FINDING PRIMARY SOURCES IN AMERICAN HISTORY FROM AUSTRALIA

INDEX

1. Biographies
2. Books in Print
3. Book Reviews
4. Dissertations
5. Electronic Databases - General
6. Electronic Databases - Digitised Newspapers and Journals
7. Electronic Databases - Digitised Fiction and Poetry
8. Electronic Databases - Digitised Personal Papers and Journals
9. Electronic Databases - Digitised Sources Relating to Race Relations & African-American History
10. Electronic Databases - Women's History
11. Electronic Databases - Eighteenth Century and Early Republic
12. Finding Aids for Primary Sources - Fiction
13. Finding Aids for Primary Sources - General
14. Finding Aids for Primary Sources - Women's History
15. Finding Aids for Primary Sources - African American History
16. Finding Aids for Primary Sources - Periodical Literature
17. Finding Aids for Scholarly Journals
18. Library Catalogues
19. Microform Collections Held at Fisher Library
20. Microfilmed Newspapers held at Fisher
21. Periodicals, Magazines & Newspapers - Histories
22. Useful Reference Works & Tools
23. U.S. History Departments and Graduate Programs

NOTE : If you think that something needs to be added or changed on this finding aid, please let me know.
 

1. BIOGRAPHIES

John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes, eds., American National Biography , 10 vols. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).
Contains information on over 17,000 individuals dating back to first contact.
Fisher Reference 920.073 38
Fisher also subscribes to the electronic version of ANB. See under Electronic databases in the Fisher catalogue.

Edward T. James and Janet Wilson James, eds., Notable American Women, 1607-1950 (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971).
Fisher Reference 920.073 8

Paul Betz and Mark C. Carnes, eds., American National Biography . Supplement 1 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002). This supplement includes a cumulative index by occupations and realms of renown.
Fisher Reference 920.073 39

Charles Van Doren, ed., Webster's American Biographies (Springfield, Mass., G. & C. Merriam Co. [1974]).
Fisher Reference 920.073 16

Miranda C. Herbert and Barbara McNeil, Biography and Genealogy Master Index: A Consolidated Index To More Than 3,200,000 Biographical Sketches in Over 350 Current and Retrospective Biographical Dictionaries , 8 vols, plus supplements (Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1980).
This source indexes biographical dictionaries and directories, such as Who's Who in America as well as retrospective works like biographies of Nineteenth-Century Women Writers
Fisher Reference 920.073 19

James A. Levernier and Douglas R. Wilmes, American Writers Before 1800: A Biographical and Critical Dictionary . 3 vols. (Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1983).
Fisher Reference 810.9 344

BACK TO TOP

2. BOOKS IN PRINT

Global Books in Print.  
Bowker. Accessed via online subscription. Includes citations to over 3.5 million current and forthcoming book, audio, and video titles, as well as over 600,000 full-text reviews. There's also a print version behind the information desk in Fisher library.
Check Fisher Databases under B.

BACK TO TOP

3. BOOK REVIEWS

Most of the history journal article databases listed under "Finding Aids for Scholarly Journals" provide citations and/or full-text access to book reviews. JSTOR is a valuable resource for reviews because it includes the full-image of reviews from a selection of core history journals. In addition, America: History & Life is particularly useful for finding citations to reviews in history journals.  For longer reviews you can try Reviews in American History. The following print and electronic resources are also available:

Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Humanities Journals, 1802-1974 . 10 vols.
Fisher Reference 028.1016 4

Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Scholarly Journals, 1886-1974 .
Fisher Reference 028.1 12

Book Review Digest . 1906 - 2001.
Fisher Reference 015.73 9

Book Review Index . 1965- .
Fisher Reference 028.105 3

H-Net Reviews in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
This site provides access to reviews published online via discussion networks and the H-Net web site. You should also be aware that H-Net sponsores over 100 free electronic listservs edited by scholars in North America and other countries.

