To find rated web sites, try web directories like Librarian's Index to the Internet (http://lii.org) and LookSmart (http://www.looksmart.com/).

tip: Because these directories are highly selective, cast a wide net. For example, search on: "dust bowl" or "yellowstone" or "yellowstone and history." A search on "environmental history" could yield a scholarly link like Environmental History Timeline (http://www.radford.edu/~wkovarik/envhist/), which in turn points to Landmarks of American Nature Writing (http://www.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/nature/), a collection sponsored by the University of Virginia. See also the Forest History Society archives (http://www.lib.duke.edu/forest/Research/archmain.html) with primary texts and photos.

Selected criteria:

• Authority of site source/host
• Legibility of document
• Accuracy of document
• Editor's notes
• Descriptive notes
• Maintenance
• Contact information
• Met expectation
• Substantive content--the document itself.

Two sites that meet many or all of these criteria are The Dust Bowl (http://www.humanities-interactive.org/texas/dustbowl/), sponsored by the Texas Humanities Council; and Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920 (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amrvhtml/conshome.html), part of the Library of Congress' American Memory Project (see below).

American Memory (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/mdbquery.html) is a must-see for primary resources, both text and image, in American environmental history. It is sponsored by the Library of Congress. Search by keyword, and limit to desired format or collection. Try, for example, a simple search on "dust bowl" or "national park." Or try browsing or searching within particular Project collections such as these:
California as I First Saw It: First Person Narratives, 1849-1900 (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cbhtml/cbhome.html);
Voices from the Dust Bowl (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html);
American Environmental Photographs (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award97/icuhtml/aephome.html);
Northern Great Plains, Photos, 1880-1920 (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award97/ndfahtml/ngphome.html);
Mapping the National Parks (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/nphtml/nphome.html).

Wilderness.net (http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm), from the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute et al, includes the Wilderness Act of 1964, and wilderness data. It also incorporates a search of wilderness legislation.

The Sierra Club's John Muir Exhibit (http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/) includes a host of primary documents by and about John Muir. Likewise, the Sigurd F. Olson (http://www.uwm.edu:80/Dept/JMC//Olson/contents.htm) site contains numerous primary resources.

The Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (http://www.asle.umn.edu/resources/resources.html) serves a directory to home pages and primary texts on a large number of naturalists and naturalist causes.

The greatest wealth of primary documentation about National Parks will be in the archives of the National Park Service; guides to accessing these documents can be found at National Park Service History (http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/hisnps/).

Poole's index to periodical literature, 1882-1908 (Index shelves, Level A) and Readers' guide to periodical literature, 1900-1997 (Index shelves, Level A) index U.S. magazines, some of which will be held in Trexler Library. Consult the guide Trexler Library Periodical Holdings by Decade (reference desk) to find out what the library has from a particular time period.

Trexler Library subscribes to the online index  19th Century Masterfile, found at Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Finding ArticlesPeriodical Databases & IndexesListed Alphabetically.  This index covers the New York Times and several magazines, all from the 19th century, many of which Trexler Library has full text in its print and microfilm collections.

Magazines from earlier times have on occasion been scanned and loaded onto the web, as they have been at Cornell University's Making of America (http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/). Use in conjunction with a print index, such as the aforementioned Poole's or the Reader's Guide.

For historical events since 1980, consider using Academic Search Premier or LexisNexis Academic (path:  Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Finding ArticlesPeriodical Databases & IndexesListed Alphabetically)

Trexler Library holds a wealth of government documents, in print, fiche, and online. Documents published prior to 1976 are indexed in the Monthly Catalog (index area, level A). Those published since 1976 are indexed in the Trexler Library Catalog (path: Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library) Finding Books). Search example: "environment and legislation" or "forest* and alaska."

For the status of proposed environmental legislation, consult Congressional Universe (path:  Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Finding ArticlesPeriodical Databases & IndexesListed Alphabetically), a companion database to Lexis-Nexis Academic.

Historical statistics of the United States (Statistics Ref. 317.3 U58ah, next to the Trexler Library Reference Desk) is a standard for all manner of statistics dating back to colonial times. Another option is the Statistical Abstracts of the United States, dating back to 1886 ( Govt Docs C 3.134:886).

Trexler Library subscribes to several online indexes that are particularly useful for finding scholarly journals and book chapters on environmental history.  These indexes, some with full text, can be found by following the path Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Finding ArticlesPeriodical Databases & IndexesListed Alphabetically.  One reliable online index for scholarly journal articles and books dealing with environmental history is the America History and Life database.  

Another resource likely to be useful is  the standard index to social science journals, SocAbs.  See also Academic Search Premier.

The Trexler Library Catalog (path: Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library) Finding Books) can prove useful for environmental history topics. Try a keyWORD search to bring up all records on a particular topic, or to combine terms. Example: "dust bowl."


To expand your book search considerably, try WorldCat; follow the path Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Finding BooksWorldCat. WorldCat is a powerful search tool for books on any subject. Use WorldCat in conjunction with Interlibrary Loan. From within WorldCat, click on the "ILL" icon that appears on any book record and fill out the required fields.

Optionally, use PALCI for rapid delivery from PA and NJ libraries such as U. Penn, Rutgers, and Carnegie Mellon. Follow the path: Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Finding BooksPALCI.

Secondary materials on the web

Many web sites that provide secondary historical comment are in fact cursory in content, and scarcely documented. On the other hand, scholarly sites tend to be
--affiliated with an academic or governmental institution,
--offer content that has been published in print beforehand, and
--undergo peer review.

Two examples of quality secondary resources on the web are Wilderness: A Western Concept Alien to Arctic Cultures (http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/HistoryCulture/wilderness.html), a paper written by professor and senior scientist David Klein at the U. of Alaska, Fairbanks; and Review: Wilderness & the American Mind (http://www.imaja.com/change/environment/mvarticles/WildernessAmerMind.html), a scholarly review of Roderick Nash's environmental text.

For tips on citing print and electronic sources in a bibliography according to the Chicago (Turabian) style, follow the path Trexler Library Home Page(http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Research HelpCitation Guides.