Environmental History of America Research Guide

Books

• The Library's Catalog
  Books and book chapters in the Library's print collection are an important source of critical literature. The Library's catalog has a number of different search options: keyword and subject searches are good starting points when first exploring a topic. Search results can be narrowed with facets, which appear to the right of the results. Topic, region, era, and language are helpful facets.
  

  Sample keyword search: agribusiness
  Sample subject search: environmentalism and "united states" and history
  Sample subject search: "environmental policy" and "united states" and history
  Sample subject search:  industry and "new england" and history
  Sample subject search:  floods and Johnstown
  

• 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.
• Dissertations and Theses Full Text
  Index and abstracts of U.S. dissertations with full text for most dissertations submitted after 1997. Ph.D. dissertations in history generally include detailed bibliographies with references to hard to find primary sources.
  

  Example: Maher, Cornelius M. (2001).  Planting more than trees: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the roots of the American environmental movement, 1929--1942. Ph.D. dissertation, New York University

• 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 also be used for books that the Library owns, but that are currently checked out by somebody else.

Scholarly Journal Articles

• America: History & Life
  Search the contents of academic journals, historical magazines and dissertations. This database indexes articles on the history of America (North and South) published in academic journals such as Environment and History, Environmental History, Antipode, the Radical History Review, American Indian Culture & Research, and the American Indian Quarterly to name but a few. The FindIt button links to the full text of the articles in the Library's collection as well as to an interlibrary loan form. Interlibrary loan can only be used for those journals to which the Library does not have a subscription. It can take one to two weeks to process an interlibrary loan request. Article citations can be easily exported to RefWorks.
• Humanities Full Text
  Indexes peer reviewed journals in the humanities.
  Try a subject search for "environmental history," a keyword search for "civilian conservation corps" or a similar topic and narrow the results further to scholarly journals or any of the suggested subject facets. Humanities Full Text includes selected full text. Use the FindIt button to link to the Library's full text holdings or the the interlibrary loan form when appropriate.

This is but a small selection of indexes to scholarly journals available in the Library. Ask for further suggestions if you would like to find more indexes.

Background Information

• American National Biography Online
  Biographical resource on more than 18,000 people from all eras who have influenced and shaped American history and culture. See Rachel Carson for example.
• Encyclopedia of American Social Movements
  4 volumes, 1st floor, Falvey Library, Reference Stacks: REF HN 57.E594 2004
  See the excellent entries on the environmental movement (vol. 4, pp. 1255-1322) and the Native American movement (vol. 2, pp. 695-753).
• Social Issues in America. An Encyclopedia
  8 volumes, 1st floor, Falvey Library, Reference Stacks: REF HN 57.S624 2006
  See the article on environmental justice (vol. 3, pp. 626-637). This article includes a bibliography, a chronology, a glossary, and documents. See als the entry on environmentally induced illnesses  (vol. 3, p. 638-648).
• Environmental Encyclopedia
  Available online.
  See the entries on environmental racism, eco justice, sustainable development, and Third World pollution.
• Protest, Power, and Change. An Encyclopedia of Nonviolent Action from ACT-UP to Women's Suffrage
  1st floor, Falvey Library, Reference Stacks: REF HM 278.P76 1997
  See entries on Greenpeace and environmental movements.
• Environmental Activists
  1st floor, Falvey Library, Reference Stacks: REF GE 55.E57 2001

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

Primary Sources

• Historical New York Times
  Complete coverage from 1851 to the present with the exception of the most current two years. Includes classified ads, comics and cartoons, photos, maps, graphics, etc., editorials and commentary.
  A simple search for the phrase "environmental justice" shows that the New York Times used this phrase for the first time on January 17, 1977 in reference to the dumping of mining waste into Lake Superior.

  
  

  Search results can be limited in a variety of ways and results can be easily exported into RefWorks.
• American Periodicals Series
  Covers magazines published between 1740 and 1900.
• Alternative Press Index
  Indexes over 200 journals from the alternative, radical and left presses, newspapers and magazines covering cultural, economic, political and social change. Includes selected abstracts from research journals. Includes such titles as Earth First!, Green Horizon, Peace Review, New Solutions, and Co-op America Quarterly. The Library subscribes to very few of these journals, but they can be requested through interlibrary loan via the FindIt button.
• Ethnic NewsWatch
  A comprehensive full text database of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press.
• Readers' Guide Full Text
  Citations to popular U.S. magazines. Coverage back to 1983.
• Readers' Guide Retrospective
  Provides citations to popular general-interest magazines published in the United States and reflects the history of 20th century America. Coverage from 1890 to 1982.
  The FindIt button links to the full text of the articles in the Library's collection as well as to an interlibrary loan form. Interlibrary loan can only be used for those journals to which the Library does not have a subscription. It can take one to two weeks to process an interlibrary loan request. Article citations can be exported to RefWorks.

Citing Sources

• Documenting Sources, Chicago Style
  DianaHacker.com: Research and Documentation Online.
  Sample bibliography.
• Chicago Manual of Style Quick Guide
  Made available free online by Chicago University Press.
• The Chicago Manual of Style
  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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