Clayton L. Eichelberger, compl., A Guide To Critical Reviews Of United States Fiction, 1870-1910 , (Metuchen, N.J., Scarecrow Press, 1971-74).
Fisher 813.4016 2

BACK TO TOP

4. DISSERTATIONS

Digital Dissertations. 1861 -
Fomerly Dissertations Abstracts. Proquest. Accessed via online subscription. The database includes citations to dissertations and master's thesis completed at over 1,000 American graduate schools and universities. Citations published from 1989 forward include 150-word abstracts. Since, 1997 dissertations submitted by institutions electronically are available in full-text.
Available through Fisher Library via a title search in the main catalogue.

Directory of Dissertations in Progress. American Historical Association.
The Directory contains 4,363 dissertations in progress at 171 academic departments in Canada and the United States. These dissertations in progress are submitted each summer by departments updating the Directory of History Departments and Organizations in the United States and Canada.

BACK TO TOP

5. ELECTRONIC DATABASES: GENERAL

Library of Congress American Memory Collection
Millions of scanned primary documents relating to various aspects of American History.

Making of America (Michigan site)
Digital library of primary sources in American history from antebellum period through Reconstruction. Strengths include education, psychology, history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. Includes approximately 1,600 books and 50,000 19th century journal articles.

Making of America (Cornell site)
Digital library with thousands of complete copies of 19th century journals. The two MOA sites contain different sources, so you should consult them both. At some point in the future you'll be able to search both sites simultaneously, but no provision has been made to do so yet.

Documenting the American South
An enormous range of digitised primary source material offering a southern perspective on American history and culture.

NYPL Digital Gallery
Over 400,000 digitized images and primary sources from the collections of the New York Public Library.

American Political Prints, 1776-1876
Hosted by HarpWeek, contains high-quality scans of American political cartoons and prints from the Library of Congress collections.

Notable American speeches
Dozens of speeches from American orators, 17c to the present.

Anti-Imperialism in the United States
Edited by Jim Zwick, this site includes primary and secondary sources about the American anti-imperialist movement from the Spanish-American War until 1935.

A Century of Lawmaking
U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1873.Includes page images of Congressional Record and Congressional Globe.

Authentic History Center
images of artifacts and historic sounds from American popular culture, from the mid nineteenth century onward.

Digital Library of Georgia
Gateway to over 500,000 images, text, and audio-visual materials on the history of Georgia

BACK TO TOP

6. ELECTRONIC DATABASES: DIGITISED NEWSPAPERS AND JOURNALS

ProQuest Historical Newspapers Collections
Contains the full text and full image articles from major American newspapers: Chicago Tribune (April 23, 1849-Dec. 31, 1985); The New York Times (Sept 18, 1851-Dec. 31, 2002); The Wall Street Journal (July 8, 1889-Dec. 31, 1988).
Available via Fisher library, check under "Electronic Databases" or through a title search in the main catalogue.

Nineteenth Century in Print
Part of the Library of Congress American Memory site. Encompasses complete runs of 23 journals spanning the nineteenth century (including Lippincott's Monthly, Harper's, Continental Monthly, The Living Age, Putnam's Monthly, North American Review, etc.) i.e. this site contains most of the biggest selling journals of the day.

New Orleans Bee
The New Orleans Bee/L’Abeille de la Nouvelle-Orléans was a French language newspaper published in New Orleans beginning on September 1, 1827. An English section was added three months later. The newspaper continued as a dual language publication until 1872 when the English portion was dropped and once again it became French only. Issues of The New Orleans Bee from September 1827 to December 1923 are accessible from this website (although the English language portion of this newspaper only runs until 1872).

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Full-text copies of this New York newspaper from 1841-1902 are available at this site. Searchable by issue or keyword.

Utah Digital Newspapers Online
This site contains full-text copies of 40 different newspapers published in the mid-west from the mid 1850s onward.

19th Century Scientific American
Full-text copies of this journal, spanning the period 1845-1859, vols. 1-XIV. Further volumes are forthcoming.

Charleston Mercury, July 1860-December 1862
Charleston Mercury, January 1863-January 1865

Colorado Historical Newspaper Collection, 1859-1923
Over a hundred local newspapers published in the State of Colorado from the mid nineteenth century onward.

Georgia Historic Newspapers
Includes issues of The Cherokee Phoenix, The Colored Tribune, and the Dublin Post.

Northern New York Historical Newspapers
Dozens of local NY newspapers, spanning periods from mid 19th century to the 1990s.

