Text:AAA A Español

United States History

Research Guide

Through the Civil War

Reference | Library Catalog | Primary Sources |Indexes | Internet Sites | Writing Papers | Citing Sources

Reference Works

Specialized reference works like the ones listed below are very useful for research. All of the titles here are located on the first floor of the Library. Browse around the same areas to find other useful titles.

Biographies

Chronologies

Encyclopedias

Library Catalogs

Use the catalogs below to locate print and audio-visual materials.

Primary Sources

There are several ways to locate primary sources in the College of DuPage Library.

Some may be found in the Reference Section

There are considerably more primary sources available in the General Collection. To locate them use the College's Library Catalog.

Many of the Internet Sites mentioned below also have collections of primary sources. Using Primary Sources on the Web is an excellent guide to finding and evaluating web-based primary sources.

Indexes

In addition to print or online indexes specifically for history, many of these general sources cover the topic well. In many cases, the databases will have the full text article available online. If you are using these databases from off-campus, please be sure to have your library card available.

Internet Sites

The Internet is an excellent place to find primary sources for the study of history. Primary sources are original documents from the time period. These texts are the foundation upon which other studies and interpretations are made. The Internet is also a good place to find images on historical topics. While there are good sites with secondary information, they are often not in enough depth for academic research. It is best to critically evaluate these sites before using them.

Writing Papers

Here are some helpful sources to help you research and write papers in history.

Citing Sources

The MLA format (Modern Language Association) is commonly used to create bibliographies or works cited pages. The sources below may help you.

Professors in other disciplines or professors at other schools may prefer a different citation style. It's always best to ask to be sure what style they would like you to use. For professional writing in the field of history, the Chicago Manual of Style is the prefered citation format. These are some sources to help with that format

Marianne Berger, Reference Librarian
630-942-2338
berger@cdnet.cod.edu

19 August 2003

printPrint ·  · Logo for delicious Save to del.icio.us