History 499: Twentieth Century American History

Listed below are several sources and tools either owned by Kraemer Family Library or accessible from the Kraemer Family Library web site. All electronic resources may be searched from any computer connected to the UCCS network. For more information about remote access, check with the librarian at the Reference Desk or click on the link, Off Campus Access.

Books at Kraemer Library

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. Hereare three examples of subdivisions listed under the main subject heading for the Vietnamese conflict:

Vietnam War 1961 1975
.....Vietnam War 1961 1975 Desertions United States
.....Vietnam War 1961 1975 Draft Resistors
.....Vietnam War 1961 1975 Influence

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: "cu chi tunnels" or "boat people"

Finding Books Off Campus

Can't find what you are looking for?

Prospector
Search and request books and AV materials from over 20 research and public library collections throughout the state of Colorado and Wyoming. Items requested through Prospector will arrive at Kraemer within 3-5 working days. When the items are available for pickup from the Circulation Desk, you will be notified by e-mail.

WorldCat
An international catalog that UCCS students, staff and faculty may request items not available at UCCS or in Prospector. You need an ILLiad account to request items in WorldCat. Items can take 2 weeks or more to be delivered.

Reference Collection

The Reference Collection is a great place to start your research. Reference books provide basic introductions to broad subject areas, unfamiliar concepts, ideas, events, people, and places and often contain bibliographies that identify major primary and secondary sources on a topic. Listed below a few reference books on various American history topics. The Reference Collection is located right behind the Reference Desk on the 2nd floor of El Pomar Center.

REF E169.1 A436 1986 American Studies: an Annotated Bibliography
REF E173 A793 1976 Annals of America
REF D839.5 C65 1992 The Cold War, 1945-1991: Leaders and Other Important Figures in the U.S. and Europe
REF E173 D59 1988 Documents of American History
REF E184 A1 E573 Encyclopedia of American Race Riots
REF HN57 E58 1993 Encyclopedia of American Social History
REF JF1525 I6 E63 2004 Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security
REF GN495.6 C37 2004 Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic Studies
REF DS557.7 E53 1998 Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: a Political , Social, and Military History
REF D740 E516 2005 Encyclopedia of World War II: a Political, Social, and Military History
REF E839.5 H57 Historic Documents
REF E184 A1 G14 2000 Gale Encyclopedia of American Race Riots
REF D408.3 H65 2001 Holocaust Encyclopedia
REF DS918 K5645 1995 The Korean War: an Encyclopedia

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

GPO Access
Contains links to current legislations and congressional bills/headings as well as the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Journals available at UCCS

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

ILLiad
If the Library doesn't have access to the article you want, you can still get it through interlibrary loan. With an ILLiad account, you can place your requests online and be sent an electronic copy of the article you requested. This service can take anywhere from a few days to two weeks.

Recommended Web Sites

Below are some general web sites that will help you get started finding primary resources on the Web on topics in American History. The list is far from comprehensive.

Using Primary Resources on the Web

American History from 1865

American Memory Project

National Security Archive

History Matters

Need Research 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.