Historic Missouri Newspaper Project
Over a dozen digitised newspapers, published in Missouri from the mid 1850s to the late 1870s.

See also the Making of America sites (listed above), which also contain full-text copies of ninetenth and early twentieth century journals.

BACK TO TOP

7. ELECTRONIC DATABASES: DIGITISED FICTION & POETRY

E-Text Centre at the University of Virginia
Classic British and American fiction, early american fiction, and a range of transcribed manuscript sources - especially good on African-American sources..

Early English Books Online.  
Contains over 125,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640), Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700), and the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661).
Available through Fisher Library via a title search in the main catalogue, or under "Electronic databases" in Fisher Catalogue

Eighteenth Century Collections Online.
Approx. 150,000 digitized books published during the 18th Century. Includes published books, pamphlets, sheet music etc. relating to Europe and the Americas.
Available through Fisher Library via a title search in the main catalogue.

Bibliography of American Literature.
Nearly 40,000 records of the literary works of 300 American writers from the Revolution to 1930.
Available through Fisher Library via a title search in the main catalogue.

Wright’s American Fiction
This is a collection of 19th century American fiction, as listed in Lyle Wright's bibliography American Fiction, 1851-1875 (also cited below under "Finding Aids: Primary Sources American Fiction"). There are currently 2,887 volumes included by 1,456 authors.

African-American Poetry Database, 1760-1900
(Alexadria, VA: Chadwyck-Healey, 1996-) A collection of more than 2,500 poems written by African-Americans in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Available through Fisher Library. See databases under SETIS.

American Poetry Database
Contains the complete poetic works of more than 200 American writers, from the Colonial Period to the early twentieth century. Includes the complete text of approximately 35,000 poems, covering the works of all major poets.
Available through Fisher library. See databases under SETIS

Uncle Tom’s Cabin and American Culture
A multimedia archive of cultural impact of Stowe's novel.

Anti-slavery Literature Project
Includes slave narratives, lectures, travel accounts, political tracts, prose fiction, poetry, drama, religious and philosophical literature, compendia, journals, manifestoes and children's literature.

BACK TO TOP

8. ELECTRONIC DATABASES: PERSONAL PAPERS & DIARIES

Papers of Emma Goldman (1869-1940)
An important feminist and political activist.

First-Person Narratives of the American South
Includes diaries, autobiographies, memoirs, travel accounts, and ex-slave narratives.  

Women's Travel Writing, 1830-1930
Full-text copies of women's travel writing in Britain and America, 19th and early 20th centuries.

Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson

Walt Whitman Archive

Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project
Includes Lincoln’s writing and speeches

Works of Jonathan Edwards

Alexis de Toqueville
includes writings by and about de Toqueville's travels in America.

“California as I Saw It”
First-person narratives of California’s early years, 1849-1900. From the American Memory Website

Their Own Words
Digital collection of books, pamphlets, letters, and diaries, dating from the latter eighteenth through the early twentieth century.

George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799
Full text documents include facsimiles of correspondence, letterbooks, diaries, journals, military records and reports. Work is still in progress.

BACK TO TOP

9. ELECTRONIC DATABASES: RACE RELATIONS AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY

African-American History: An Annotated Resource of Internet Resources on Black History
Valuable site for locating primary material in black history on the web.

Southeastern Native American Documents, 1730-1842
Contains approximately 2,000 documents and images relating to the Native American population of the Southeastern United States.

Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection
Digitized page images of 19c American antislavery pamphlets

Freedom’s Journal
Digitized images (PDF) of all 103 issues of Freedom's Journal, the first African American newspaper in the United States, published between 1827 and 1829 in New York City. Provided by Wisconsin Historical Society.

The Geography of Slavery in Virginia
Digital collection of advertisements for runaway and captured slaves and servants in 18th- and 19th-century Virginia newspapers.

Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860
Over a hundred pamphlets and books (published between 1772 and 1889). The documents, most from the Law Library and the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress, comprise an assortment of trials and cases, reports, arguments, accounts, examinations of cases and decisions, proceedings, journals, etc.

Race & Slavery Petitions Project
Legislative petitions, and a large selected group of county court petitions concerning slavery in the South, covering the period from the beginnings of statehood to the end of slavery (1770s to 1860s). Searchable database giving the names, status (slave or free), and color of petitioners, subject of petition, and other data, including county of origin, filing date, and disposition. It also includes a brief abstract for each document.

