HST 290: Fascism & AntifascismSearching for Sources

Dr. Michael SeidmanMs. Sue Cody

How are your research skills?

• Do you like doing research? – Why or why not?– What confuses/frustrates you

most about doing research?– What questions do you have

about conducting research for this class?

• How would you rate your current research skills?– Strong/Satisfactory/Needs

improvement/Poor

Which finding aids are most useful?• For books?• For scholarly articles?• For articles written during

the time studied?• For other primary

sources?

Finding Books

• Library Catalog – local & UNCP/FSU

• WorldCat– 9,000 libraries

• Google Books• Some article databases

lead to books– Cited directly– Book reviews

Randall Online Catalog: Keyword v. Subject

• What’s the difference?• What are some useful

Subject Headings for the French Resistance?

– Start with a keyword search, then look for subjects in the records retrieved.

• What are some headings for Nazi Resistance?

Keyword/Subject features• Keyword

– Finds words anywhere in record.

– Look at records to see subject headings.

– Search lots of terms, word variations

• Subject Headings– Controlled

vocabulary– May not be

“natural language” but may find more

– Hierarchical arrangement helps narrow topic

– Searches only the subject field

Suggested Subject Headings• See the Research guide• Check headings in records you find by

keyword or other searches• Use the LCSH database or print volumes.• In the catalog, search by any segment of a

heading – rotated display• Same terms used in WorldCat

Searching Personal Names

– Keyword searches • Either order • Try name variations, e.g.,

initials

– Author/Subject • Last name first• Consistent use• Example: Mussolini, Benito

Online Catalog—Special Features

• Subject links for related items• Call numbers for related items

(usually)• Library of Congress outline

– http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html

• SuDoc arranges by agency• Cover, summary, reviews• Location maps• Expanding search to UNCCLC• Repeating search

Database Exploration

• Historical Abstracts• Jstor• Project Muse• Search your topic

Secondary - Primary

• For Thursday:– Find a relevant secondary

source (book or article) with a bibliography.

– Review the bibliography to find a primary source.

– Copy the page with the primary source citation.

– Highlight citation, bring to class.

Questions?

What will you do when you have questions?

Ask for help – it’s what we do!

codys@uncw.eduhttp://library.uncwil.edu/askref.html

HST 290: Fascism & AntifascismSearching for Sources

Part 2:Locating Articles and Primary SourcesDr. Michael SeidmanMs. Sue Cody

Bibliographies as finding aids

• What did you find?• How did you decide what

was a primary source?

Search tips

• And, Or, Not– And narrows– Or adds synonyms/related– Not excludes (use carefully)

• Truncate for word variations – (fascis* = fascism, fascist,

fascisists)

• Words anywhere or phrase? – “Spanish civil war”

Journal Holdings & Access

• Bibliographies will cite useful publications

• Follow the citation trail!• Search your citation

– Does the library have it?– What format or location?– What online access?

Working from a known citation• Cabona, Maurizio. " Mussolini and the

Jews." Telos 133 (2005): 95-119. • Lukacs, John. " Herbert Hoover meets

Adolf Hitler." American Scholar 62, no. 2 (Spring 1993): 235-238.

• Fischer, L. “Thirty months of war in Spain.” The Nation 148 (January 7, 1939): 28-30

• Perkins, Dexter. “Was Roosevelt Wrong?” Virginia Quarterly Review 30, no. 3 (January 1954): 355-372.

• Landon, Alfred. M. Threat, fear and secrecy [what is fascism?]. Vital Speeches of the Day v. 9 (September 1 1943) p. 680-1.

Primary Sources

• Dairies, journals, other writings of “players”

• Eyewitness/Observer accounts• Memoirs, autobiographies

(written later)• Official documents

– Laws, treaties, reports, orders, transcripts of proceedings, addresses, etc.

• Advertisements

Primary or Secondary?• Scholarly analysis of British women

writer’s views on fascism.• The essays and novels used in the

previous item.• Letter from the US Ambassador to Italy

to the US Secretary of State, dated 1926, reprinted in a volume of US diplomatic papers.

• Book compilation of Robert Capa’s photos of the Spanish Civil War.

• Book by a historian about Mussolini’s involvement with the Spanish Civil War.

Primary or Secondary?• Collection of essays about Nazi

propaganda. • New York Times report on the

Battle of Ebro River, dated 1938, from the New York Times Archive database.

Randall Online Catalog

• Standard Subheadings – Correspondence– Diaries– Personal narratives– Sources– Treaties– See guide for others

Randall Online Catalog

• Search specific persons or organizations – Lindbergh, Charles as author

• Look for items not tagged as primary source– Primary documents may be

included in secondary sources– Eyewitness authors may not be

tagged as sources.

WorldCat

• May find items at Randall that catalog search didn’t (records enhanced later)

• Finds items for ILL requests– Rare items not lent– Rare items may be

reprinted & available

• Websites included – often w/ free access!

Use the Research Guides!

• Links to a variety of sources for your researching pleasure.

• Pre-1970s Popular Periodicals

• Primary Sources Guide• Spanish Civil War Guide

Questions?

What will you do when you have questions?

Ask for help! It is what we do!

• codys@uncw.edu• http://library.uncwil.edu/askref.html