Eric Novotny
History Librarian
University Park
ecn1@psu.edu
814-865-1014
Binh Le
Title: Reference Librarian
Eric Novotny
History Librarian
University Park
ecn1@psu.edu
814-865-1014
Books and other materials including CDs, DVDS, and more, can be found using the library's online catalog, The CAT Use “I Want it” to request items from other Penn State campuses.
Use Library of Congress Subject Headings in the CAT to find books about specific eras in American History.
If Penn State does not have what you want, Use E-Z Borrow or WorldCat to find materials in libraries worldwide and have these items delivered to you. For more information about borrowing materials from other libraries see our Interlibrary Loan FAQ.
Not sure if the book you’ve found is credible? See our guide for finding Book Reviews.
Early American Imprints Works published in the American colonies up to 1800
Early American Imprints II American books, pamphlets and other materials published between 1801-1819
Eighteenth Century Collections Online Works published in the United Kingdom, or in English, between 1701-1800
Google Books Google has scanned in millions of books. The text is searchable, with older books (published before 1923) available full-text. More recent books may have limits on how much you can access.
PA's Past: Digital Bookshelf Online works pertaining to Pennsylvania history. Useful for early local histories.
Women's History Online (Gerritsen Collection), 1543-1945 Early works on the women's rights movement
Scholarly dictionaries and encyclopedias are good places to start exploring. They feature brief essay, similar in scope to Wikipedia entries, but they are written by academics. They will often guide you to key sources for your topic, and supply important names, dates, and terms that can help you make informed decisions as you progress with your research.
American National Biography Online Biographies of men and women whose lives have shaped the nation
Dictionary of American History (10 volumes, 2003). Scholarly essays on significant people, events, and topics in American History
Encyclopedia of American Studies Essays on the American experience from precolonial times to the present
Encyclopedia of Religion in America Essays on the impact of Religion on American History
Encyclopedia of the New American Nation, 1754-1829
Encyclopedia of U.S. Political History Essays on American politics from 1500 to the present
Oxford African American Studies Scholarly essays, with some multimedia content, primary sources, and a historical timeline of the African-American experience
Oxford Reference Online Essays from many Oxford University Press publications
Historical Census Browser, 1790-1960
The U.S. Census Bureaus has some additional data at, http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/decennial/index.htm
Historical Statistics of the U.S.: Millenium Edition
Data on population, labor, health, income, prices, slavery, migration, communications, national defense, immigration and more.
The library has many more reference works in our print collection. Ask Binh or Eric for help (contact info on the right)
Use the databases below to search for articles and other scholarly works on your topic. Additional databases are listed in other sections of this guide.
America: History and Life
The main database for findings articles and other works about U.S. and Canadian history. Covers articles appearing in approximately 1,000 history journals.
ATLA Religion Database
Use to find articles and other works on the early history of religion in America
IIBP Full-Text (International Index to Black Periodicals)
Covers scholarly and popular sources in the field of Black Studies
Women's Studies International
Search across ten key databases in Women's Studies
The Library has many other databases that cover specific fields (Art, Music, Politics, Psychology, etc...). Browse our Research Guides to get a list of databases by subject
Use the Get It button in the databases above to link to full-text where available.
These databases allow you to search the full-text of selected History journals.
JSTOR
Improtant full-text archive of scholarly journals, including many core journals in American History such as the American Historical Review, Journal of the Early Republic, the William and Mary Quarterly, and many state history journals.
History Cooperative
Full text of recent history journals from the Organization of American Historians and other sources.
Project Muse
Full-text of scholarly journals, including many key history journals such as Early American Studies, and the Journal of the Early Republic.
Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies
Digital archive of the journal of the Pennsylvania Historical Association
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography
Digital archive of the scholarly journal published by The Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Periodicals Archive Online
Similar to JSTOR, the archive provides full-text of back issue of academic journals.
Western Pennsylvania History
Digital archive of the journal currently published by the Senator John Heinz History Center
America's Historical Newspapers, 1690-1922 [Digital Archive]
More than 1,000 U.S. historical newspapers published between 1690 and 1922, including titles from all 50 states
American Periodicals Series, 1741-1900+, Full-text of important early American magazines covering culture, politics, religion, social issues, etc...
New York Times Historical (available from 1851) [Digital Archive]
Most recent four years not available
Chicago Tribune Historical (1849-1986) [Digital Archive]
Pennsylvania Civil War Newspapers [Digital Archive]
Includes some Pennsylvania newspapers from the 1840's and 1850s
U.S. Newspapers (19th Century) [Digital Archive]
Accessible Archives
Includes rare 19th century African-American newspapers including Freedom Journal (1827-1829) and The Colored American (1837-1841)
British Newspapers (1600-1900)
British Periodicals up to around 1930. Provides a British perspective on developments in the United States.
The Times of London (1785-1985) [Digital Archive]
Eighteenth Century Journals Online [1685-1815] Full-text of selected British sources
For additional news sources see the ICON list of newspaper digitization projects.
NEWSCAT is a convenient way to see what newspapers the library has from a specific state or city in any format (print, microfilm, or online). Newspapers on microfilm at the University Park campus can be delivered to Abington for you to use.
For other primary source databases consult the Online Books and Newspapers and Magazines sections of this guide
Archive of Americana Early books, newspapers, pamphlets and other materials
American Broadsides and Ephemera
Broadsides created from 1820 to 1900 and printed ephemera from between 1760 and 1900
Empire Online, 1492-1969 Mostly British documents - includes some material on the American Colonies
Making of Modern Law Legal treatises from 1800-1926
North American Women: Letters and Diaries
Letters and diaries from Colonial times to around 1950
Serial Set (United States)
Full-text of government publications, including congressional reports, executive and department reports and other documents ordered printed by Congress
U.S. Supreme Court: Records and Briefs, 1832-1978
Includes briefs, petitions, trial transcripts, and more
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000
Documents and essays on U.S. women’s social movements from colonial times to the present
Women's History Online, 1543-1945 (Gerritsen)
Full text books, pamphlets and periodicals reflecting the evolution of feminist consciousness and the movement for women's right.
An increasing number of primary documents from the colonial era and the nineteenth century are now free online. Below are a few sites. To identify more take a look at History Matters – a descriptive guide to some of the best history sites on the Internet.
American Memory (Library of Congress)
Probably the largest single collection of Americana, includes pamphlets on slavery, political broadsides, 19th century photographs, historical maps, and much more.
Archive of Early American Images. Database of pictures of America from 1492 up to around 1825.
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, 1774-1873. Includes the early laws and debates in Congress.
Making of America A digital library of 19th Century books and journals
Pennsylvania Archives. Massive collection of early Pennsylvania government records that include Revolutionary War records, minutes of the General Assembly minutes, early Boundary disputes, and other documents.
Pennsylvania Laws. Contain public and private laws of the Province and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 1682.
NOT EVERYTHING IS ONLINE– many historical documents are only available in the library. Items not at your campus can be requested using the "I Want It" button in the CAT
Use The CAT to find early printed works, state government reports, maps, and other materials not online. From the Advanced Search page, you can limit your CAT search by date to find documents produced near the time of the event you are researching.
Below are some keywords you can use in The CAT to locate published primary documents:
Sources -- combine with other keywords for document collections, (e.g. United States--History--1783-1815 and Sources)
Eyewitness or Personal Narratives (Combine with an historical event. e.g. War of 1812 and Pesonal Narratives)
Letters or Correspondence (combine with an author's name, e.g. Benjamin Franklin and correspondence. You can also just search by author to get all the works written by that person)
Documents or Documentary (combine with a topic, e.g. documentary history and Women)
