CSUF History Research Guide

Before beginning your research, ask yourself the following questions:

For more a detailed tutorial on libraries and the research process in the study of history  The Historian's Toolbox: Skills for History Majors is an excellent online class and quiz.
 

Need more help?

For an overview of Pollak Library and the research process check out Library Survival Skills.  Or come into a Workshop.

Contact a librarian for help in answering your specific research questions.

 

Prepared by Rosemary McGill, Judy Ruttenberg, Robert Sage, and Susan Tschabrun. Maintained by Robert Sage.
An administrative page of the Paulina June & George Pollak Library at California State University, Fullerton.
(c) 2007 California State University, Fullerton. All rights reserved.
Last Updated: January 03, 2008 .

 

Reference

The following books in the Library's Reference Collection (1st Floor, North) are helpful to history students in general, regardless of specific subject interest.

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

Bibliographies

Research Methods

Writing Manuals

Historical Writing

Career/Job

 

;

 

Journals

In history research and writing, a popular journal might be a primary source. Or not. Know the difference between primary and secondary (and tertiary) sources and scholarly and popular articles.  

Rather than going directly to a journal and hopefully scanning the pages, you probably need to use an index to find relevant articles that are useful to your research.

To see if Pollak Library owns a specific journal, magazine, or newspaper, check the Pollak Library Journal Connections.

A complete list of all history journals available to CSUF students, faculty, and staff is available through our Journals Title List.

More detailed information about some of the leading publications used by historians may be found by consulting the journals guides in our subject guides.

Journals available through the Pollak Library may be found in the following formats:

Print journals

CSUF currently subscribes to many journals of interest and use to history students. Most are kept on the 2nd floor of Pollak Library, North, but always check the Library Catalog record.  Older journal issues, those published before 1976,  will usually be found in the Compact Stacks in the basement of Pollak Library, North.  Special Collections, PN352 on the 3rd floor of the Library, South, has many esoteric and interesting periodicals  and newspapers.  

Most periodicals are bound when a complete range (volume/issue) is collected.  All periodicals (except some in Special Collections) are given Library of Congress call numbers and shelved in this order whether in Periodicals, Reference, Stacks (book collection), or Compact Stacks.  

Microfilm/fiche

The Pollak Library has many journals and newspapers in microfiche or microfilm.  These are kept in filing cabinets on the 2nd floor of the library, North.  

Electronic journals

Increasingly, journals are available full-text on the web from any campus computer. For instructions on how to access full-text databases from home, see Connect from Home.

 

 

Indexes
 

To find articles, consult one of the Library's periodical indexes in electronic or print format. You find current scholarly articles in history by searching the Library's electronic databases. You find most older articles (including primary source material in newspapers and magazines) using the Library's print indexes, located in the Reference Collection on the 1st floor - Library North. For subject-specific historical indexes, see the link for Articles under your subject.

Historical Abstracts  America: History & Life  History Cooperative  Arts & Humanities Search  JSTOR  Humanities Abstracts  Project Muse  Dissertation Abstracts Academic Search Elite (Ebscohost)  Biography Index Readers Guide to Periodical Literature  Poole's Index to Periodical Literature  New York Times Index. "Prior Series."  Index to the Times Newspaper

 

Newspapers

Newspapers are an important resource in historical research. Pollak Library has both online and microfilm copies of many 18th, 19th and 20th century U.S. newspapers. The online newspapers are available on the Databases A-Z list on the homepage. 

The microfilm copies of newspapers are located in the filing cabinets on the 2nd floor North. Several common newspapers are also available in paper format on the 2nd floor North, but when the microfilm copy is received, the paper copy is discarded. The call number range for most microfilm and paper newspapers is AN13 - AN15.

New! Online Full-text searchable historical newspapers:
A growing number of newspapers are available online for full-text searching.  

Los Angeles Times (1881-1985)

New York Times (1851-2001)

The Times (London) Digital Archive (1785-1985)

America's Historical Newspapers (1690-1922)
Searchable database of more than 1,000 historical American newspapers from the late 17th, 18th, and 19th, and early 20th centuries.

Microfilm Newspapers at CSU Fullerton, Pollak Library:
 

Newspapers and Indexes at other institutions:
 

Indexes:

One problem using microfilm copies of newspapers is the lack of indexing.   Online indexes and many print indexes go back to the 1970s but not much further and there are few readily available indexes to most newspapers.  Milner's book, Newspaper Indexes: A Location and Subject Guide, provides help by listing some libraries that have varying levels of indexing for specific U.S. newspapers. 

When there is no index, try to get an exact or approximate date and then search from that date forward.

 

 

Primary Sources
 

In history, primary sources are those materials published at the time of the event under investigation, and are the foundation for historical research. They can include individual correspondence, diaries, speeches, newspaper articles, business and governmental records, songs, art, fiction, photographs, archival papers of an organization, and much more. Primary sources can be found in published, edited books and in unpublished form in manuscript collections, museums, archives and library special collections. Some collections are digitized and made available on the Internet. See the Web section under your subject. For what constitutes a primary source for your assignment, your professor is the ultimate authority.

There is an excellent overview at: Library Research Using Primary Sources. Also: Library Research Using Secondary Sources.

See: Primary Sources: A Guide to Resources in the Pollak Library Government Documents Collection

Published sources

To find published primary sources in the Library, search the Library Catalog by subject, and look for the subheading "sources." For example: United States History Sources brings up historical documents that have been edited and compiled. Such compilations often include current interpretations of the sources.

You can also search by subject or keyword (e.g. "suffrage") and choose Limit/Sort. Then limit your search to Words in the SUBJECT: sources.

Newspapers -- Newspapers in the Pollak Library listed by title and by geographic location.

Unpublished (archive/manuscript) collections

To find collections of archival or manuscript material, consult a directory of repositories. Sometimes these are arranged by state, and/or subject.

Search the Library Catalog with the following Subject Headings:

SAMPLE SOURCES FOR FINDING MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS:

Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the United States CATALOG RECORD

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections CATALOG RECORD   ACCESS ON INTERNET

Special Collections in College and University Libraries CATALOG RECORD