LibGuides: History: HIST 495: Senior Seminar in History

Librarian Meeting Sign-Up Instructions

Please review the available slots before February 10^th for your librarian meeting and click on the button to sign up.

YouCanBookMe: https://sgilchrist.youcanbook.me/

If you cannot attend your research session, please notify Ms. Gilchrist (sgilchrist@ubalt.edu) 24 hours before the session, cancel your appointment, and select a different date for your research meeting.

If none of the times and dates work for your schedule, please send three alternate dates and times to Ms. Gilchrist before March 10th.

Thank you!

Start Your Research

Starting Points for Primary Research

As history students, you've learned to find and evaluate primary sources. Continue to search for primary and secondary sources here:

WorldCat/Books+ - This links to our library catalog and includes materials like eBooks, print books, theses, dissertations, videos, music recordings, and much more. Books+ also searches libraries around the world. Start with a simple keyword search.
Databases - Searching individual databases returns better results than using Library Search. Three places to start include:
- Academic Search Ultimate - Use this as a starting point to see which academic journals have published content related to your topic. Not seeing results? Expand your search using the link to "Choose Databases" and select all of the databases before searching for your keywords.
- ArchiveGrid - Individual archival collections contain digitized and non-digitized materials related to your topic. Search for archival collections and then contact individual archives to access content. This is especially good for finding primary sources.
- JSTOR - Humanities publications are the main focus of JSTOR collections. Find books, journal articles, and other content. Use keywords to narrow your search or try the Text Analyzer to find items related to a PDF version of an existing article.

Email, Phone, and In-Person Contacts

Archival specialists are the best resources for your historic research. Calling, e-mailing, or visiting archival collections will help you find materials that are not available in immediate digital format. Some archives, museums, and libraries will digitize materials for you by request. Be sure to make time to contact and meet with specialists at museums, archives, and libraries.

WorldCat
What you’ll find here: A comprehensive catalog of books, journals, dissertations, and many other materials from libraries worldwide. Member institutions, which number more than 10,000, add their holdings to WorldCat so people can access either through Interlibrary Loan or in person. If you cannot find something at the RLB Library, you may be able to find it at another area library. The RLB Library's catalog automatically searches WorldCat, so you’ll get results worldwide along with the RLB Library's holdings.
How to search this database: Visit the WorldCat help page.

Database List
The RLB Library subscribes to databases that include material from encyclopedias, scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, and eBooks.

Academic Search Ultimate
What you’ll find here: Expanded version of Academic Search Complete. Newspaper, magazine, trade publication and scholarly journal articles covering a wide variety of topics. This is a broad, general database and a great starting place for information about almost any topic, ranging from astronomy, anthropology, biomedicine, engineering, health, law and literacy to mathematics, pharmacology, women’s studies, zoology and more.
How to search this database: Look at the EBSCOhost help page.
ArchiveGrid
What you’ll find here: Guides to collections held by archival institutions, libraries, museums and archives worldwide. These guides provide information on the amount of material available and a brief description of it.
How to search this database: Look at the ArchiveGrid help page.
Credo Reference
What you'll find here: Emphasis on subject encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and reference handbooks. Over 1,000 short reference videos, nearly 300,000 high-resolution art images, and thousands of additional images across all subject areas. Subject coverage is especially diverse and equipped to address all key disciplines.
How to search this database: Look at the Credo Video Tutorials help page.
JSTOR
What you’ll find here: Digital reproductions of science, social science, and humanities scholarly journals along with digitized primary sources, such as letters and images.
How to search this database: Look at JSTOR’s help page.

NCState - Anatomy of a Scholarly Article
Dissect a scholarly article & learn how to identify a scholarly article in your search results.

Share Your Archive Grid Experience

HIST 495 Spring 2022 Library Instruction Presentation Slides and links from the in-class presentation on Wednesday, February 2nd.

Find Primary & Secondary Sources

Baltimore Afro-American Newspapers (Historical)
What you’ll find here: Images of all the content of The Baltimore Afro-American newspaper (also known as The Afro) including articles, ads, illustrations, and cartoons. It covers issues from 1893-1988.
How to search this database: Look at the ProQuest help page.
Baltimore Sun (Historical)
What you’ll find here: Articles from Baltimore’s main daily newspaper from its first issue in 1837 to 1991. Full-page views including photos are available as well as PDF versions of articles. For more recent articles from The Sun, see Baltimore Sun above.
How to search this database: Look at the ProQuest help page.
New York Times Historical (ProQuest database)
What you’ll find here: Articles from New York’s main and one of the nation’s most prominent daily newspapers from its first issue in 1851 to 2008. Full-page views including photos available as well as PDF versions of articles. For more recent New York Times issues, see The New York Times above.
How to search this database: Look at the ProQuest help page.

Baltimore City Archives
The Baltimore City Archives — in conjunction with the Maryland State Archives— is the central depository for city government records of permanent value.
Digital Maryland
Digital Maryland (previously Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage or MDCH), is a collaborative, statewide digitization program of the Maryland State Library Resource Center, Enoch Pratt Free Library. Its mission is to facilitate the digitization and digital exhibition of the historical and cultural documents, images, audio and video held by Maryland institutions.
Enoch Pratt Library's Special Collections
Special Collections provides access to the Library's unique and historically significant documents, rare books, and ephemera. You can find manuscripts, prints, photographs, posters, post cards, greeting cards, 19th century travel books, the history of wine and beer, the history of printing and lots more. Contains Digital Collections.
European History Primary Sources
Curated by European University Institute, links to digital repositories across Europe.
Library of Congress: American Memory Digitized Collections
Browse historical documents by topic and search the entire Library of Congress collection that makes up the American experience.
Maryland Historical Society's Online Collection
Browse through both Museum Department collections and the Special Collections Department of the H. Furlong Baldwin Library by subject or by medium. Here you will see paintings, photographs, manuscripts, decorative arts pieces, lithographs, and more.
Maryland State Archives
Contains information about legislative functions, candidates, and history at the state level for Maryland.
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Explore our nation's history through our documents, photos, and records. Request military records and learn about other services for yourself or a family member. Find primary sources, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
UB Special Collections
Special Collections and Archives collects, preserves, and provides access to archival materials in all formats. Specific collections include: Baltimore Regional Studies Archives (20th-century local history collections), University Archives (Institutional records of the University), and Hereditary and Lineage Organization Archives.