Image Archive on the American Eugenics Movement
Thousands of images, papers, and data on the eugenics movement – including extensive collections from noted eugenicists.

BACK TO TOP

10. ELECTRONIC DATABASES: WOMEN'S HISTORY

Documents from the Women's Liberation Movement
An On-line Archival Collection, Special Collections Library, Duke University

American Women's History: A Research Guide
Subject index to research sources and websites

Online Archive of Nineteenth-Century U.S. Women's Writings  
Contains full-text copies of novels and serialized stories written by women authors, many of whom are now considered obscure (and thus not well-represented in other databases).

Working Women, 1800-1930
Focuses on women’s role in U.S. economy. Digitised historical and manuscript sources from Harvard University Library.

Women in World History

BACK TO TOP

11. ELECTRONIC DATABASES: EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & EARLY REPUBLIC

Digital Evans: Early American imprints. Series 1(1639-1800)
Covers American history and literature through the colonial period up to the eighteenth century, this database is a digitisation of the microform set, Early American Imprints, Series I (1639-1800), which was based on the American bibliography of Charles Evans and enhanced by Roger Bristol's Supplement to Evans' American bibliography. It contains digitized editions of all books published in North America between 1639 and 1800. Full page images. Fully seachable. Also a browsable subject directory.
Available via the Fisher catalogue, under Electronic Databases.

Eighteenth-Century Resources

Archive of Early American Images
Images from primary sources published 1492 to 1825

Parallel Histories: Spain, the United States, and the American Frontier
Bilingual, multi-format English-Spanish digital library site that explores the interactions between Spain and the United States in America from the fifteenth to the early nineteenth centuries.

Founders’ Constitution Website
Web version of the print edition, edited by Philip B. Kurland and Ralph Lerner. Includes full text of the Constitution, along with numerous primary documents in constitutional history, divided into chapters by theme.

American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-1776
Digitized, full-text searchable version of Peter Force's nine-volume American Archives (1837), a collection of pamphlets, newspaper articles, and other documents relating to the Revolution.

Federalist Papers
Transcriptions of all the Federalist Papers, from the School of Law at Emory.

BACK TO TOP

12. FINDING AIDS FOR PRIMARY SOURCES: AMERICAN FICTION

Lyle H. Wright, American Fiction, 1774-1850: A Contribution Toward a Bibliography (San Marino, CA: Huntington Library, 1969).
Fisher Reference 016 8132 2

Lyle H. Wright, American Fiction, 1851-1875: A Contribution Toward a Bibliography (San Marino, CA: Huntington Library, 1965).
Fisher Reference  016 8133 2

Lyle H. Wright, American Fiction, 1876-1900: A Contribution Toward a Bibliography (San Marino, CA: Huntington Library, 1972).
Fisher Reference 016.8134 2

Ignore the modest title of Wright's bibliographies. They contain a very extensive listing of all sorts of American writing (approx. 11,000 titles, many of them rare). Every book in these bibliographies has been copied and gathered together in a microform collection called the "Wright American Fiction Collection". Fisher does not hold the microforms, although you will be able to borrow them through ILL.
Part of the collection (around 3,000 volumes) is available online: Wrights American Fiction, 1851-1875

Oscar Wegelin, Early American Fiction, 1774-1830: A Compilation of the Titles of Works of Fiction by Writers born or Residing in North America... (Gloucester, MA: P. Smith, 1963)
Fisher Research 016.8132 3

BACK TO TOP

13. FINDING AIDS FOR PRIMARY SOURCES: GENERAL

William J. Breen and Julie G. Marshall, compilers, Resources for North American Studies: An Annotated List of Microform Collections in Australian Libraries Relating to the United States and Canada (Bundoora: LaTrobe University, 1985).
Fisher Reference 016.97 4

NOTE : This excellent finding aid is now almost three decades old.   Large amounts of microforms have been purchased in this period. In order to find out what's available, you'll have to examine individual library catalogues.   For example, by doing a quick search under the subject headings "microform and America" in the Fisher catalogue I came across a number of microform collections that are not referenced in this guide (see below). In addition, this finding aid doesn't list holdings of 19th century newspapers and the like.

