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HIST4040: Creation of the American Republic: Library Catalogs

Search Terms for Primary Sources

To find primary sources in library catalogs, the following search terms - coupled with your subject terms - are among the most useful:

  • Anecdotes
  • Archives
  • Biography
  • caricatures and cartoons
  • case studies
  • Catalogs
  • comic books, strips
  • correspondence
  • description and travel
  • diaries
  • documentary films
  • exhibitions
  • interviews
  • manuscripts
  • maps
  • notebooks, sketchbooks
  • personal narratives
  • photography
  • pictorial works
  • portraits
  • public opinion
  • songs and music
  • sources
  • speeches
  • statistics
  • statues

Search Terms for Secondary Materials

The following are some selected search terms you can use to identify materials on the history of slavery in library catalogs:
  • Abolitionists
  • African Americans
  • Antislavery movements
  • Constitutional history
  • Economic aspects
  • Emancipation
  • Extension to the territories
  • Fugitive slaves
  • Government policy
  • Justification
  • Law and legislation
  • Legal status of slaves in free states
  • Legal status, laws, etc.
  • Plantation life
  • Political and social views
  • Political aspects
  • Politics and government
  • Race identity
  • Race relations
  • Slave trade
  • Slavery
  • Slavery and the church
  • Slavery in literature
  • Slaves
  • Social aspects
  • Social conditions
  • Women slaves

Library Catalogs

Cheng Library Catalog
Contents of the Cheng Library's collection.

JerseyCat
Search other library catalogs in New Jersey.

WorldCat
WorldCat is the world's largest and most comprehensive union catalog, with bibliographic records that represent more than 2.3 billion individual items held by participating institutions. WorldCat includes records for books, videos, serial publications, articles, recorded books and music, electronic books, sheet music, genealogical references, cultural artifacts, digital objects, Web sites and much more. The cataloged works span thousands of years and nearly every form of human expression, with materials in over 470 languages from 112 countries and territories.

Some Other Sources of Books

Google Books (Advanced Book Search Screen)
Access to thousands of twentieth century titles in the public domain (i.e., with copyright dates of 1922 or earlier).

Hathi Trust Digital Library
HathiTrust is a partnership of major research institutions and libraries working to ensure that the cultural record is preserved and accessible long into the future. There are more than sixty partners in HathiTrust, and membership is open to institutions worldwide. The HathiTrust Digital Library brings together the immense collections of partner institutions in digital form, preserving them securely to be accessed and used today, and in future generations. A substantial part of the collections accessible through the digital library are in the public domain and accessible, but not all of it, so be aware of this if you search it.

Internet Archive: E-Books and Texts
The Internet Archive and Open Library offers over 8,000,000 fully accessible public domain eBooks. This includes a special modern collection of over 500,000 eBooks for users with print disabilities, and a very interesting curated, modern collection for the world at large.




 
 
 

Subject Guide

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Richard Kearney
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Contact:
Electronic Resources Librarian
Reference and Information Services Office, Room 107g
David and Lorraine Cheng Library
William Paterson University
300 Pompton Road
Wayne, NJ 07470
973-720-2165
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