Locating Books and Call Numbers
Most books that deal with historical topics are shelved in the Central Library. The catalog shows the book call number and location.
A book that is CHECKD-OUT may be recalled, once you login with your VUnet ID, by clicking on the Request link in the "Get It" section, near the middle of the catalog record. You will be notified when the recalled item is available for your use.
Need help making sense of the Call # you found in Library Catalog? or where to find the book in the library?
Finding Sources
- Library Search This link opens in a new windowCheck out the new Vanderbilt University Library Catalog which finds print and electronic items, including journal and newspaper articles, book chapters, books, reviews, legal documents, and much more.
Keyword vs. Subject Searching
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Step 1: Start your search process by brainstorming a list of keywords that describe the main concepts of your topic or question. |
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Step 2: Use these keywords for your initial searches. Step 3: Use the Subject Heading links in the Library Catalog record to refine your search. |
- History of Science, Technology, and Medicine This link opens in a new windowJournal articles, conference proceedings, books, dissertations, serials, maps and other related materials covering topics on the role of scientific discovery in society and culture, and the historiography of scientific disciplines from prehistory to the present.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowLarge and important archive for academic journals, books, and primary sources in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Many journals do not have current issues.
- Periodicals Archive Online This link opens in a new windowHumanities and social sciences periodicals. Includes Foundation Collection. Sister database to Periodicals Index Online.
- ATLA (American Theological Library Association) Religion Database with ATLA Serials PLUS This link opens in a new windowIndex to journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in all fields of religion. Some full text.
- ProQuest This link opens in a new windowSearch all ProQuest databases simultaneously. Includes arts, humanities, social sciences, news, and science and technology.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new windowCitation database from journals and international conference proceedings. Cross-search of the Web of Science Core Collection, BIOSIS Previews, and the SciELO Citation Index (Latin America, Spain, Portugal, the Caribbean and South Africa).
Google Scholar provides access to "peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations."
What Google Scholar does not contain, in most cases, is the fulltext of the articles -- but it does work with the library's Findit@VU service to help you get to the fulltext when available. If you are on campus, Findit@VU will automatically appear -- but if you are off campus it won't. Not clicking on Findit@VU may lead to you receiving a message indicating that you must purchase the article to view it.
Bookmark this link as your access point to Google Scholar to ensure that the Findit@VU links appears in your searches or follow the instructions for setting your preferences in the video below. Don't get caught paying for articles when you don't have to!
- Wiley Digital Archive This link opens in a new windowUnique or rare historical primary sources, digitized from leading societies, libraries, and archives around the world, and made accessible in ways that tie directly to research outcomes and educational goals. Contains tools for searching, browsing, analyzing and visualizing primary source content.
- HathiTrust This link opens in a new window
Digitized collections of some of the nation’s great research libraries, established in this repository to archive and share their digital content.
- History Vault This link opens in a new windowIncludes papers of Tom Edison and other topics related to 20th Century U.S. history and politics.
- Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new windowNewspapers, books, manuscripts, maps, and photographs. Simultaneously search: 17th-18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, Sunday Times (London), Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), Making of the Modern World, Times Literary Supplement, and Times Digital Archive, Financial Times (London).
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowHistorical access to the following newspapers: Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta Daily World, The Baltimore Afro-American, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Defender, The Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Tribune, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cleveland Call & Post, The Commercial Appeal, Detroit Free Press, The Globe and Mail, Hartford Courant, The Jerusalem Post, The Jewish Advocate, The Jewish Exponent, Korea Times, Knoxville News Sentinel, Leftist Newspapers, Los Angeles Sentinel, Los Angeles Times, Louisville Courier Journal, Michigan Chronicle, New York Amsterdam News, The New York Times, New York Tribune, Norfolk Journal & Guide, The Philadelphia Tribune, Pittsburgh Courier, San Francisco Chronicle, South China Morning Post, St. Louis Post Dispatch, The Tennessean, The Times of India, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.
- ProQuest News and Newspapers This link opens in a new windowDirect link to the newspaper section of ProQuest. Includes Alt-Press Watch, Ethnic NewsWatch, GenderWatch, Latin American Newsstand, Canadian Newsstand Complete, ProQuest Newsstand, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Times of London, and The Tennessean.
- Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new windowMostly British newspapers, magazines, and other sources from the 17th century onwards. Includes 19th Century US Newspapers and other specialized primary documents covering the US, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
- American Periodicals This link opens in a new windowSpecial interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals. Includes Ladies' Home Journal, Harper's, and professional journals.
- British Periodicals This link opens in a new windowPeriodicals from the late seventeenth century to the early twentieth. Literature, philosophy, history, science, the social sciences, music, art, drama, archaeology and architecture.
- Magazine Archives (EBSCOHost) This link opens in a new windowCollection of popular magazine archives.
- News, Policy, & Politics Magazine Archive This link opens in a new windowArchive of 15 major magazines (including Newsweek), spanning areas including history of politics, current events, international relations, and public policy.
- Religious Magazine Archive This link opens in a new windowArchive of magazines covering a wide variety of denominations and religious movements, allowing for comparative studies of religions during this period.
Vanderbilt is home to the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, the world's most extensive and complete archive of tv news, including tv news broadcasts of the national networks since August 5, 1968. It includes items from ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox News, as well as news content from specials. You can search the TV News Archives via their website or the Library Catalog.
- Academic Video Online This link opens in a new windowDocumentaries, interviews, performances, news programs and newsreels, field recordings, commercials, raw footage, and thousands of award-winning films.
- Docuseek2 This link opens in a new windowStreaming access to documentary and social issue films from a variety of distributors, including Bullfrog, Collective Eye, and Icarus Films.
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowOn-demand streaming video service for documentaries, training films, and theatrical releases. Films under a current license agreement are available for immediate viewing. Other films may require a request through the Kanopy site. Viewing films in a group forum is permitted as long as the viewing is by Vanderbilt authorized viewers only (current faculty, staff, or students) and it is not for commercial benefit (i.e. no admission costs are charged and no profit is made from the screening).