William Matthews, comp., American Diaries: An Annotated Bibliography of American Diaries Written Prior to the Year 1861 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1945).
Not available at Fisher. Check ILL

William Matthews, American Diaries in Manuscript, 1580-1954: A Descriptive Bibliography (Athens: U. Georgia Press, 1974).
Fisher Reference 016.920073 2             
Fisher Research  016.920073 2

Laura Arksey, Nancy Pries and Marcia Reed, American Diaries: An Annotated Bibliography of Published American Diaries and Journals . 2 vols. (Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1983-). This work expands on and revises William Matthews' work.
Fisher Reference 016.920073 3             

Francis Paul Prucha, Handbook For Research In American History: A Guide To Bibliographies And Other Reference Works (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1987).
Fisher Reference 016.973 28

NUCMC Home Page (National Union Catalog of Manuscripts Collections)
This online version of NUCMC allows users to search for manuscript material located throughout the US.   Obviously this database is useful mainly if you're planning a research trip to the US.   However, it can also be helpful for finding out whether particular collections are available on microfilm and where the microfilms are located.

BACK TO TOP

14. FINDING AIDS FOR PRIMARY SOURCES: WOMEN'S HISTORY

Joyce D. Goodfriend, The Published Diaries and Letters of American Women: An Annotated Bibliography (Boson: G.K. Hall, 1987).
Fisher Reference 016.920073 4

Sharon M. Harris, American Women Writers to 1800 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996).
Fisher Research 810.9 646

Andrea Hinding, Women's History Sources: A Guide to Archives and Manuscript Collections in the U.S. 2 vols. (New York: Bowler, 1979).
Obviously students won't be able to access most of the archival sources listed in this work but some of the collections referred to will now be available on microfilm and might thus be available through ILL. Many others have since been published so it can be worth checking via First Search.

Mary Ellen Huls, United States Government Documents on Women, 1800-1990: A Comprehensive Bibliography (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1993)
Two volumes. Volume I covers social issues and volume II covers labor. The author organized Volume I into thematic chapter headings (examples: Suffrage and Political Participation, Education of Women). Within each chapter, the documents are arranged chronologically and then by agency. Volume II is divided thematically and by type of work, including one chapter on the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor. There is a subject and personal author index at the end of each volume.
Fisher Reference 016.3054 25

Albert Krichmar, The Women's Rights Movement in the United States, 1848-1970: A Bibliography and Sourcebook (Metuchen, NJ.: Scarecrow Press, 1972).
Fisher Research 396.016 2

Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture, Duke University
Provides access to online versions of many holdings and more than 15 web-based bibliographies on topics in women's history. A list of links to other resources is also available at http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/women/article.html

Ann D. Gordon, ed., Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1997 - )
Fisher Research 016.30542 16 (3 volumes)

Feminist Collections: A Quarterly Of Women's Studies Resources.
An electronic journal published by the University of Wisconsin. Some issues provide articles on sources in women's history on the web.
Available through Fisher Library catalogue.

You might also find the following useful if you're interested in the history of the women's movement:

75 Suffragists: Biographies of women prominent in the U.S. suffrage movement
The Women's Rights Movement: 1848-1998: A Timeline

NOTE: See below under 15. Newspapers, Magazines, Newspapers - Histories for a selection of secondary sources dealing with the suffragist press and histories of publications directed at women.

BACK TO TOP

15. FINDING AIDS FOR PRIMARY SOURCES: AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY

Index to periodical articles by and about Negroes (Boston: G.K. Hall), continued at Index to Periodical Articles by and About Blacks
1960-1983
Fisher Reference 323.173016 1  

James P. Danky, ed., African-American Newspapers and Periodicals: a National Bibliography (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998).
Fisher Research 015.7303508 1

16. FINDING AIDS FOR PRIMARY SOURCES: PERIODICAL LITERATURE

Readers' guide to Periodical Literature.
Fisher library has volumes 1-24 covering the period 1900-1965.
Fisher Reference 050 28  

