Off-Campus Access


US & the World since 1945: The Question of Empire

| Background Sources | Secondary Sources: Books | Secondary Sources: Journal Articles |
| Finding Published Primary Sources | Selected Web Sites |

Background Sources

Encyclopedias and dictionaries provide background information and can be used to identify key people, events and dates which can then be used as search terms for finding additional information. More importantly, because encyclopedias often cover the major issues surrounding the subject, they can help you narrow your research from a broad “who, what, where, when” topic to a “how or why” question. In addition many encyclopedia articles include short bibliographies that will lead you to the major works on the topic.

  • Encyclopedia of American cultural & intellectual history
         Suzzallo Reference -- E169.1 .E624 2001
  • Encyclopedia of American foreign policy
          Suzzallo Reference -- E183.7 .E52 2002
  • Encyclopedia of American social history
         Suzzallo Reference, Undergraduate Reference -- HN57 .E58 1993
  • Encyclopedia of cold war politics
         Suzzallo Reference -- E840 .T57 2000
  • Encyclopedia of the American military
         Suzzallo Reference, Undergraduate Reference -- UA23 .E56 1994 1996
  • Encyclopedia of the Korean War UW Only
         Suzzallo Reference -- DS918 .E33 2000
  • Encyclopedia of the United States in the twentieth century
         Suzzallo Reference -- E740.7 .E33 1996
  • Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War UW Only
          Suzzallo Reference, Undergraduate Reference -- DS337.7 .E33 1998
  • Encyclopedia of U.S. foreign relations
          Suzzallo Reference, Undergraduate Reference -- E183.7 .E53 1997 1996
  • Routledge encyclopedia of international political economy
         Suzzallo Reference -- HF1359 .R68 2001

Finding Books

 Use the following databases to locate books in the UW Libraries and in other libraries around the region, nation and world. Books unavailable at the UW can be requested through Summit (if available at one of the member libraries) or through Interlibrary Loan.

  • UW Libraries Catalog
    A listing of the books, journal subscriptions and other material available at the University of Washington Libraries.
  • Summit
    Joint catalog of more than 25 academic libraries in Oregon and Washington. Books can requested and shipped to the UW for pick-up.
  • OhioLINK
    Use OhioLink to access chapters of recent books, use the "Words" search option.
  • OCLC WorldCat [UW only]
    Joint catalog of thousands of major libraries in the U.S. and abroad.

Finding Articles

Use indexes (databases) to find articles (from scholarly journals, popular magazines and newspapers and sometimes books, dissertations, government reports, etc.) on a topic. There are indexes covering all sorts of subjects, use those which best fit your research topic. For a complete list of databases see Research Databases on the UW Libraries Homepage.

Once you identify articles you need make sure you have the complete citation (author, title, journal name, volume, pages and year), then look in the UW Libraries Catalog for the journal name (do a title search for the journal name to see if the UW subscribes) to see if and where the journal is kept (library location and call number).

Databases marked UW Only require that you use the Off-Campus Access link on the top right-side corner of this page to logon before you use the databases from home. Articles from journals which the UW does not own can be requested via Interlibrary loan.

  • America History & Life [UW only]
    Major index to articles in U.S. and Canadian history. Also includes citations to selected books, dissertations and reviews.
  • Expanded Academic Index [UW only]
    General index to magazine and journal articles in all subjects, includes some full-text. For other interdisciplinary databases see Research Library and the Web of Science.
  • PAIS International [UW only]
    Index to articles and selected government reports dealing with social and public policy issues.

Finding Published Primary Sources

Using Secondary Sources to Find Primary Sources

Secondary sources, scholarly journal articles and books, are a great source for identifying potential primary sources. Find a few articles, books or dissertations related to your topic and then mine the footnotes and bibliography. You will have the best luck finding published primary sources such as books, government reports, newspapers and magazines within the UW Libraries. Use the UW Libraries Catalog to determine if we have the primary source.

Finding Primary Sources -- Books

The UW Libraries has a strong collection of books that can be considered primary sources for history. These include books written during the period for your topic (i.e., during the 1890s), books written by participants, published collections of correspondence and other personal writings, memoirs and reprints of collections of primary source material. Use the UW Libraries Catalog to search for these materials.

  • Limit your search by publication date.
  • Search for books written by key participants and organizations.
  • Use special subject terms that designate primary sources:
    sources, personal narratives, diaries, correspondence, interviews
  • Example:
    • vietnamese conflict and (sources or correspondence)

Finding Primary Sources -- Articles

The UW Libraries has a strong collection of magazines and journals 20th century. Many of them are in print (either in Suzzallo Periodicals or in a storage area), others are on microfilm.

