Themes in Modern World History

Background Research

Still looking for ideas for a topic? - The Library has a large number of subject specific online encyclopedias with exhaustive and well-researched entries written by subject experts. The essays in these encyclopedias and companions are great overviews and they can be very helpful in defining and focusing a topic. All essays include bibliographies that will lead to further sources on a topic.

• New Dictionary of the History of Ideas
  See entries on Empire & Imperialism and Colonialism.
• Encyclopedia of European Social History
  See entries on Explorer, Missionaries, Traders, Imperialism and Domestic Society, and Imperialism and Gender.
• Dictionary of American History
  See entries on Labor and Strikes.
• Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History
  See articles on Economic Imperialism and Capitalism.
• Encyclopedia of Enlightenment
  See article on Colonialism.
• Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  See articles on Violence and Socialism.
• Blackwell Encycloopedia of Sociology
  See articles on Violence, Capitalism, and Imperialism.
• St. James Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide
• Working Americans, 1770-2007
• Encyclopedia of United States Indian Policy and Law
• Blackwell Companion to Social Inequalities
  Includes a chapter on Historical Perspectives on Inequlity and one on Domination, Resistance and Subjectivity.
• Sage Reference Online
  Search the Sage reference collection in its entirety or browse individual encyclopedias such as the Encylopedia of Activism and Social Justice, the Encyclopedia of Human Geography, Encyclopedia of Gender & Society, or the Encyclopedia of World Poverty.

This is but a small selection of the subject encyclopedias available in the Library. Ask for help if you would like to find more encyclopedias.

Critical Secondary Literature

published in books

• The Library's Catalog
  Keyword and subject searches in the Library's catalog are good starting points when first exploring a topic. Search results can be narrowed with facets such as topic, era, language or region. Facets are located on the right hand side of the results screen.

  Subject search examples:
  Imperialism and history
  Capitalism and history
  Congo and colonization

• WorldCat
  Books that are not owned by the Library can be found via WorldCat. WorldCat is an online catalog that includes the collections of most U.S. libraries as well as a large number of libraries abroad. Titles owned by Falvey Memorial Library are tagged, those not held by Falvey can be requested through interlibrary loan with the Borrow from another library link. WorldCat uses the same Library of Congress subject headings as the Library's catalog. The Export feature makes it possible to download selected references into a RefWorks account.
• E-Z Borrow and Interlibrary Loan
  Interlibrary loan is available for books and journals that are not owned by Falvey. EZ-Borrow is usually faster than interlibrary loan, since the books come from a local library network. EZ-Borrow can be used for books that the Library owns, but that are currently checked out by somebody else.

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Critical Secondary Literature

published in scholarly journals

Use the databases listed below to find peer-reviewed journal articles on your topic. Contact me if you have any questions.

• Historical Abstracts
  Covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present. Indexed journals include the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, the Journal of Politics & History, and the Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History.

  Example of a peer-reviewed journal article:
  Gewald, Jan-Bart. "More than red rubber and figures alone: a critical appraisal of the memory of the Congo exhibition at the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium." International Journal of African Historical Studies 39, no. 3 (October 2006): 471-486.

• America: History & Life
  Covers the history of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. Indexed journals include the Radical History Review, the Journal of American History, and Labor History.
  
  Search screen features:
  
  
  FindIt features:
  
  
  
• Sociological Abstracts
  Covers sociological topics in fields such as anthropology, economics, demography, and  political science.
• PAIS International
  PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) covers issues in the public debate and provides historical perspective on many of the 20th century's public and social policies.
• GenderWatch
  A full text database of unique and diverse publications that focus on how gender impacts a broad spectrum of subject areas.

Selected Primary Sources

• The Library's catalog
  Primary sources are not only found in archives and museums, but can also be found in books and digital collections. Here are a few suggestions for subject searches in the library's catalog:
  

  imperialism and history and sources
  colonialism and diaries
  "little bighorn" and "personal narratives"
  "Haymarket Square Riot"

  Consult the library's guide to primary sources for further examples and suggestions.
  Try WorldCat for more results.
• Historical New York Times
  Complete digital archive back to 1851.
  

  Example:  "The anarchists' trial: new witnesses strengthen the prosecution. Newspaper reporters and others testify to the indendiary speeches made by Spies and others." New York Times,  July 28, 1886

• America's Historical Newspapers, 1690-1922
  A digital collection of early American newspapers from 1690 to 1922, that includes the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1860-1920.
• American Periodicals Series, 1740-1900
  

  Example: Clement.  "The effect of a single bomb." New York Evangelist,  May 20, 1886, 4.

• 19th Century U.K. Periodicals
• British Periodicals Collection
  160 journals spanning the late 17th through early 20th centuries.
  

  Example:  Aveling, Edward. "The Chicago Anarchists." To-day 48 (Nov. 1887): 142-50.

• Gerritsen Collection: Women's History Online, 1543-1945
  

  Example:  "Atrocities in Congo Free State." Woman's Work 20, 1 (1905): 4.

• Early American Imprints, 1639-1800
• Early American Imprints, 1801-1819
• Sabin Americana, 1500-1926

The Library has many more digital collections with primary sources. Ask for further suggestions.

Citing Your Sources

• Documenting Sources, Chicago Style
  DianaHacker.com: Research and Documentation Online.
  Sample bibliography.
• Generate references in Chicago style for your cited reference list
  (Historical Abstracts and America: History & Life)
  Use the "Add to Folder" links to create a list of potentially useful articles then switch to Folder View and Select all items. Click on the "Save as File" icon to the right of your results and select Chicago style in the drop down menu under "Citation Format." Click on "Save" and then copy and paste the resulting list of Chicago style citations into your word file.
  
  
• The Chicago Manual of Style
  15th ed. Available online and in print.
  Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1993.
  Information desk Z253.U69 2003
• RefWorks
  Never type a bibliography again! RefWorks will help you easily gather, manage, and store bibliographic citations for all types of information, as well as generate footnotes and bibliographies.

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