The Basics

Restricted Access

Many of the resources listed in the sections below are marked Restricted Access. You should have no problem connecting to these from any networked computer on campus. However, by contract, remote access to the Rutgers University Library's indexes, electronic journals, and electronic reserve articles is available only to current Rutgers students, faculty and staff. In order to use these from off-campus, you must log in with your Rutgers NetID. For instructions see the Libraries' Remote Access to Library Resources.

Off-Campus Links

Once you have gone to a Rutgers Libraries page and logged in with your NetID [your pegasus username and password] you can use the "Off-Campus Link" provided for each Rutgers-restricted resource below to connect to that database or article. Use the link embedded in the citation to access these resources on campus.

IRIS: Find Books

IRIS is the online catalog for all the Rutgers University Libraries except the Newark and Camden Law Libraries. Use IRIS to find out if the Rutgers Libraries have the specific books or journals that you need, or to locate books on topics that you're researching. Show Me How

Getting Books From Other Rutgers Libraries

If a book that you need is not available (not owned/checked out) at the Dana Library, but is available from another Rutgers Library, you can request delivery of that book to Dana by bringing up the record for the book in IRIS and clicking on tbe Deliver/Recall button. Show Me

Book Not Available/Not Owned by the Rutgers Libraries?

The fastest way to get a copy of a book that is not owned or not available (checked out/on Reserve/missing etc.) at the Rutgers Libraries is to request it through E-Z Borrow. E-Z Borrow books are normally received within about five working days. Tell Me More

If a book is not owned by the Rutgers Libraries and is not available via E-Z Borrow, you can place an Interlibrary Loan request. Tell Me More

Finding Articles plus

Humanities Full Text
Humanities Full Text is the basic index for finding articles in the humanities disciplines, including history and literature. It indexes over 550 of the core, English language journals in history, literature, art and music, philosophy and religion. It indexes many journals back to 1984 and, beginning with 1995, includes many full-text articles.
Off-Campus Access Restricted Access.

Need More?

While Humanities Full Text will usually give you what you need for a basic research paper, if you're working on a more extensive project, or a more specialized topic, you will probably need to use one or more indexes that focus specifically on history or literature. You'll find links to most of these in the Finding Articles section below.

Becoming an 'Expert' User

Want to maximize your use of Library resources? Check out Searchpath, the Libraries' interactive tutorial.

Citing Your Sources

You will probably be using MLA (Modern Language Association) style when citing the sources that you use in your research papers. The MLA Style Manual is available at the Dana Library Reference Desk. The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison also has a nice introduction to MLA Documentation that will give you the basic information you need to create MLA citations and a Works Cited list.

Not sure when you need to cite something? Check out the Plagiarism Guide

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Finding Books: Library Catalogs

IRIS
The online catalog for the Rutgers University Libraries. IRIS is not a restricted database, anyone can access it from anywhere. However if you're coming in from off-campus and trying to connect to electronic journals or e-reserves from within IRIS you will need to be logged in. So you might find it less frustrating to use the off-campus version.

Newark Law
Camden Law
Law library materials are not listed in IRIS. Use the same subject headings you use in IRIS find relevant publications in the law collections.

Center for Research Libraries
CRL is consortium of North American university and independent research libraries that acquires and preserves newspapers, journals, documents, foreign dissertations, archives, and other expensive or hard to find materials. As Rutgers is a CRL member, these materials are considered part of Rutgers' collections and can be borrowed via Interlibrary Loan.

RLIN Eureka
Union catalog of over 45 million titles owned by members of the Research Library Group, a consortia of major research institutions which includes Rutgers and Princeton.
Off-Campus Access Restricted Access.

Worldcat
Union catalog of over 46 million titles owned by libraries that participate in/contribute to OCLC. Includes the holdings of many New Jersey academic, public, and special libraries.
Off-Campus Access Restricted Access.

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Finding Scholarly Articles plus: Indexes

Humanities Full Text
Humanities Full Text is the basic index for finding articles in the humanities disciplines, including history. It indexes over 550 of the core, English language journals in history, literature, art and music, philosophy and religion. It indexes many journals back to 1984 and, beginning with 1995, includes many full-text articles.
Off-Campus Access Restricted Access.

History Indexes

America: History and Life
1964- . The most comprehensive index to American (U.S. and Canada) history. Indexes over 2000 journals worldwide, as well as book reviews and dissertations.
Off-Campus Access Restricted Access.

Literature Indexes

MLA International Bibliography
1926- The main index for literature. Indexes over 4400 journals, as well as books and dissertations, in literature, language, linguistics, folklore, and film studies.
Off-Campus Link Restricted Access

Literature Online (LION)
Searchable collection of more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose, plus 194 full-text literature journals. LION also includes ABELL, the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature from 1920 to the present. ABELL contains more the 880,000 records covering books, periodical articles, books reviews, collections of essays, and doctoral dissertations.
Off-Campus Access

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Indexes to Nineteenth Century Periodicals

American Periodicals Series Online 1740-1900
The full text of articles, advertisements, illustrations etc., from American popular and literary magazines and journals that began publication between 1741 and 1900. Search by author, title, article type, publication title, date, and keywords in the full-text.
Off-Campus Access Restricted Access

Poole's Index to Periodical Literature 1802-1907
Subject and author index to nearly 500 Britsh and American periodicals.
Dana Call Number: Ref. AI3 .P7

Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, 1824-1900. 5 vols.
Chronological arrangement of tables of contents from 43 major Victorian periodicals.
Dana Call Number: Ref. Z2005 .H6

Nineteenth Century Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 1890 to 1899; With Supplemental Indexing 1900-1922 2 vols.
Dana Call Number: Ref. AI3 .R496

The Making of America
Digital project developed by the University of Michigan and Cornell University. The Michigan site has a searchable library of primary sources--approximately 8,500 books and 50,000 journal articles published in the 19th century--in American social history from the antebellum through reconstruction. While Cornell's site only provides access to the text of some 270 books, they have digitilized major runs of twenty-two 19th century journals and allows you to search or browse over 100,000 journal articles.

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The Press

Historical Accounts

Historical New York Times
Allows you to search and display the full image of articles published in the New York Times back to 1851. The two+ most recent years are not included; use Access World News to find more recent articles.
Off-Campus Access Restricted Access.

RSAP: Resources for Research
Lists 18th, 19th, and early 20th century magazines and newspapers that are available full-text on the web. In addition to single titles, lists newspapers included as part of large digital collections (e.g., Cornell's and University of Michigan's Making of American Collections). From the Research Society for American Periodicals.

References to "Buffalo Bill" in the Carlisle Indian School Newspapers
Transcriptions of news items and articles published between 1887 and 1914 in newspapers and magazines of the United States Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

The Arkansas City Republican on the Cutting case
Transcriptions of articles published between August and December 1886.

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Digital Collections

The American Memory
Online collection of over five million documents, audio files, moving images, photographs, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. From the Library of Congress.

The Gilded and the Gritty: America, 1870-1912
Digital Collection from the National Humanities Center.

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Other Dana American History Guides

American History America & the World American Cities American Immigration History American Labor History American Republic Civil War & Reconstruction History of Social Welfare Military in American Legal History New Jersey Genealogy Newark Experience Social Foundations of Education Vietnam War Vietnam War and 9/11

African-American History: African-American History African-American Education

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Corrections?
Natalie Borisovets (natalieb@andromeda.rutgers.edu)
January 28, 2007