HIST 103: Cold War Cultures: A Transnational Comparative

How to Narrow Your Topic

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:09:43 -0700

"I'm writing a paper on World War II."

Often students start their research with a very general topic, even though they may realize the topic is too large to deal with in a 10-15 page paper. Faculty and librarians tell them, "You have to narrow this down." But how do you narrow a topic?

Ask yourself--

What discipline am I working in? If you are in a sociology class, ask a sociological question about World War II, like "How did WWII affect women?" If it's a political science class, your question might be something like "How did WWII affect presidential elections in the US?"

What are some subsets or aspects of your topic. Some good aspects are:
- by place, such as a country or region
- by time period, such as a century, decade or year
- by population, such as men, women, ethnic group, youth, children or elderly

You can combine these ideas, "What were the major impacts of WWII on women in France, in the decade after the war?"

More ideas in our brief tutorial on topic selection and narrowing.

Background Information

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 10:43:10 -0700

History in Dispute, Vol 1: The Cold War (first series)

History in Dispute, Vol 6: The Cold War (second series)

Encyclopedia of the Cold War: a political, social, and military history

Encyclopedia of the Cold War

Defining Your Research Topic

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:09:38 -0700

Choose a topic.

It is important that your topic is neither too broad...
Example: ...
... or too narrow.
Example: ...

Define and deconstruct your topic. Plan your search.

Write your research topic as a question, subject idea or thesis statement.
Example: ...
List the main concepts.
Example: ...
List key words, phrases and synonyms to search.
Example: ...
Remember to include alternate spellings.
Example: ...

Quick Links

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:51:54 -0700

Read an introduction to the campus libraries for undergraduates.

Set up your computer for off campus access to library databases.

Need a map of the campus libraries?

Each library has its own hours. Click on the calendar for each library to view a month at a time.

SMS and QR Codes in OskiCat

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:31:11 -0700

You can now text yourself a call number or use a QR code reader to find the location of an item in the UCB Library. Just click on a title in your OskiCat search results, and both options will be displayed on the right.

Searching Library Catalogs

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:41:55 -0700

Use OskiCat to locate materials related to your topic, including books, government publications, and audio and video recordings, in the libraries of UC Berkeley. OskiCat will show you the location and availability of the items that we own.

Use Melvyl to locate materials related to your topic located at other campuses in the UC system. Next Generation Melvyl also allows you to expand your search to libraries worldwide. Clicking on the REQUEST button in the detailed view of a catalog record prompt you to fill out a form to request the item through our Interlibrary Loan office.

Find Dissertations

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 12:59:16 -0700

Find Dissertations by searching Dissertations and Theses (Dissertation Abstracts) Full Text, which indexes graduate dissertations from over 1,000 North American, and selected European, graduate schools and universities from 1861 to the present. Dissertations published since 1980 include brief abstracts written by the authors and some feature 24-page excerpts. The database offers full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997 and some full text coverage for older graduate works.

Also see Find Dissertations and Theses for other specialized sources. Dissertations completed at UC Berkeley can be found in OskiCat, using the feature allowing you to limit to dissertations/theses:

Older dissertations not available full text may be obtained through Interlibrary Loan or using the "Request" option in Melvyl.

UC-eLinks - Find Article Text/Location

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 10:45:40 -0700

Once you've searched a database to find articles, you may need to use to link to a PDF or html file if the full text is not immediately available. Each database is a bit different, but a good rule of thumb is this: when you see the Uc-eLinks icon click on it to view your article access options, which can range from full text to a call number to an Interlibrary Loan request:

For more information, here's a tutorial on using UC-eLinks.

History Databases

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:20:26 -0700

Political Science Databases

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:26:41 -0700

Interdisciplinary databases

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:35:08 -0700

Data and Statistics

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 10:32:07 -0800

These links will guide you to various sources for statistics and data. If you are interested in manipulating a dataset on your own, please visit the Doe Library's Data Lab in 189 Doe.

Primary Source Databases

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:27:14 -0700

This list represents resources available from the Library's collection of digital archival collection and primary source databases that may be of interest to those exploring Cold War history. Depending on your topic, you may find other resources on that list more helpful.

