History 499: History of the American West

 

Kraemer Library Catalog
Provides access to books, audio visual materials and other print resources at the Library.

Subject searching
Subject searching uses controlled vocabulary and will retrieve relevant items on your research topic.

The subdivisions under broad subject headings will help you narrow your search for information. Here are some examples of the standard subject heading for the American West and some of its subdivisions::

West (U.S.)
.....West U S Boundaries History
.....West U S Cattle Trade History
.....West U S Environmental Conditions History
.....West U S Frontier And Pioneer Life History

Looking for Primary resources? Check for subject headings that have endings such as:
.....correspondence
.....diaries
.....interviews
.....personal narratives
.....public opinion
.....sources

 

Keyword searching
Keyword searching allows you to search for any word(s) in the subject, title, author, and content notes for all item records in the catalog. Keyword searches are not as concise as subject searches and may retrieve irrelevant items. However, keyword search is very useful...

...if you don't know the appropriate subject heading for your topic.
...the subject heading is too general or too specific.
...if you are searching for a new trend or concept.

Examples: "Gold Rush" or "American Indians"

Prospector
The Colorado Unified Catalog. Search and request books and AV materials from over 20 research and public library collections throughout the state of Colorado and Wyoming. Note: you may not request articles or journals through Prospector. Instead, use the ILLiad Interlibrary Loan service described below.

WorldCat
Locate books and other materials worldwide.

Finding Articles on your Topic

Researching off campus? You'll need to install the Library VPN to access the library's resources. Directions for Installing the Library VPN.

America: History and Life EBSCOhost
A comprehensive bibliographic reference to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.

Academic Search Premier
Provides full text for more than 3,430 scholarly publications covering academic areas of study including social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, language and linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, and ethnic studies. It also includes book reviews. This database is updated on a daily basis.

JSTOR
Full-text of 117 core journals in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Coverage includes the entirety of each journal with the exception of the current five years.

Project MUSE
Project MUSE covers the fields of literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and many others.

Dissertations and Theses
Indexes the complete range of academic subjects appearing in dissertations accepted at accredited institutions. Abstracting of dissertations begins with 1980 and abstracting of theses begins with 1988.

Expanded Academic ASAP
This database abstracts a broad range of scholarly and general periodicals in most subject areas including history with some full-text coverage. Coverage from 1980 to the present. Good source for book reviews.

WilsonWeb OmniFile Full Text Mega
This database abstracts a broad range of scholarly and general periodicals in most subject areas including history with some full-text coverage. Coverage varies. Good source for book reviews.

New York Times The entire newspaper is available electronically through the Pikes Peak Library District. If you have a PPLD card and pin number you can access this database remotely.

Locating Journals available through Kraemer Library

To determine if Kraemer Family Library has access to a certain journal in print or electronic format, use the Find Journals By Title or ISSN link on the Kraemer Family Library home page.Finding articles not available through Kraemer Library.

Journals not available through Kraemer Library

ILLiad
If the Library doesn't have access to the journal article you want, you can still get it through interlibrary loan. With an ILLiad account, you can place your requests online. This service can take anywhere from a few days to two weeks depending on the format inwhich the article is delivered. DO YOUR RESEARCH EARLY.

Microform collections

Microbook Library of American Civilization: Core Collection REF Z 1236 L5
The LAC is a collection of materials on microfiche relating to all aspects of American history and literature from their beginnings to the outbreak of World War I. Included in the collection are pamphlets, periodicals, documents, biographies and autobiographies, fictional works, poetry, collections of various kinds, materials of foreign origin relating to America, and many rare books not generally available. Access to the LAC is provided through a printed, four-volume guide to LAC materials. The Microfiche itself is located in a cabinet on the the east side of the Copy Center on the main floor of the Library.

Western Americana: An Annotated Bibliography to the Microfiche Collection of 1012 Books and Documents of the 18th, 19th and early 20th Century. Microfiche Z 1251 E5 W47
Kraemer Family Library owns subsets of this collection including the Frontier Thesis and General Information, Fur Trade and Early Exploration, Trails West, Transportation, Travel Accounts, Memoirs and Reminiscences; Women and the West, and Directories and Guidebooks.

Primary Sources

Using Primary Resources on the Web Helpful hints for finding and evaluating primary resources on the Web.

Below are some databases available through the library that contain primary resource material in U.S. History.

American West
American West provides access to a vast body of original source material including original manuscripts, ephemeral material (trade cards, wanted posters, photos, claim certificates, news-sheets etc), maps, and rare printed works from 1722 to 1939. Topics include Native Americans, pioneers & homesteaders, mining, the Mormon Exodus, transportation, outlaws, environment, border issues and more.

HarpWeek: the Civil War Era 1857-1865
An important primary source, this full-text weekly newspaper  includes editorials, news stories, illustrations, cartoons, and even advertisements that shaped and reflected public opinion during the civil war years.

Everyday Life and Women in America
Resource for the study of American social, cultural, and popular history, providing access to rare primary source material from the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History, Duke University and The New York Public Library. It comprises thousands of fully searchable images (alongside transcriptions) of monographs, pamphlets, periodicals and broadsides addressing 19th and early 20th century political, social and gender issues, religion, race, education, employment, marriage, sexuality, home and family life, health, and pastimes. The collection is especially rich in conduct of life and domestic management literature, offering vivid insights into the daily lives of women and men, as well as emphasizing contrasts in regional, urban and rural cultures.

Historical Statistics of the United States
An online and fully searchable version of the Historical Statistics of the United States. Contains statistics ranging from the earliest part of American history to present day, covering population, work and welfare, economic structure and performance, governance, and international relations.

Other Primary Resource Web Sites

American Memory
American Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. It is a digital record of American history and creativity. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the public as a resource for education and lifelong learning.

Avalon Project
The Avalon Project, hosted by the Yale Law School containing digitized primary resource material relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government.

Making of America
Making of America is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. It is hosted by the University of Michigan and made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Eurodocs
Western European historical documents.

National Archives and Records Administration
NARA includes the major documents of our government, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights, as well as the 100 milestone documents of American history.

National Security Archives
A library and archive of declassified U.S. documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

History Matters
History Matters contains more than 800 reviewed and annotated web site in American History.

History Guide
History Guide is a subject gateway to scholarly relevant websites in history.

Need more help?

Contact the Kraemer Library REFERENCE DESK at 719-255-3295 or e-mail the desk at refdesk@uccs.edu
Or contact Sue Byerley: 719-255-3290; sbyerley@uccs.edu.