• American  
  • Afro-American History from Rutgers University
  • American Civil War
    • Rutgers University Civil War Resources on the Internet: Abolitionism to Reconstruction (1830's - 1890's)
    • U.S. Civil War Center at Louisiana State University
    • In the Valley of the Shadow Gateway into the story of the Civil War as seen by the people of Franklin County, Pennsylvania and Augusta County, Virginia. Archives include letters and diaries, maps and images, church records, military records, newspapers, censuses, tax records, and narratives.
    • The American Civil War - Dakota State University.
    • The United States Civil War Center - Louisiana State University
    • H-Net Humanities OnLine American Civil War Links - Michigan State University.
    • American Civil War Resources - Virginia Tech Libraries.
    • Civil War Resources - Virginia Military Institute Archives.
    • The American Civil War Homepage - University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
    • American Memory. Selected Civil War photographs from Library of Congress.
  • The History Index: 62 page index maintained jointly by the Department of History of the University of Kansas and the Lehrstuhl für Ältere deutsche Literaturwissenschaft der Universität Regensburg. Some links are out-of-date.
  • The History Net: Joint effort of the History Group of Cowles Enthusiast Media and the National Historical  Society. Magazine features, quizzes, articles.
  • Library of Congress American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library Program - digitized documents, films, manuscripts, photgraphs, and sound recordings that tell the story of American history. The program is funded by congressional appropriations and private sector donations.
  • U.S. History .Org: Websites From the Independence Hall Association in Philadelphia.
• British
• World 
  • Historical Text Archive - Housed at Mississippi State University

Finding Historical Information on the Web

What You Need to Know

Kinds of Information Available

Finding Historical Information on the Web

What You Need to Know

The Internet is a good place to find both primary, secondary, and tertiary materials. It contains both free information and paid-subscription resources.

Primary documents on the web are electronic copies of documents that were created during the period being studied. Primary texts may include books, or newspaper and magazine articles from that time as well as unpublished diaries, journals, essays, etc. An example might be an article about the Civil Rights Movement that was published in Time in 1964, or a collection of letters written in 1965 by someone who was marching through Selma. Historians like to use primary materials because they give a direct view of the period and events being studied, unfiltered by the passage of time. Usually electronic  texts are merely electronic versions of works that are in the public domain,  that is, works that were originally published before 1926, on which the copyright has expired. There are often several versions of major works available; sometimes you can find both text versions and image files image files.  Text files are easier to read and manipulate; however an image file gives the reader a sense of the exact text, right down to the typography or handwriting on the page. Sometimes this is important.

• Secondary documents in history are works about historical events, written after the fact. An example might be a biography of a famous person, or a book or an article about a famous movement or event. Students read such materials to better grasp the significance of the person or event, to be able to understand the person or event in the context of the time and place.  Some secondary information is in the public domain, by virtue of its age, or is made public by permission of its author; some of it is available only in subscription databases devoted to the study of history. Books and periodicals contain a great deal of the best secondary sources for historical topics. The kind of long sustained explanation that historical events require to make sure the reader understands may be uncomfortable to read online; for knowledge in depth, print is usually best. In addition to a substantial history collection in the stacks, UCC also subscribes to several journals that might be useful to history students: American Visions , American Heritage, American History , American Historical Review, and Current History are available in the periodicals section.
• Tertiary documents are reference books and encyclopedias. Students read encyclopedias to gain general background information about the person or event and his/her/its historical, social, or cultural context. There are several free encyclopedias available on the Web, including  the Encyclopedia Britannica; UCC students can also access the Encarta Africana on CD ROM and World Book or Americana are available in print or in CD-ROM. UCC also subscribes to Discovering US History and Discovering World History online, as part of our Literature Resource Center collection. UCC also maintains a collection of reference books that provide foundation for a great many research questions.
• Subscription Databases are collections, usually containing chapters of books, articles from periodicals, and speeches or addresses, that are not free. These databases contain valuable current information. Libraries subscribe to such databases on behalf of their user communities. Union County College Libraries subscribes to Periodical Abstracts ,
  
   a general magazine database, and the GaleLiterature Resource Center, available on campus from the Library Website. Students or faculty wishing to access these databasea  from home should contact a reference librarian for instructions .

Evaluation Criteria -History

Currency: People often think that everything on the web is current. Actually, a great deal of information on the web is more than 75 years old. That s actually why it can be legally posted on the web; its copyright has expired and it is in the public domain. It is really important to look for the original copyright date of any material you use and to take  that in consideration as you evaluate your readings.

People also tend to think that history doesn t change. After all, George Washington is dead; his troubles are over, and he s not going to do anything differently now. This is only true for primary texts. John Q Citizen s Civil War letters to his wife will never change, but historians interpretations of those letters may change dramatically. So when you find an authored, dated, primary text (somebody s World War II journal, for example) on the web, that s good.

You should be careful about secondary sources. It is commonly said that information in the humanities never becomes out of date, but only because much of it becomes a monument to the bad taste, prejudices and preconceptions of the past. Actually, some factual information does become outdated, as we explore and learn more about the cultures of the past. And, as any historian knows, a lot of current information will testify to future generations about the bad taste, etc., of our own age. A careful student will note the date of the source and take it into consideration, when deciding whether, or how, to use it.

• Accuracy: The process of academic writing and publishing ensures careful oversight and editing of written materials. Scholarly writing,  at the very least, documents quotations and facts and allows the reader to trace the development of ideas. The editing and peer-review processes give additional opportunities for correction of errors. These processes have been in use among reputable publishers (in print) for some time. Whether your source is in print or electronic format, look for a bibliography of references  and a statement of editorial oversight; such material is much more likely  to be accurate.
  
