History Research Guide
- Getting Started
- Find Books and Films
- Find Articles
- Find Primary Sources
- Citing Sources
Getting Started
This guide is designed to provide tips and resources for finding and identifying materials related to your history research topic.
How to do History Research
Reading, Writing and Researching for History by Patrick Rael, Bowdoin College provides a detailed introduction on how to read, write, and research for history—from developing reading skills for critical primary and secondary sources to formulating an argument. This site is highly recommended for those who have never written a university-level history paper.
Search Reading, Writing and Researching for History
Finding Background Information
Background sources, such as specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries, are an essential piece of the research process. They can help you:
- Gather information about your topic and understand the scope of the research
- Locate reliable sources and clarify keywords
- Pinpoint important authors, texts, ideas, and keywords about the research area.
Knowing what the primary phrases and concepts are will help you as you search through library databases and online sources.
Credo Reference
Credo Reference is a multi-publisher collection of high-quality reference titles covering everything from the arts, astronomy, and law to literature, science, and Shakespeare. Available titles also include a range of multimedia options including thousands of high-quality diagrams, photographs, maps, and audio files. Credo Reference offers several relevant titles to history and more.
Find Books and Films
Books and films are valuable sources for academic research. They will help you to gain an overview of your topic and often contain in-depth information about the scholarship or history of research on a subject. Some books are written by single authors, while others include essays or chapters by multiple scholars within a discipline. Don’t let the length of books intimidate you because you don’t need to read them from cover to cover. Look at the table of contents and index to find the sections that are relevant to your work.
Academic Videos Online (AVON)
Academic Videos Online (AVON) provides unlimited access to a comprehensive selection of videos curated for the an educational experience.
Books as Secondary Sources
Sometimes history papers will require secondary source materials as part of the assignment. In a history research paper, secondary sources are generally scholarly books and articles that describe, discuss, interpret, comment upon, analyze, evaluate, and summarize primary sources as a non-fiction work. Keep in mind that not all authors of secondary sources on historical subjects are professional historians.
Find Books Using GriffinSearch
GriffinSearch is a good starting place if you are looking for books, journal articles, films, and other materials available in the library. In addition to searching the Giovale Library catalog for physical materials, GriffinSearch finds e-books and articles from several of our databases. To get started, search by keyword or type in the title of a book below:
WorldCat
WorldCat lets you search for books, articles, videos, and other materials available in libraries worldwide. If you are doing in-depth research on a topic and are considering requesting resources through Interlibrary Loan, WorldCat can help you discover resources that might not be in the Giovale Library collection.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
Interlibrary Loan is a service that allows patrons of one library to access journal articles, books, and other materials that are owned by another library.
Explore Interlibrary Loan Materials
Utah Academic Library Consortium
Giovale Library participates in the Utah Academic Library Consortium (UALC) and Westminster University students have reciprocal circulation privileges at UALC partner libraries. Each UALC library has different circulation policies, but all require a current, valid, legal photo identification and proof of current enrollment at Westminster. Some libraries may also require other verification methods, so you should contact the library you're interested in for details.
Popular Titles and Featured Texts
Strangers in the land : exclusion, belonging, and the epic story of the Chinese in America
Black in blues how a color tells the story of my people Imani Perry
Chain of ideas : the origins of our authoritarian age
Defectors : the rise of the Latino far right and what it means for America
Find Articles
The Giovale Library provides access to a number of subject databases that you can use to find journal articles on topics within a specific discipline or field of study. The databases listed on this page are those that are most useful for finding research published in the field of History.
Articles as Secondary Sources
In a history research paper, secondary sources are generally scholarly books and articles that describe, discuss, interpret, comment upon, analyze, evaluate, and summarize primary sources as a non-fiction work. Secondary source materials can be articles in newspapers or popular magazines, book or movie reviews, or articles found in scholarly journals that discuss or evaluate someone else's original research. Keep in mind that not all authors of secondary sources on historical subjects are professional historians. Biographical details about the authors are often available, and they will help you determine how popular or scholarly a particular source may be. Articles that have gone through a peer-review process—an examination by a series of scholars in similar fields—will usually be good sources for your research.
GriffinSearch
GriffinSearch is a good starting place if you are looking for books, journal articles, films, and other material available in the library. In addition to searching the Giovale Library catalog for physical materials, GriffinSearch finds e-books and articles from several of our databases.
JSTOR
JSTOR provides full-text articles from archival and current journals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. It also includes an AI assistant you can use to narrow and analyze search results, ask questions about texts, and find related resources. The AI tool appears as a toggle in the top-right of an article and is disabled by default unless you’re logged in to a free personal JSTOR account (you’ll be prompted to create one if needed).
US History Collection (Gale)
The Gale US History database provides access to scholarly journals and magazines useful for US historical research. This resource also provides content on US history event coverage and scholarly work being established in the field.
American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection Series 1-5
SocINDEX with Full Text (EBSCO)
SocINDEX with Full Text includes full text for numerous peer-reviewed sociology journals dating back to 1908. It also includes full textbooks and conference papers. The database encompasses all sub-disciplines of sociology and closely related areas of study, including sociological history, making it an invaluable resource for social history research.