Poole's Index to Periodical Literature .
This is the only source that I know of that indexes journal and magazine articles in American periodicals published before 1900. This Index goes from 1802-1881 with supplements to 1907. Unfortunately, the entire volumes are not available at Fisher Library.  I doubt whether it is available through Interlibrary loan, but it is available at the National Library, Deakin University and LaTrobe University.
Fisher library holds the 3rd ed. 1882, which includes earlier works, plus supplements 1-5, 1882-1907 and cumulative author index 1802-1906).
Fisher Reference 050 27

Both of these finding aids are now online as Nineteenth Century Masterfile (Poole's Plus), although this is a subscription-only database to which Fisher Library does not subscribe. This database indexes the New York Times, the London times, Poole's Index, the New York Daily Tribune and a number of other finding aids such as the index to the Congresional Records. Perhaps if lots of students asked the library to subscribe they might one day do so.

BACK TO TOP

17. FINDING AIDS FOR SCHOLARLY JOURNALS

America: History & Life. 1964-
ABC-CLIO. Accessed via online subscription. Covers the world's scholarly literature on the history of the United States and Canada. Includes abstracts of articles and citations to book reviews and dissertations.
Available through Fisher Library

C. R. I. S.: The Combined Retrospective Index Set to Journals in History, 1838-1974.
Fisher Reference 016.910

JSTOR.
An archival collection of core scholarly journals in a variety of disciplines digitized from their first issues to a moving wall of three to five years from the present (i.e. no current issues). At present over 40 History journals are archived in JSTOR.
Available through Fisher Library

Periodical Contents Index (PCI). 1790-1995
Chadwyck-Healy. Proquest. Accessed via online subscription. Indexes the contents of 4,184 periodicals in the humanities and social sciences from their date of inception through 1995. Over two centuries of articles, including book reviews, in 40 languages are indexed.
Available through Fisher Library.
[Fisher apparently holds a CD Rom version Fisher Ref 016.05 54.   The first disc contains approx. 300 titles of North American journals published principally between 1900 and 1960.]

Project Muse. 1993 -
Provides online subscription access to the full-text of over 200 scholarly journals published by Johns Hopkins University Press and over 20 other not-for-profit presses in social sciences and humanities. At present, over 40 history journals are included. Most titles do not include coverage before 1993.
Available through Fisher library

Web of Science. 1945 -
Online Subscription through Institute of Scientific Information (ISI). Search the contents of thousands of journal titles or do a cited reference search by author or journal titles. The Web of Science combines Science Citation Index (1945 - ), Social Sciences Citation Index (1956- ), Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975 - ), Index Chemicus (1993 - ), and Current Chemical Reactions (1986 - ), including the INPI archives from 1840-1985.
Available through Fisher Library. Check under Databases under "W"

BACK TO TOP

18. LIBRARY CATALOGS

WorldCat. FirstSearch.
Online Computer Library Center, Inc (OCLC). Accessed via online subscription. Updated daily, this catalog includes all types of materials cataloged by libraries that contribute their records to OCLC (almost all US libraries do). The catalog includes more than 52 million records recording the holdings of more than 43,000 libraries in 86 countries. This database is the best one for searching almost all US libraries at once, however, it is not available to students.   Librarians at Fisher library can perform searches for you as a last resort.

RLIN. Eureka.
Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN). Accessed via online subscription. The online catalog of the Research Libraries Group. Includes over 22 million books, periodicals, sound recordings, computer files, other materials owned by major research libraries in the U.S. and abroad.

LIBWEB
Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE. Organized geographically, LIBWEB links to over 6600 pages from libraries in more than 100 countries.  

Library of Congress Catalogue

Links to catalogues of the top ten research libraries in the US (as defined by US Dept of Education stats).

Harvard University
Yale University
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
University of Texas at Austin
University of Michigan
University of California at Berkeley
Columbia University
Stanford University
UCLA
University of Chicago

State Archives and Historical Societies
Links to state archives and historical societies throughout the US.

