Course: History 491 -- Writing and Research in History
Topic: The Environment
Spring 2008 – Dr. Greg Hall
Librarian: John Stierman – jp-stierman@wiu.edu
Leslie F. Malpass Library, Office 219
Phone: 298-2756
Office Hours: Monday, 3-4; Tuesday, 4-5; Wednesday, 11-12 & 6-7.
Off-Campus Access Library Internet Resources: Most of the libraries' databases are proprietary (owned by third parties). As long as you are on campus, the database providers assume that you are a WIU student. If you are off-campus, the providers require proof of enrolment. If you want to access library databases off-campus, be prepared with your student id # or your ecom username and password. Call the reference desk at 309-298-2700 or 800- 413-6544.
Finding Scholarly Articles
- America: History and Life, 1964-
- Indexes and abstracts scholarly periodical articles in history. Covers North American history from ancient times to the present. Click on the Online Databases link on the library’s homepage. Note that the presence of a full-text link does not mean that WIU has the full-text version. Includes book and media reviews.
- Humanities International Index, 1926-
- Humanities International Index is a comprehensive database covering journals, books and other important reference sources in the humanities. Produced by EBSCO, Humanities International Index provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracting for more than 2,000 journals and contains more than 2 million records. Formerly the American Humanities Index, this database contains bibliographic records from a multitude of U.S. and international publications. Humanities International Index provides citations and abstracts for articles, essays and reviews.
Verifying Periodical Holdings
Finding Primary Source Material
- Historical Chicago Tribune, 1849-1984
- This database delivers every page of every issue from cover to cover, with full-page and article images in PDF. It offers access to nearly 135 years of a newspaper intimately tied to the development of Chicago and the growth of the Midwest region and nation. Includes display & classified ads; comics & cartoons; photos, maps, & graphics; and editorials & commentary in addition to news articles.
- Newspaper Indexes
- The WIU Libraries provide access to numerous fulltext newspapers, many going back to the 1980s. Visit LexisNexis Academic or America's Newspapers for more details. For early issues of the New York Times, you may consult the microfilm set on the Third Floor of the Malpass Library or try your luck with the New York Times Article Archive. According to the Times' website, articles in the public domain are free. Premium articles are for sale.
- Readers’ Guide Abstracts, 1890-
- Readers' Guide Abstracts is a database containing comprehensive indexing and abstracting of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and Canada. The abstracts average 125 words in length.
- WestCat/I-Share
- An online catalog of the University Libraries’ books, periodicals and other library materials. Easy access from the library homepage (http://www.wiu.edu/library). Click on the “Find Books” link. If WestCat does not have what you need, search I-Share, a catalog of 65 libraries, mostly academic, in Illinois. To request a book from a non-WIU library, click on “Request” at the top of the page. Remember to enter 21711 plus your student ID number.
- WorldCat
- One of the databases available from FirstSearch. Bibliographic records of any type of material cataloged by OCLC member libraries. Includes manuscripts written as early as the 12th century. Includes 52 million bibliographic records. If you learn how to use this tool, you will be able to tap into a huge amount of bibliographic information, including many historical documents. From the library’s homepage, click on “search other catalogs.”
Miscellaneous Websites
- American Environmental Photographs, 1891-1936
- Environmental History at Carnegie Mellon
- The Evolution of the Conservation Movement
- H-Environment
- South Florida's Natural History, 1884-1934
Environement Titles in the Malpass Library Reference Collection
- American Environmental Leaders (REF/GE/55/B45)
- Encyclopedia of Environmental Issues (REF/GE/10/E52)
- Encyclopedia of World Environmental History (REF/GF/10/E63)
- Environmental Encyclopedia (REF/GE/10/E57)
- Environmental Literature: An Encyclopedia of Works, Authors, and Themes (REF/GE/35/E58)
- The Environmental Movement (REF/GE/197/G76)
- Famous First Facts About the Environment
- Our Earth's Changing Land: An Encyclopedia of Land-Use and Land-Cover Change (REF/GF/90/O87)
Citing Your Sources: Hard Copy, Internet and RefWorks
Diana Hacker’s A Pocket Style Manual features three popular formats: MLA, APA, and Chicago. Of the three listed, Chicago is most common for history. For special instructions on how to cite Internet sources, see Hacker’s A Pocket Style Manual, Fourth Edition, pages 174-175. You can, of course, always consult The Chicago Manual Style, 15th ed (located at the Reference Desk). For Internet sources, see Chapter 17. The Reference Staff has created handouts on the three popular styles.
To manage your citations, you might consider learning how to use RefWorks. It is citation management software that is compatible with most of the University Libraries's databases. Ask me how to set up a personal account and begin filling folders with citations. You will find RefWorks on the WIU Libraries list of databases. RefWorks school code is rwwillinoisu.