Related content:
Scope: KIN callers often wish to find information about major events in American history and biographies about important historical figures.
Library of Congress (LC) Subject Headings:
- African American History
- African Americans
- America-Archaeology
- Antislavery Movements (Abolition)
- Constitutional Convention
- Founding Fathers
- Great Depression
- Indians
- Mexican War (1846-1848)
- Presidents-Last name, first name, (years in office)
- Slavery
- Spanish-American War (1898)
- Underground Railroad
- United States
- United States – American Revolution
- United States - Colonial Period
- Unites States-Constitutional Period
- US
- US Civil War
- War of 1812
Library Catalog Call Numbers:
LC
- Hawaii- DU622
- Presidents/Periods of History E312-902
- United States History E1-303
- United States-States & Areas F1-901</li>
Dewey
- History-United States (general) 973-978
- Geography & Travel in North America 917
Keywords: The following sample terms are intended for use in library catalogs and online searching.
Abolition- abolitionists, abolitionism, emancipation, liberation, rescue, freedman, freedmen, Quakers, Society of Friends
African Americans- African-Americans, Negroes, black, colored;
Constitutional Convention- Articles of Confederation,
Founding Fathers- Founding Fathers of the United States,
Indians- Amerind, Amerindians, Indians of North America, indigenous peoples, Native Americans,
Mexican War- Mexican-American War
Slavery- bondage, captivity, enslavement, forced labor/labour, human trafficking (modern),
Suggested Google Search Strings:
The following are some samples of search strings which can be used in connection with history inquiries:
Site: .edu, .gov
The suffixes above may be used with the search strings below to designate educational or governmental sites.
- A history of
- How did
- What happened at
- What is a
- When was the
- Where was
- Who was
- Why did
- Name + biography
- For example “Alexander Hamilton” + biography
CPL (Cleveland Public Library) Databases: These sources are available only to providers who have access to CPL databases.
American Civil War Reference Library (CPL) This is a good source for reprints of journal articles about historic figures/events associated with the Civil War and is best used for inquiries with high school and college-age students.
In the First Person (CPL) This is an excellent source for primary source, historical information and includes text and audio as well as video files.
Free Online Sources:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/
This is a very good site, particularly for American oratory. It includes a database of and index to over 5,000 full-text, audio, and video versions of public speeches, sermons, etc.
This is an excellent site for images of historic maps of North and South America.
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/coredocs.html
Core documents of U.S. Democracy. This site provides direct, online access to basic federal government documents, both historic and current.
http://www.historycentral.com/USHistory.html
This child-friendly site features easy browsing via text links. It is especially good for its chronologies of various historic periods.
Access is free to anyone in Ohio, Just type in your zip code. Links provided to KIN callers through this site can be “pushed” through the Spark system and callers may access them by also typing in their zip codes.
The databases include material pertinent to history and are available at the OPLIN site:
Biographies Plus Illustrated database. Works best if searched by subject. For example, “Washington, George.”
Worldbook Advanced database- Good for general information about historic figures and events.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
The link above is the home page of the Library of Congress’s American Memory Project. The index page features several links which lead to alphabetized lists of material pertinent to American History.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/index.asp
This site features a survey of American history from its prehistoric beginning through the end of the 20th century.
Print Sources:
The following sources are valuable for those locations which possess them:
Books:
Garraty, John A. American national biography. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. LC: CT213; E176; Dewey: 920.073.
Malinowsky, Sharon. Gale encyclopedia of native american tribes. Detroit: Gale, 1998. LC: E77; Dewey: 973.0497
Journals/Magazines:
OAH Magazine of History (Organization of American Historians)
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History
American Heritage Magazine
The magazine also has a website with an online archive of past articles located at: http://www.americanheritage.com/