Shatford Library

Shatford Library

HISTory 12 Native Americans

1. Library Catalog - Find Books and Media

The Library Catalog is a database of books, media and course reserves located in the library's collection. To find resources in the library by subject, you will need a call number which is based on the Dewey Decimal Classification System and leads you to the specific item on the shelf. To find the call number, use the library catalog. (http://library.pasadena.edu/vwebv/searchBasic)

Basic Search

Use the Basic Search to look for an item using keyword anywhere or in a specific field (eg. title field or subject field).

To find information about a person, use Basic Search within Subject Browse (select from the drop down menu).

To find information on a topic, you can use your keyword search results to identify library subject headings or you can select the Subject tab and type in a library subject heading.

Subject headings:

  • Indians of North America
  • Indians of North America - Great Plains
  • Cherokee Indians
  • Sitting Bull
  • Custer, George

Related headings and subheadings (Narrower, Broader and See also)

  • Indians of North America - Alaska
  • Indians of North America - California
  • Indians of North America - Biography
  • Indians of North America - Civil rights
  • Indians of North America - Cultural assimilation
  • Indians of North America - First contact with Europeans

To search for a title you have two options: 1. select title from the drop down menu (to search by title keyword) or 2. select title browse from the drop down menu, to search by exact title wording. (Skip the first word of the title if it is an article, e.g. 'a', 'an' or 'the').

To search by author, select the Author tab, then type in the author's last name, first name, e.g. 'Roemer, Kenneth'.

Advanced Search

Advanced Search is used to combine topics, select search fields, and use other limitors to narrow a search.  You may want to search for an item using part of a title and selecting the title field from the drop down menu.  Another option is to search by ISBN.

To search by keyword, type in the words you want to search for then select from the menu whether you want to search for all of these, any of these (e.g., Shoshonean or Hopi), or as a phrase (e.g., Indians of North America).

Examples:

Search for: Indians of North America [as a phrase], Search in: [Subject]
AND
Search for: conflict war battle [any of these], Search in: [Keyword Anywhere]

Search for: Cherokee [all of these], Search in: [Keyword Anywhere]
AND
Search for: Women [all of these], Search in: [Keyword Anywhere]

[Top of Page]

2. Reference Books

Basically, there are two kinds of reference books: general resources, which are broad in scope and deal with all fields; and specialized resources, which deal with specific disciplines such as history. The titles cited below are only a representative sample of many specialized reference books that are available in the library.

Specialized Encyclopedias

These book can be found on the 2nd (main) floor of the library in the south west section of the reference collection.

  • Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World  REF 970.103 K 1
  • Encyclopedia of Native American Wars & Warfare  REF 970.103 E 2
  • Gale Encyclopedia of North American Tribes  REF 970.103 G 1
  • Native America in the Twentieth Century  REF 970.103 N 1
  • Native North American Almanac  REF 970.103 N 2
  • Student Almanac of Native American History  REF 970.103 S 1
[Top of Page]

3. Databases and Indexes - Find Articles

To access databases from the main library page, look for Browse Databases by Name |  by Subject (http://www.pasadena.edu/library/dbsubject.htm)

  • Use Proquest, a database, to find periodical articles (newspapers, magazines & journals)
  • Project Muse Full text scholarly journal articles covering the humanities, and social sciences.
  • Use Discovering Collection to do a history search or person search for biographical and events information.
  • World Book Web Includes the full encyclopedia plus reference resources, special reports and articles from World Book Student, World Book Advanced, World Book Discover and Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos.
  • The Encyclopedia Britannica Online is a good starting place to get an overview of your topic and will often lead you to good Internet sources (look for "The Web's Best Sites" link).

  • To browse or search to see if the library has a subscription to a particular magazine, newspaper, or journal title use the Periodical Title List. (http://dv2dw2vb3l.search.serialssolutions.com/)

[Top of Page]

4. Resources on the World Wide Web

Finding reliable information on the web can be difficult.
Use the Librarians' Index to the Internet www.lii.org or see recommended website below.

Best of History Websites
http://www.besthistorysites.net/l
[Top of Page]

last updated: 10/20/2009 by P. Johnson revision #1