Inventing America ~ Fall 2001

AGE301

The following is a list of selected resources available in the library and on the Internet.

Reference Sources

Finding Books

Finding and Using Articles

Internet Resources

Writing and Citing Sources

If you are accessing this page from off campus, the links to most library databases will not work. To use these resources, go to the Library Home Page, where you can connect to Articles and Databases, Reference Sources, and Electronic Journals and Newspapers after providing your Elmhurst College login and password. If you don't know your E.C. login or password, you'll want to see Computer Services, Room 107 CSTC. More help on accessing resources from off campus is available online.

Reference Sources

The following are materials available in the Reference Collection and online which may prove beneficial.

American Authors, 1600-1900. R 810.9 K96A
American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature, R 016.9 A512 1995 ~ a good source of bibliographies.
American Writers Before 1800. R 810.9 A512A
The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought, 1987. R 320.03 B632L ~ 2000 edition available electronically.
Dictionary of Literary Biography, R 810.9 D554 ~ includes volumes on American colonial writers, 1606-1734 (v. 24), American colonial writers, 1735-1781 (v. 31), and American women prose writers to 1820 (v. 200). Also available online. To access this from off-campus, go here.
The Encyclopedia Americana. R 031 A5131996
Encyclopedia of American Political History. R 320.973 E56
The Encyclopedia of Colonial and Revolutionary America. R 973.303 E56
The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. R 031 B862N1991 ~ also available online.

Back to the Top

Finding Books

Use Illinet Online to find books held in the Elmhurst College library as well as books owned by 44 other Illinois academic libraries. Illinet Online can also be accessed from the Books button on the library home page.

Keyword searching offers a good way to start looking for books in Illinet Online. Use the main words describing your topic.

A more precise way of searching is to use controlled vocabulary. Illinet Online's controlled vocabulary is known as Library of Congress Subject Headings (or LC subject headings). Unlike keywords, you can't simply make these up; you have to find out what the exact terms are and enter them in Illinet as a subject search. Ask a librarian if you'd like to learn more about subject searching. Here are some potentially useful LC subject headings:

American literature -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
American literature -- Revolutionary period, 1775-1783
Political science -- United States -- History
Political science -- United States -- History -- 18th century
Pilgrims (New Plymouth Colony)
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783

Ordering books from other libraries ~ Illinet Online allows you to request books held by 44 academic libraries in Illinois.

Back to the Top

Finding and Using Articles

Subscription Databases (Elmhurst College users only)

Looking for an article? Use some of the below databases to help you find what you want. Some databases will give you the full text of the article, which you can then go ahead and print, while others will require you to find the article in another location. These databases, and more, are listed under the Articles and Databases button on the library's home page.

Academic Search Elite ~ A good place to start. Includes references to scholarly as well as popular periodicals.
Periodical Abstracts ~ Includes indexing, abstracting, and some full text for magazine and journal articles.
PAIS International ~ Covers political, public and social policy issues.
Periodicals Content Index Full Text ~ PCI Full Text is an archive of articles written between 1770 to 1995. The full page images of articles in the humanities and social sciences are available.
WilsonSelect ~ Includes indexing, abstracting, and full text for a variety of magazines and journals.

Remember that these databases should not be confused with "the Internet," although they are accessed via the web. If you do a search for a topic on the Internet, you're most likely not finding full-text articles; rather, you're finding web pages of individuals or organizations, which may or may not be of any use to you. The databases, on the other hand, are especially designed to facilitate research, giving you access to articles you might not be able to find otherwise.

How do I find out if the Elmhurst College Library has the periodical I need?

Search for the periodical title in Illinet Online.
For example, search for the title Teaching Tolerance.
If you don't find the periodical you need, take a look at the list, Full Text Periodicals Available Online. This list is available in print in the library. You can also call or email the Reference Department to inquire about a specific title or ask a question.

Important Questions You May Have:

How can I order a photocopy of an article I can't find at Elmhurst College?
How do I know whether an article is useful to me? Learn about critically analyzing information sources.
How can I tell the difference between scholarly journals and other periodicals?
How do I access these resources online from off campus?

Back to the Top

Internet Resources

Evaluating Internet Resources

Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools
How to Find Internet Resources ~ why you shouldn't rely exclusively on Yahoo! for your research
The Spider's Apprentice: How to Use Web Search Engines

Subject Directories

Specific Sites

Academic Info U.S. History: Early America ~ a good source of online resources. The Digital Library section contains the text of Thomas Paine's Common Sense, The Founder's Constitution, and online exhibits from the Library of Congress.
Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention ~ from American Memory, a great project courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Eighteenth-Century Resources ~ from Rutgers professor Jack Lynch
United States History Index ~ part of the WWW Virtual Library, this site has a lot of useful online material, including archives.
Voice of the Shuttle: English Literature: American ~ has links to information on and works of colonial American literature.
Voice of the Shuttle: Politics and Government

Back to the Top

Writing and Citing Sources

Citing Sources ~ from Duke University Libraries
Citing Electronic Sources ~ a list of web sources, from Anderson University
College Writing and Citing ~ from Elmhurst College
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 4th ed. R808.042 M685 1995 ~ ask for this at Reference desk
ONLINE! Citation Styles
OWL Handouts: Research and Documenting Sources ~ from Purdue University
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed. R808.06615 P976 2001 ~ available at the Reference desk as well as in the Reference and Main Collection.
Resources for Documenting Electronic Resources ~ from Purdue's OWL

Back to the Top

Web Pages for Courses: English

Web Pages for Courses: Political Science

Library Home Page

English Department Home Page

Political Science Department Home Page

Created 28 September, 2001
Revised 4 October, 2001 by Ayanna Gaines, Assistant Reference Librarian
A.C. Buehler Library, Elmhurst College