Locating Primary Sources

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 13:21:02 -0700

There are many access points to the vast collections of primary sources available to you.

Certain words and phrases (part of the Library of Congress Subject Headings classification system) will find primary sources in library catalogs. You can use these in OskiCat or Melvyl:

-correspondence
-sources
-diaries
-personal narratives
-interviews
-speeches
-documents
-archives
-early works to 1800
-newspapers

For specific search strategies, see the Library's Guide to Finding Historical Primary Source s.

Your searches will be more successful if, in your preliminary research, you identify specific:

names of relevant individuals and organizations
dates of events
places
what terminology was used at the time by participants and observers? (ex: negro or colored instead of african american)

Organizations with manuscript collections make their collections accessible with finding aids. The tools below allow you to search the finding aids by topic, helping you identify collections available around the world that may inform your research. The Online Archive of California includes finding aids from historical societies, government agencies, libraries in California, including Bancroft Library, and is your best choice for locating archival collections in California.

Historical Newspapers (ProQuest)

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:48:53 -0800

Want to find scanned articles from major U.S. newspapers, going back to the mid-19th century? You can do this through an easy-to-use online database: ProQuest Historical Newspapers. This database includes articles from the Chicago Defender (1905-1975), the Chicago Tribune (1849-1987), Los Angeles Times (1881-1987), the New York Times (1851-2007), the San Francisco Chronicle (1865-1922), the Wall Street Journal (1889-1993), and the Washington Post (1877-1994).

Trying to use Historical Newspapers from off-campus? Be sure to set up off-campus access. Use of this resource is restricted to UC Berkeley students, faculty and staff.

Google Scholar UC-eLinks access

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:06:08 -0700

Accessing full-text content from off campus using Google Scholar

Step 1: Set up your proxy server access by following the directions at http://proxy.lib.berkeley.edu/. When you get to a point where you are accessing resources that the Library pays for, you will be prompted for your CalNet ID and password. For more help see: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/doemoff/tutorials/proxy.html

Step 2: Change your “Scholar Preferences.” Access these by clicking on the link next to the search box.

Step 3: In search box next to "Library Links," type in University of California Berkeley and click on “Find Library”

Step 4: Check box next to "University of California Berkeley - UC-eLinks

Step 5: Click on "Save Preferences" at bottom of page

Google Books

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 11:35:16 -0700

Google Books contains millions of scanned books, from libraries and publishers worldwide. You can search the entire text of the books, view previews or "snippets" from books that are still in copyright, and read the full text of out-of-copyright (pre-1923) books. Want to read the entire text of an in-copyright book? Use Google Books' Find in a Library link to locate the book in a UC Berkeley library, or search OskiCat to see if UC Berkeley owns the book.

Why use Google Books?

Library catalogs (like OskiCat) don't search inside books; using a library catalog, you can search only information about the book (title, author, Library of Congress subject headings, etc.). Google Books will let you search inside books, which can be very useful for hard-to-find information. Try it now:

Google Research Tools

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:00:50 -0700

Google Scholar is an easy way to do interdisciplinary research, and with some settings changes can become even more useful. You may need a Google account to use some of these features.

Set up Google Scholar to display links to full text of articles that Berkeley subscribes to:

Open Scholar. Click on scholar preferences [upper right corner]. Under Library Links, enter the word Berkeley. Choose UC Berkeley eLinks and Open WorldCat - Library Search and Save your preferences. UC e-links will now appear in Google Scholar search results.

Set up a Google Scholar Alert to be automatically notified when new articles are added to Google on topics of interest:

Do your search in Google Scholar. Look in the green toolbar for the envelope icon, and click it. New items will be sent to your email account as they are found by Google.

Ever wanted to trace an article’s impact? Google now permits searching within citing articles.

Do a Google Scholar search. Click on the "Cited by" link under a citation and select the "Search within articles citing..." checkbox.

Citation Management Tools

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 12:21:33 -0800

Citation management tools help you manage your research, collect and cite sources, and create bibliographies in a variety of citation styles. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, but any are easier than doing it by hand!

Zotero: A free plug-in that works exclusively with the Firefox browser: keeps copies of what you find on the web, permits tagging, notation, full text searching of your library of resources, works with Word, and has a free web backup service.

