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HELP!
Reference Desk:
refdesk@wcupa.edu
Phone: 610-436-2453
Hours:
Mon- Thurs 8:30 am-10:00 pm
Friday 8:30 am-5:00 pm
Saturday 12:00 pm-5:00 pm
Sunday 12:00 pm-10:00 pm
Interlibrary Loan
Hint: Use EZ Borrow for book requests, and use ILLiad for article requests. Read the descriptions on the library's ILL page (see link below) for more detailed information about these two services.
Chicago Style Guides
Finding Articles
Use these online databases to search for articles pertaining to your topic. These can be accessed from both on and off campus.
- America: History and Life
- Historical Abstracts Citations & abstracts for articles on the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada, which are covered in America: History and Life).
- JSTOR
- Academic Search Complete If you're not sure where to start your research, try this database first!
Help Video: Searching Academic Search Complete - Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective 1907-1984
- Project Muse Help Video: Project Muse, Searching Basics (by Reading Area Community College Librarians through a grant project with PASSHE libraries.)
Finding Primary Sources
Primary materials are available in many different places. The library has database subscriptions to primary source materials including newspapers, diaries, letters, etc. These databases are intermingled with the other history focused databases on the history page. However, you might also find these primary sources within your secondary sources, so make sure to look at citations and images. Also many libraries and other organizations such as historical societies are placing digitized images of archival (primary source) materials online. Even West Chester University has some digitized primary source materials available online.
Keep in mind when searching for primary sources that the language used at the time might be different than what is used today.
For example, keep in mind that the American Civil War had many different names. Use multiple terms and do different searches accordingly. Ex: Civil War, War of Northern Aggression, War between the states, War of Rebellion, War for Southern Independence, Mr. Lincoln’s War,
See the listing below for primary sources available through West Chester and the World Wide Web:
- Historic Newspaper ListingThis is a listing of all the historic newspaper databases available at West Chester.
- Current Newspaper LinkLink to current Newspaper list.
- Government Materials ListingThis link leads to Government databases and materials available at West Chester.
- American Broadsides and Ephemera Also available through the America's Historical Imprints database.
- Avalon ProjectThe Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy from the Yale University Law School. Includes documents from 4000 BCE to the present.
- ContentDM CollectionsProgram used to exhibit and describe primary source materials. Includes collections from a variety of universities, colleges, and organizations. Can be searched or just browsed by institution.
- Library of Congress Digital CollectionsDigital collections of primary source material available from the Library of Congress.
- West Chester University's Digital CollectionsGuide to West Chester's own digital collections.
Reference Collections
Reference works, such as encyclopedias and dictionaries, are a great place to start to narrow or focus your topic or area of interest. These sources can also point you to other useful resources, so make sure to look closely at the citations and bibliographies. Below is a list of available online reference works; others will also be available in the library.
- Blackwell Reference Online (e-books)
- Credo Reference (e-books)
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (e-book)
- Reference Universe Search this database to find print and online (e-book) Reference books for your research. The articles in most e-books can be viewed online. For print books, note the article title and page number; then follow the book title link to discover the library location (call number) in PILOT.
Note: some E-Books from Gale and Oxford may not be available. If you encounter a dead-end at the publisher site, return and click on book title for information in PILOT.
Finding Books
Use the following links to find books, bibliographies, films, journal holdings information, etc.
- PILOT Library CatalogWCU's Library Catalog. Includes more than just books! You can use PILOT to find books, journals, reference materials, and primary source materials physically and digitally available in the library.
- WorldCat (Online Version)This version of WorldCat can be used from any location with internet access but it will not show which books are owned by West Chester.
- WorldCat (On-Campus Only) Please EXIT after completing your research since the subscription provides a limited number of simultaneous users.
- Google BooksGoogle Books is a great place to look for books found here at WCU or elsewhere. You can usually preview and search the books. It also provides a "Get this Book" bar, which has a link called "Find in a Library." Put WCU's zip code (19383) here to see if we have it here.
Subject Guide |
 Tara Wink Subjects: History |
Tips and Tricks
Boolean Operators and Wildcards
AND – means you want both terms in your results; tends to narrow results’ list
Ex: Civil War AND Nurse
OR – means you want one or the other terms in your results – use with synonyms; tends to broaden results’ list
Ex: Civil War OR War of Northern Aggression OR War Between the States
NOT – use when you are getting a reoccurring term that you are not interested in
Ex: Nurse NOT women
? or * -- used to expand your results without having to type in multiple words; different databases use these differently. The library catalog uses the ? but some databases use the *. Play around with them to see how your results change.
Ex: wom?n – will return results for woman and women
Ex: nurs* – will return results for nurse, nurses, and nursing
“quotes” – use to search for a phrase
Ex: “Civil War”
Subject Headings or Subjects
Subject headings are created by librarians to describe exactly what the materials are about. They connect materials with similar topics or themes together. They are called different things depending on the catalog or database but most have them. Click on them to find more materials on your topic.
With historical research keep in mind that terms change over time. Change your search terms accordingly.
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