the 1980s
- British Periodicals, mostly earlier years, but covers a few sources up to 1930
- Ethnic Newswatch (Hispanic-American news)
- Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (full-text news sources, some back to the early 1980's)
- New York Times Digital Archive, 1851- (current years on Proquest)
- Times of London, 1785-1985 (if a British perspective is desired)
- World News Connection, Translations of foreign news sources since the mid 1990s. For earlier years see FBIS reports Full-Text, (1974-1996)
Looking for More News? – Use NewsCAT to search for newspapers by time period, region, or format.
Searching for Books on your Topic
Use The CAT (Penn State's catalog) to search for materials (books, videos, maps, etc.) in the library's collections. To search other libraries use the database WorldCAT. Material can be sent to PSU for your use (allow at least a week for delivery).
Searching for Scholarly Articles on Your Topic
To find articles on your topic, use a library database . Few of these resources are available on the free Web. If the article is not online, search The CAT to see if the library owns the journal the article appeared in. If the library owns the journal The CAT will indicate where it can be found.
- America: History & Life (Articles published since 1954 in history journals)
Includes links to full-text journals in History Cooperative, JSTOR, and MUSE - HAPI: Handbook of Latin American Studies
- Hispanic American Periodicals Index
- Historical Abstracts (articles in world history journals)
- IIBP (International Index to Black Periodicals) Full Text
- Periodicals Archive Online
For MORE Article databases use the Find Articles by Subject page.
Questions????
Ask at any Reference Desk, or contact me:
Eric Novotny, ecn1@psu.edu, 814-865-1014, AIM: HistoryLibrarian