Find Primary Sources
Primary sources include historical documents, government and legal documents, eyewitness accounts, flyers and pamphlets, statistical data, pieces of creative writing, audio and video recordings, speeches, and art objects. Anything that provides direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person, or work of art could be considered a primary source. Interviews, surveys, emails, handwritten correspondence, diaries, and blogs are also primary sources.
For more information about evaluating primary sources, the American Library Association provides an excellent set of guidelines.
Learn more at RUSA – Evaluating Primary Sources
Collections of Digitized Primary Sources
African Online Digital Library
AODL is an open access digital library of African cultural heritage materials created by Michigan State University in collaboration with museums, archives, scholars, and communities around the world.
Search African Online Digital Library
Archives West
Archives West offers descriptions of archival and manuscript materials held by participating institutions in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West. Searchers can use over 40,000 finding aids to locate collections, then contact repositories directly to access materials.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
The Chronicling America Historic American Newspapers collection provides access to select digitized newspaper pages produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress. The collection contains millions of newspaper pages from nearly every state and territory in the United States published through 1963.
Search Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Digital Public Library of America
Digital Public Library of America provides access to millions of texts, images, audio files, video files, and other resources digitized by libraries, archives, museums, and other organizations in the United States. The Digital Public Library of America is an incredible resource for primary source material.
Search Digital Public Library of America
EuroDocs
EuroDocs, hosted by Brigham Young University, features European primary historical documents that are transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated. In addition, you will find video or sound files, maps, photographs, or other imagery, databases, and other documentation. The sources cover a broad range of historical happenings (political, economic, social, and cultural).
Library of Congress Digital Collections
The Library of Congress Digital Collections currently has over 2.2 million historical materials available through their online collection, including photographs, correspondence, music, manuscripts, maps, and much more. Historical materials date from the year 1000 to present from all over the world.
Search the Library of Congress Digital Collections
Mountain West Digital Library (MWDL)
MWDL is a central research portal for digital collections about the Mountain West region. Since 2001, MWDL has provided access to over 1 million digitized historical resources from a trusted network of partners in Utah, Nevada, Oregon, and other parts of the U.S. West
National Archives
The National Archives was established in 1934 by President Franklin Roosevelt, but its major holdings date back to 1775. They capture the sweep of the past: slave ship manifests and the Emancipation Proclamation; captured German records and the Japanese surrender documents from World War II; journals of polar expeditions and photographs of Dust Bowl farmers; Indian treaties making transitory promises; and much more. The National Archives Records Administration keeps only those Federal records found to have continuing value—about 2–5% of those generated in any given year.
New York Public Library Digital Library Collections
The New York Public Library Digital Library Collections include a wealth of primary source materials related to American history, Russian history, and many more topics of research. The collection is ever growing, and includes digitized company records, early photographs and films, collections of letters, books, newspapers, and more.
Search NYPL Digital Collections
New York Public Library Digital Library Collections
Smithsonian Collections
The Smithsonian Collections search center is an online catalog containing most of the Smithsonian major collections from their museums, archives, libraries, and research units. There are catalog records relating to areas for art and design, history and culture, and science and technology and includes images, videos, audio files, podcasts, blog posts and electronic journals.
Search Smithsonian Collections
Utah History Research Library
The Utah History Research Library, part of the Utah State Historical Society, provides public access to Utah State Historical Society research collections. Among their collections are cemetery records, old newspapers, old yearbooks, old phone directories, and more.
Search Utah History Research Library
Utah State Archives Division of Archives and Records Service
The Utah State Archives is the official repository for permanent government records of Utah state agencies, courts, counties, and cities. The collection includes birth and death records, military records, probate records, court records, naturalization records, cemetery records, prison records, land records, county tax ledgers, motor vehicle license registrations, and more.
Search Utah State Archives Division of Archives and Records Service
Finding Non-Digitized Primary Sources
There are many things to consider when looking for primary sources. Interlibrary Loan and the Utah Academic Library lending agreement can assist with access to some primary source materials, however primary source materials that have not been digitized can be very difficult and take a long time to get access to—if they can be accessed at all.
If a primary source is not available digitally, it might be something that can be requested through Interlibrary Loan in microfilm or microfiche format or as a special request scan from a lending library. These requests can take several weeks to several months to be filled.
Primary sources come in a wide range of mediums and formats, some of which are too fragile for scanning or circulation. It may not be possible to get access to non-digitized primary sources unless they are available locally.
WorldCat
WorldCat is helpful for locating primary source materials. This site lets you search for books, articles, videos, and other materials that are available in libraries worldwide. If you are doing in-depth research on a topic and are considering requesting resources through interlibrary loan, WorldCat can help you discover resources that might not be in the Giovale Library collection. It can also show you what may be available at local libraries, such as the University of Utah.
Citing Sources
Citation Resources
Properly citing your sources shows that you’ve done research to become knowledgeable about your topic and helps you avoid plagiarism. Explore citation resources to learn how to correctly cite sources based on style.
Need help with your research?
Get in touch with:
Robyn Ward
Liaison Librarian for History
801.832.2256
rward@westminsteru.edu
Librarians are happy to answer questions via email, phone, or in-person.
Contact Robyn with a question or to schedule a research help appointment.
Faculty: Contact Robyn to suggest edits to this research guide.
Chat with a Librarian