The libraries also has a basic collection of major U.S. newspapers on microfilm for the 20th centuries. Complete runs are available for such papers as the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Oregonian and Seattle Times. The libraries has a strong collection on Northwest papers. Newspapers are housed in the Microform and Newspaper Collections (Mcnews) on the ground floor of Suzzallo.

Magazines and Journals
  • Alt-PressWatch [UW only] Fulltext database to alternative and independent US press, earliest material dates from 1970. Also see Alternative Press Index Suzzallo Reference AI3 A48
  • Reader's Guide Retrospective [UW only]
    General index to American magazines for the period of 1890 to 1980. Also available in print in Suzzallo Reference AI3 .R48. For earlier magazine coverage see American Periodical Series Online.
  • Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS)
    Print index to political/economic journals and selected books and government reports from 1915 to the present. Suzzallo Reference Z7163 .P9. Online for the period 1972 onward - PAIS.
Newspapers
  • Ethnic NewsWatch [UW only]
    Full-text collection of ethnic newspapers with selective coverage dating back to 1960.
  • Historic New York Times [UW only]
    Fulltext version of the New York Times from 1851 to 2001.
  • Lexis Nexis [UW only]
    Provides fulltext news coverage for more contemporary events, covers roughly 1980 to the present with most coverage dating back only to 1990.
  • Twentieth-century America: a primary source collection from the Associated Press
    Chronologically arranged 10-volume collection of AP wire stories. Undergraduate Reference E740.5 .T84 1995

Finding Primary Sources -- Government Reports

The UW Libraries has a strong collection of U.S. government documents including federal agency publications, congressional hearings and reports and other material. Some material is printed while others are available on microfilm. Some material can be found through the UW Libraries Catalog, for other material use the sources listed below. For more information about locating government documents check with the Government Publications section located on the ground floor of Suzzallo.

  • Congressional Universe [UW only]
    Full-text debates, bills, reports dating back to approximately 1989 and indexing of congressional reports and hearings dating back to 1789.
  • Declassified Documents Reference System
    This collection provides direct information on the critical policies and events of post World War II era, including reports from Cabinet meeting minutes, National Security Council policy statements, CIA intelligence studies, presidential conferences, State Department political analyses, and Joint Chiefs' papers. Government Publications -- Microfiche M-2808
  • Foreign Relations of the United States
    This "series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity." Volumes from the Kennedy and Johnson administration, plus selected other volumes are available online. Other volumes dating back to 1932 are available in print in Government Publications S1.1:
  • MarciveWeb Docs [UW only]
    Catalog to U.S. government documents published since 1976. For earlier documents see the Monthly Catalog to United States Government Publications (GovPub. 328.73 Un37m) and its predecessors.
  • NARA Archival Research Catalog (ARC)
    Catalog of more than 120,000 digitized items from NARA's collection plus records for an additional 440,000 items (still only 13% of NARA's collection). Additional NARA material can be found in the Pacific Alaska Regional office of NARA located on Sand Point Way.
  • National Security Archives microfilm
    Collection of microfilmed documents dealing with national security issues. Index available on CD-ROM within the libraries. Also see excerpts online at the National Security Archive. Collections include:
    • El Salvador: the making of U.S. policy, 1977-1984 (M-3025)
    • Nicaragua: the making of U.S. policy, 1978-1990 (M-3273)
    • The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 (M-3032)
    • Iraqgate: Saddam Hussein, U.S. policy and the prelude to the Persian Gulf War (1980-1994) (M-3038)
    • Afghanistan: the making of U.S. policy, 1973-1990 (M-3035)
  • Other Government Material
    The following are selected microfilmed collections available in the Microform and Newspaper Collections located on Suzzallo ground floor. For a more complete list see Primary Sources on Microfilm. Guides to these collections are also available there.
    • Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files. Indochina: Internal Affairs, 1950-1954 -- 44 reels, A8454
    • Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files. Indochina: Internal Affairs, 1945-1949 -- 10 reels, A8455
    • Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files. Indochina: Internal and Foreign Affairs, 1955-1959 -- 54 reels, A8456
    • Confidential U.S. State Department central files. India: internal affairs, 1945-1949 -- 25 reels, A8182
    • Confidential U.S. diplomatic post records: Russia and the Soviet Union -- 145 reels, A6989
    • Documents of the National Security Council 1947-
      A6617

Finding Web Sites

The World Wide Web is a growing source for primary sources dealing with U.S. history. The sites listed here have substantial collections of primary sources dealing with the 20th century diplomatic history. For additional websites dealing with American history see American History from 1865..

Image: "Rusk on Vietnam," cartoon by Flora published in Die Zeit News, 24 May 1964. Courtesy of the Centre for the Study of Cartoons and Caricature.

History Subject Page | UW Libraries | Slides | Evaluation Form

22 January 2005
Theresa Mudrock - mudrock@u.washington.edu