BACK TO TOP

19. MICROFORM COLLECTIONS HELD AT FISHER LIBRARY (a partial list)

NOTE: See below for newspapers on microfilm

Early American Imprints, 1639-1800
This is a microprint of every existent book, pamphlet, and broadside printed in America before 1800, encompassing more than 42,000 titles.   It reproduces texts listed in Charles Evan's American Bibliography and its Supplement. The Index to this series is Clifford K. Shipton and James E. Mooney, National Index of American Imprints Through 1800: The Short Title Evans . 2 vols. (Worcester, MA: American Antiquarian Society, 1969).
Storage XTA 12

American Culture Series, 1493-1875
This is a microfilm series of 300 reels, containing major books published in American history to 1875. To find out what the microfilm reels contain, go to the Index to the American Culture Series Fisher Research 016.973 35. Check with the AV department for the microfilms themselves.

Afro-American History Series
Contains microforms of writings by anti-slavery activists, anti-slavery newspapers etc.
Fisher Microform 287.874811 1

Three Centuries of English and American Plays, 1500-1830
A microfiche reproduction of some 5,000 plays representative of English drama from the years of 1500 to 1800 and of American drama from its early beginnings to the year 1830.
Fisher Microform XTA 6

Records of the States of the United States of America
Fisher Microform 975.702 8

Susan B. Anthony Scrapbook
Newspaper clippings, 1848-1900 regarding the development of the women's movement.
Fisher Microform 305.420973 28

Herstory: Women's History Collection from the International Women's History Archives
Fisher AV 305.4 62

Abolition and Emancipation
Papers, journals etc. of abolitionists.
Fisher Microform 326.8 10

Works of D. Augustus Straker, John Fortren...et. al
Fisher Microform 323.119607356
Microfilm copies of publications from the Schomburg Collection of the New York Public Library - relating to history of Slavery and African Americans.

The Anti-Slavery Examiner, 1836-1845
Fisher Microform 326-0973 5

Women advising Women Series (91 microfilm and 3 Guides)
This series contains material mainly published in England. pt. 1. Early women's journals, c1700-1832, from the Bodleian Library, Oxford -- pt. 2. Advice books, manuals, almanacs, and journals, c1625-1837, from the Bodleian Library, Oxford -- pt. 3. The Lady's magazine 1770-1800 -- pt. 4. The Lady's magazine 1801-1832 --pt. 5. Womens' writing and advice, c1450-1720.
Fisher Microform 305.405 10

BACK TO TOP

20. NINETEENTH-CENTURY NEWSPAPERS HELD AT FISHER LIBRARY

Please note: I’ve only listed those newspapers held by Fisher that were published in the nineteenth century. Fisher library also holds dozens of 18th century and 20th newspapers. Some of these newspapers are not listed in the library catalogue. The best way to find them is to go to the AV Department and look at the folder that is near the front desk, which lists Fisher newspaper holdings by date and place of publication.

Note also: It looks as if the newspapers with call numbers that begin in XTA are all listed in the Fisher catalogue. All of these papers come from the same collection of microcard. This collection is held in Storage so you have to look up the newspaper by its title, fill out a storage request form, and have the microcards delivered to Fisher AV department where you can examine it on the one available microcard reader. You should know that there are no microcard readers that will allow you to print – so you’ll have to take notes on this material. If, on the other hand, you’re looking at a newspaper that is on either microfiche or microfilm there are readers in the Fisher AV Department that will allow you to print (for the lavish price of around 20 cents per page).

BACK TO TOP

21. PERIODICALS, MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS - HISTORIES

Aleta Feinsod Cane and Susan Alves, 'The only efficient instrument': American Women Writers and the Periodical, 1837-1916 (Iowa City: University of Iowa City, 2001).
Fisher Research 810.9 857

Neal L. Edgar, A History & Bibliography of American Magazines, 1810-1820 (Methuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1975).
Fisher Research 016.051 2

Nancy K. Humphreys, American Women's Magazines: An Annotated Historical Guide (New York: Garland, 1989).  
Fisher Research 015.73034 1

Frank Luther Mott, Golden Multitudes: The Story of Best Sellers in the United States (New York: Macmillan, 1947).
Fisher Research 016 33              

Frank Luther Mott, A History of American Magazines, 1741-1850 . 5 vols. (Cambridge: MA, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1957-1968).
This is the still one of the best sources for general information relating to circulation and readership figures for 18 th and 19 th century magazines.   Unfortunately, Fisher library only holds three of the five volumes:
v. 1, 1741-1850
v. 4. 1885-1905
v. 5 1905-1930
Fisher Research 051.09

Frank Luther Mott, American Magazines, 1865-1880 (you would have to ILL this work as it's apparently not available at Fisher).

