LibGuides: United States History: Quick Start

Top Library Resource

Arts & Humanities Database
Are you looking for historical research from top scholarly journals and academic resources? The Arts is a good place to start. This database has a ton of information- articles, books, and reviews - and it is easy to become lost in it all. To help see the sources through the research, one can focus their search by topic and possibly limit search results to "peer review."

Supplemental resources

ProQuest Research Library
ProQuest's Research Library has a lot of academic content to choose from for all kinds research needs. One can find academic journals, magazine articles, and encyclopedias in this database. Also, information from these sources is top notch, in other words, it is current and reliable. If you need to double check a fact, put together a bibliography or find an overview of an unfamiliar topic, then Research Library is the place to start.
Academic Search Premier (EBSCO)
Academic Search is a good all around database. It has a ton of content including peer-review sources. One can do a preliminary search on a topic to see what current research there is or what potential sources there are. Did you know? Academic Search has primary sources. To search for primary sources limit a search to "Full Text" and "Primary Source Document" under Publication Type.

Online Encyclopedias and Books

Gale Virtual Reference Collection
Encyclopedias are credible academic sources you can use at every stage of research. Get an overview of an unfamiliar topic, find a bibliography of important sources and gather more in-depth information. Browse encyclopedias by subject area or keyword search.

Gale Virtual Reference Collection is part of Gale Group. It is available both on-campus and off-campus. Access GVRC from the Find Books and Articles section of the library homepage.
eBook Academic Collection (EBSCO)
Books provide in-depth information on a topic. Not a finding a book on your topic? Use a book’s index to find pages that discuss your topic or scan the table of contents for book chapters. The best part about eBooks most support keyword searching so you can quickly identify the most important parts.

Look for this database at the bottom of the EBSCOhost Choose Database list

Possible search terms

(place or topic) – History, (place or topic) – Civilization, (topic) – Chronology

Chicago style citations

Online Journal Article

Keng, Shao-Hsun, Chun-Hung Lin, and Peter F. Orazem. 2017. “Expanding College Access in Taiwan, 1978–2014: Effects on Graduate Quality and Income Inequality.” Journal of Human Capital 11, no. 1 (Spring): 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1086/690235.

Book

Grazer, Brian, and Charles Fishman. 2015. A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life. New York: Simon & Schuster

Website

Bouman, Katie. 2016. “How to Take a Picture of a Black Hole.” Filmed November 2016 at TEDxBeaconStreet, Brookline, MA. Video, 12:51. https://www.ted.com/talks/katie_bouman_what_does_a_black_hole_look_like.

Chicago Quick Citation Guide
by Mary Johnson Last Updated Apr 18, 2022 46 views this year

CMOS Quick Guides
Citation Info with references to Chicago Manual of Style on both Notes-Bibliography and Author-Date by CMOS staff
NoodleTools
This resource can help you manage citations and create an APA reference list. Ask your CSM librarian for details!
NoodleTools Express
Just need one or two quick citations? Simply generate them in NoodleTools Express and copy and paste what you need into your document.

United States History

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Top Library Resource

Supplemental resources

Online Encyclopedias and Books

Possible search terms

Chicago style citations