  When using web resources, be aware that anyone can have an opinion about history and anyone can make a web page. That does not guarantee that the information found is correct. Particularly, when using a search engine, one is likely to find such things as web pages created by K-12 teachers for their specific assignments, web pages created by other students, web pages created re-enactors and amateur enthusiasts, and promotional literature from book publishers and movie studios. This information is usually not suitable for academic research. Using such information will not create a strong paper.
• Authority: You need to know who authored and who sponsored the web pages you use, and what their prejudices and interests are. Especially when using secondary sources, look for web pages put together by known scholars in the field. If you can identify the creator of a web page as a professor from a major university, if you can identify scholarly writing style (documentation, bibliography, etc.) you may have found something useful. Other useful sources for historical information include the government (check out the American Memory site at the Library of Congress), and sites sponsored by major news organizations.
• Selection: Some editions of texts are more desirable than others. An image file of a primary document is a better representation of an original document. However, if your electronic text version is taken from an authorized version, edited by a known scholar, complete with footnotes, illustrations, the author s or critic s introduction, etc. it may be a very good version of that text.
• Format: Some electronic texts are available in plain-text. These can be saved to disk and read in notepad on a computer. Or you may take your disk home and print it out. Others are encoded in HTML, SGML, or are Adobe .pdf files. All of these can be read in the Library; if you have difficulty opening an SGML file or a .pdf file, speak to a reference librarian.

What to look for:

Here s what you should look for : Primary texts, especially from Governments, major university faculty, and research libraries. Use secondary texts only from those sources. Use reputable online encyclopedias as needed for background information.

Why is it important to use known scholars? Many scholars are found in the history departments of major universities. They are people who have spent years studying and writing about literature, usually specializing in particular areas of interest. Such scholars become very expert in the areas of their specialization and will be able to notice and interpret cultural details that escape the average reader. Articles written by such critics are likely to be published in scholarly journals ( such as ), but may occasionally be found in substantial newspapers (such as theNew York Times) or in news or commentary magazines ( Newsweek or the New Republic).

How can you tell if an author or scholar is well-known? Search the Literature Resource Center, or look the author up in Contemporary Authors. If you can t find the name there, search the New York Times in print or on the computer, or a magazine index such as Reader s Guide to Periodical Literature or Periodical Abstracts.  If the critic you are researching is currently working as a university professor, you may be able to verify his/her qualifications through an Internet search.

Some Good Places to Get Started

Literature Resource Center Gale Group (available to UCC community only) http://www.valenj.org/ Select the Discovering World History or Discovering US History database for tertiary information. Use the Literature Resource Center for information about any historical figure who was a writer, as many of them were.

Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org/ref/ or Digital Librarian http://lii.org/

Here are two librarian-collected directories of useful information on a wide variety of topics. Both are searchable, or you may click through the directory.

Additional Web Resources

(under construction)

UCC Professor Thomas Kehoe s World History Links

History World 

General World History Resources

Western European Studies Section

Association of College and Research Libraries
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/wess/index.html

 History Net Michigan State University
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/

 BYU - EuroDocs (primary historical documents from European history)
http://library.byu.edu/~rdh/eurodocs/

 Hanover University
http://history.hanover.edu/texts.html

 Fordham University History Sourcebook
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/

 University of Kansas History List
http://www.ukans.edu/history/VL/

World History Ancient

 Internet Ancient History Sourcebook Fordham University
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook.html

World History Early Modern

 Internet Modern History Sourcebook Fordham University
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook1.html

 World History Modern

 Modern History Sourcebook Fordham University
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook.html

World History By Country

 Russia

Bucknell University

http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/history.html

History- American

Rutgers University American and British History Site
http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rulib/socsci/hist/amhist.html

Library of Congress American Memory
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/amhome.html

University of Kansas History List
http://www.ukans.edu/history/VL/

Authentic History Center
http://www.authentichistory.com/main.htm

Voice of the Shuttle
http://vos.ucsb.edu/shuttle/english.html

Ohio Historical Society
http://www.ohiohistory.org/index.html

Ohio State History Project
http://www.history.ohio-state.edu/web.htm

American Heritage Magazine (also available in print)
http://www.americanheritage.com/

History The Civil War

Dakota State University. The American Civil War.

http:/homepages.dsu.edu/jankej/civilwar/civilwar.htm

Louisiana State University. The United States Civil War Center.
http://www.cwc.lsu.edu/

Michigan State University. H-Net Humanities OnLine. American Civil War Links.
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/civwar/links.htm

Rutgers University Libraries. American and British History -

Civil War Resources on the Internet American and British History
http://libraries.rutgers.edu/rulib/socsci/hist/civwar-2.html

Virginia Tech Libraries. American Civil War Resources.
http://scholar2.lib.vt.edu/spec/civwar/cwhp.htm

Virginia Military Institute Archives. Civil War Resources.
http://www.vmi.edu/~archtml/cwsource.html

University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The American Civil War Homepage.
http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/

The Valley of the Shadow : Living the Civil War in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/vshadow2/

Library of Congress. American Memory. Selected Civil War Photographs.
http://rs6.loc.gov/cwphome.html

History - The 1920 s

20th Century Decades: 1920-1929
http://dewey.chs.chico.k12.ca.us/decs2.html

Century of Stories, Janesville WI
http://www.gazetteextra.com/century/1920/cover.html

American Cultural History- Decade 1920-1929
http://www.nhmccd.cc.tx.us/contracts/lrc/kc/decade20.html

American Local History Network
http://www.usgennet.org/~alhnilus/alhn1920.html

History : Immigration

H-net (Michigan State University)
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/gateways/migration/

History Faculty: we welcome your suggestions for useful history sites that are not accessible through the resources listed through these subject links. Please E-mail suggestions to Susan Bissett (Bissett@ucc.edu)