Kenneth M. Price and Susan Belasco Smith, Periodical Literature in Nineteenth Century America (Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1995).
Fisher Research 810.9 675

John Tebbel, The Magazine in America, 1741-1990 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).
Fisher Research 051.09 1

Mary Ellen Zuckerman, comp., Sources on the History of Women's Magazines, 1792-1960: An Annotated Bibliography (New York: Greenwood Press, 1991).
Fisher Reference 015.73034 2

John W. Blassingame and Mae G. Henderson, Anti Slavery Newspapers and Periodicals (Boston: G.K. Hall, 1980).   2 vols.
Fisher Reference 011.34 7

Charles E. Clark, The Public Prints: The Newspaper in Anglo-American Culture, 1665-1740
Fisher Research 307.2322094 1

Kathleen L. Endres and Therese L. Lueck, Women's Periodicals in the United States: Consumer Magazines (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1995).
Fisher Research 081.082 1

Penelope L. Bullock, The Afro-American Periodical Press, 1838-1909 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1981).
Fisher Research 051 97

Sharon M. Harris, Blue Pencils and Hidden Hands: Women Editing Periodicals, 1830-1910 (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2004)
Fisher Research 051.0820903 1

Martha M. Solomon, ed., A Voice of Their Own: The Woman Suffrage Press 1840-1910 (Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama Press, 1991).
Fisher Research 071.3082 2

BACK TO TOP

22. USEFUL REFERENCE WORKS

Mary Beth Norton, ed. The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature . 3rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995). Published in 1931, 1961, and 1995, this bibliography lists influential writing on history using a tiered regional, national, and chronological format and an extensive subject index. Each work listed includes a very brief annotation, usually indicating the work's thesis or historiographical importance. Each section begins with a historiographical essay. Most citations refer to works published in English between 1961 and 1992.
Fisher Ref. 016.9 21   v. 1 and v. 2

(Oxford English Dictionary). Web-version of the OED
Available through Fisher Library.  

Historical Census Browser, 1790-1960
Allows you to search every U.S. census undertaken on a ten-year basis since 1790.

Inflation Calculator
Allows you to adjust American dollars for any year between 1800 and 2005.

Library Research Using Primary Sources
Guide to conducting research, suggesting ways to trace primary material. Although some of the information is specific to UC Berkeley, there is also good descriptions of cataloguing procedures and the like.

Repositories of Primary Sources
University of Idaho maintains this international listing of over 4,600 repositories. Useful if you're planning a research trip to the US.  

Roget's Thesaurus

Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus

Strunk's Elements of Style

How to Search the Internet:
Recommended Sites and Search Techniques

The American Heritage encyclopedia of American history / John Mack Faragher, ed.
New York: H. Holt, 1998.
Fisher Ref 973.003 1

Encyclopedia of American history / edited by Richard B. Morris.
New York: HarperCollins Publishers, c1996. 7th ed.
Fisher Ref 973.03 3A

Encyclopedia of contemporary American culture / edited by Gary W. McDonogh.
London; New York: Routledge, c2001.
Fisher Ref 973.9203 1

Encyclopedia of Southern history / edited by David C. Roller.
Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, c1979.
Fisher Ref 975.003 1

Encyclopedia of the Great Depression and the New Deal / James Ciment.
Armonk, N.Y.: Sharpe Reference, 2000. 2 vols.
Fisher Ref 973.91703 1

The Oxford companion to United States history / editor in chief, Paul S. Boyer.
Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Fisher Ref 973.03 7

BACK TO TOP

23. U.S. History Departments and Graduate Programs

If you're looking at graduate programs in the US, search online for Peterson's Guides (also available in print versions) which provide annual information about graduate programs, including a department's student profile, faculty specialization etc.   Fisher Library has outdated copies of the print version from the 1990s.  
http://www.petersons.com

You can also take a look at U.S. News and World Report Online: Graduate School Rankings.

History Departments Around the World
Alphabetical listing of links to history dept home pages in US and elsewhere. Managed by the Centre for History and New Media at George Mason University.

BACK TO TOP