Curt Asher

CSUB 2004

Finding sources for a history paper  -  Some basic information

Example Topic- The Temperance Movement

The first step is to narrow your topic.  For example, if you were interested in the temperance movement, you could first search the catalog for reference books about the topic.  Because there are no reference books on the temperance movement, you could search for a more general topic instead, such as alcohol.

Open the library catalog.  Select set limits.  Limit your search to the reference collection. Perform a search for alcohol. 

We found two types of reference books on our subject in the catalog:  print and electronic.  From those sources, we could develop a list of important temperance organizations and people in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. 

Catholic Total Abstention Union
Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
Anti-Saloon League (ASL)
Frances Willard
Carrie Nation
Annie Wittenmeyer

Searching for Circulating Books

Clear your limits. You can first perform a broad search for “temperance” and retrieve some books.

You can add the books to your book bag, so that you can develop and save a short bibliography of books at CSUB about your topic.  (Select the catalog’s “book bag” option and enter your student number followed by a zero, then enter your last name)

You can also conduct some specific searches on the above organizations.  For example, the Anti-Saloon League.

You can also click through on the subject headings on the full record and examine other related topics.  Select Prohibition – United States – History from the subject list.

Finding Primary Sources using the CSUB Newspaper Collections

Historical LA Times

Go to the periodicals page on the library website and then select periodical databases.  Select Los Angeles Times, Historical Collection.

If you were type in a broad topic like “prohibition” or “temperance,” you would retrieve thousands of records, few of which would have anything to do with your topic.  If you go to advanced search, however, you can combine “temperance” with another subject term, such as a geographic location, to reduce the number of records.   For example, you could perform a search for “temperance” on the first line and  “Bakersfield” on the second.  You could narrow the search to headlines only.

By obtaining more specific names or search terms, you can narrow your search to topics that interest you and relate specifically to your research.  Search for Women’s Christian Temperance Union.  To search for a term with multiple words, you will need to use quotation marks, “Women’s Christian  Temperance Union”.

You again narrow search by simply adding an additional term, such as “Carrie Nation” (again using quotes).  You can broaden this search by using the term OR, rather than AND.  You can add additional terms to your search to broaden it by using the OR option on the advanced search screen.

New York Times Indexes

Once you have located some approximate dates from your books and LA Times searches you can search the New York Times Indexes, which are found on the eastern wall of the reference section on the first floor of the library.  For example, if you looked in the 1899-1905 Index, then found the year 1901, you would find several articles about her.  The citation will list a date, such as Jan. 22 followed by the page and column in parentheses, for example,  Nation, Mrs. Carrie; Saloon Smashing Crusade in Kansas.. Jan 22, (1-5).