RefWorks - free for UC Berkeley users. It allows you to create your own database by importing references and using them for footnotes and bibliographies. Use the RefWorks New User Form to sign up. Refworks Help is pretty good.

How to link from the Refworks record to a pdf on your hard drive

Exporting from OskiCat to Refworks

EndNote: may be purchased from UC Berkeley's Software Central. The Library's Guide to EndNote. And more Tips from EndNote.

It's always good to double check the formatting -- sometimes the software doesn't get it quite right.

Citation Help

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:47:51 -0700

"Ethics, copyright laws, and courtesy to readers require authors to identify the sources of direct quotations and of any facts or opinions not generally known or easily checked."--

Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition (Chicago: Chicago Univ. Press), p. 594

Why cite sources?
Whenever you quote or base your ideas on another person's work, you must document the source you used. Even when you do not quote directly from another work, if reading that source contributed to the ideas presented in your paper, you must give the authors proper credit.

Citations allow readers to locate and further explore the sources you consulted, show the depth and scope of your research, and give credit to authors for their ideas. Citations provide evidence for your arguments and add credibility to your work by demonstrating that you have sought out and considered a variety of resources. In written academic work, citing sources is standard practice and shows that you are responding to this person, agreeing with that person, and adding something of your own. Think of documenting your sources as providing a trail for your reader to follow to see the research you performed and discover what led you to your original contribution.

Citation Management Tools

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:29:05 -0800

Citation management tools help you manage your research, collect and cite sources, organize and store your PDFs, and create bibliographies in a variety of citation styles. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, but all are easier than doing it by hand!

Zotero: A free plug-in for the Firefox browser: keeps copies of what you find on the web, permits tagging, notation, full text searching of your library of resources, works with Word, and has a free web backup service. Zotero is also available as a stand-alone application that syncs with Chrome and Safari, or as a bookmarklet for mobile browsers.
- Zotero help from the UCB Libraries
- Zotero help from zotero.org
RefWorks - web-based and free for UC Berkeley users. It allows you to create your own database by importing references and using them for footnotes and bibliographies, then works with Word to help you format references and a bibliography for your paper. Use theRefWorks New User Form to sign up.
- RefWorks help from the UCB Libraries
- RefWorks help from RefWorks
EndNote: Desktop software for managing your references and formatting bibliographies. You can purchase EndNote from the Cal Student Store.

Tip: After creating a bibliography with a citation management tool, it's always good to double check the formatting; sometimes the software doesn't get it quite right.

Library Prize for Undergraduate Research

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:21:54 -0700

The Library Prize for Undergraduate Research recognizes excellence in undergraduate research projects that show evidence of significant inquiry using the library, its resources, and collections and learning about the research and information-gathering process itself.

Ask a Librarian 24/7 Chat

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:03:23 -0700

Quick Links

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:51:54 -0700

The Bancroft Library

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:32:37 -0800

The Bancroft Library is one of the treasures of the campus, and one of the world's great libraries for the history of the American West.

Some Bancroft materials are available online via Calisphere, which includes primary sources from many California libraries and museums.

Before you go:

1. Be prepared! Read secondary sources and know something about your topic.

2. Search OskiCat so you can bring call numbers with you. Use the Entire Collection pull-down menu in OskiCat to limit your search to the Bancroft Library only. (Remember that there are primary sources in many other campus libraries as well.)

If the item you want is in storage (the location is NRLF) and it's owned by The Bancroft Library, do not use the Request button in OskiCat. Instead, use the Bancroft's online request form at least 72 hours in advance (they prefer a week.)
If you have 72 hours in advance, you can also use the online request form for Bancroft materials that are not in storage; that will speed things up when you arrive.
If the OskiCat record mentions a finding aid (an index) to a manuscript collection, you should use it to help you find what you need in the collection. If the finding aid is online, there will be a link from the OskiCat record. The finding aids that are not online are near the Registration Desk at the Bancroft Library.

3. Learn about the Bancroft's policies: read about Access (bring a quarter for lockers) and Registration (bring two pieces of ID). You may want to read about the new camera policy ($10/day, no flash) or about getting photocopies.