The Trexler Library Catalog (follow the path Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Finding BooksCatalog) lists many historical documents, some rare, that are owned by the library. Some primary documents have been published, a few unpublished. Here are some strengths of the collection, all of which should be found in a KEYWORD or SUBJECT search of the catalog:

Muhlenberg family papers
U.S. presidential papers
Pennsylvania German miscellany
Draper Manuscripts on trans-Allegheny West (microfilm)
Confederate Imprints (microfilm)
Ku Klux Klan documents
Immigrant voices: new lives in America, 1773-1986 (call # 325.73 D814i)

TIP: keyWORD search the catalog using the words "letters or correspondence" to generally peruse such materials. Or add a person's name or an event, as in "franklin and (letters or correspondence)"

IMPORTANT NOTE: WorldCat (follow the path Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Finding BooksWorldCat), a catalog of all research libraries in the U.S., may be the best place to locate published primary sources (published letters, diaries, etc.). Use in conjunction with Interlibrary Loan (follow the path Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Finding BooksIll Book Request).

Poole's index to periodical literature, 1800-1908 (Index shelves, Level A) indexes magazines from the 19th century, many of which are held in Trexler Library. Similarly, consult the Readers' guide to periodical literature, 1900-1997 (Index shelves, Level A) as an index to 20th century 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.

Magazines from earlier times have on occasion been scanned and loaded onto the web, as they have been at Nineteenth-Century Periodicals in Print (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/moahtml/ncphome.html), part of the Library of Congress' American Memory Project,

For full text of selected 19th-century British periodicals, see the joint UK university project Internet Library of Early Journals (http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/ilej/).

Pennsylvania Gazette on CD-ROM
Reference Desk
Full text 1700s to early 1800s.

Index to the New York Times
Index shelves, level A, Trexler Library
1851-present

New York Times full text
Microforms Room, level A, Trexler Library
NOTE: to be used in conjunction with one of the above indexes. Full text 1851-present

Trexler Library holds a wealth of government documents, in print, fiche, and online. Documents published prior to 1994 are indexed in the Monthly Catalog (index area, level A). The years 1994 to present are indexed in the online Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cgp/index.html).

See also:

Records of Pennsylvania's Revolutionary Government
Microforms Room, Level A, Trexler Library
1775-1790

Official Records of the Civil War
Special Collections Rm., Trexler Library

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).

See also the historical census data made available online at the University of Virginia's United States Historical Census Data (http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus/).

American Memory Project (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amhome.html), a collection of full text documents and images on many aspects of American history, sponsored by the Library of Congress.

Documenting the American South (http://docsouth.unc.edu/index.html) is a meticulously research full text repository of documents relating slavery and other aspects of the South, hosted by the University of North Carolina.

Similarly, African American Women (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/collections/african-american-women.html) from Duke University offers full text narratives.

An authoritative gateway to many primary documents related to modern history is Fordham University's Modern History Sourcebook (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbookfull.html). Recommended for both U.S. and non-U.S.

    historical encyclopedias. . .

Some standard encyclopedias of particular times and places include Dictionary of the Middle Ages (Ref. Collection 909 D554), Encyclopedia of the Renaissance (Ref. Collection 940.2103 E56of), and Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment (Ref. Collection 940.253 E56o); particular to Great Britain, Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia (Ref. Collection 942.081 V645b), Britain in the Hanoverian Age (Ref. Collection 942.07 N552b); particular to U.S. history, Dictionary of American History (Ref. Collection 973.003 D554o), Encyclopedia of the North American Colonies (Ref. Collection 970.003 E56o), and Encyclopedia of the American Civil War (Ref. Collection 973.703 E56o). Numerous other encyclopedias exist for other times and places. Locate on Trexler's Library online catalog, follow the path Trexler Library Home PageFinding BooksCatalog. Once in the catalog, try a keyWORD search using the word "dictionaries," as in "medieval france and dictionaries."

Bio-base (at the Reference Desk), a microfiche set listing over 11 million names, serves as master index to thousands of biographical dictionaries, including those listed below:

Dictonary of American Biography (Ref. Collection 920 D554) and the much more recent and authoritative American National Biography (Ref. Collection 920.073 A512n) contain substantive entries on most persons of note in U.S. history. The Dictonary of National Biography (Ref. Collection 920 D5543 ), with its numerous supplements and even a "Missing Persons" volume does the much same for Great Britain.

Bibliographies exist for almost every subject. While bibliographies may be more dated than periodical indexes, they offer the advantage of scholarly recommendation, listing some of the best monographs and periodical literature on a particular subject.

While not all bibliographies that the library owns are located in the reference room on level A, some of the most well-known are, such as: Bibliography of British History (Ref. Collection 016.942069), Writing on British History (Ref. Collection 016.94208 R888w), Harvard Guide to American History (Ref. Collection 016.973 H236h), and especially (for all historical subjects) the American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature (Ref. Collection 016.9 G946).

Bibliographies are best located by searching the library's online catalog, follow the path Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Finding BooksCatalog. Once in the catalog, try a subject search on your topic, and in the result list look for the subheading "bibliographies." A keyWORD search on, say, "American revolution and bibliographies" might also work.

Monographs (scholarly books usually by a single author) and edited or collected works can be found by searching the Trexler Library Catalog; follow the path Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Finding BooksCatalog.

First, try a keyWORD search for all occurences of a term, or when you want to combine terms. For example, try a keyWORD search on "humanism" or "secular humanism" or "humanism and renaissance" Then connect to appropriate SUBJECT headings as they appear.

Trexler Library contains several multi-volume collective histories. Some of the best known are published at Oxford or Cambridge: Cambridge Ancient History (Ref Collection 930 C178), Cambridge Medieval History (Ref Collection940.1 C178), Cambridge Modern History (Ref Collection 909 C178).

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, path: Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Finding BooksILL Book Request.

Periodical articles, including book reviews, in history can be located visiting the Trexler Library Periodical Databases and Indexes web page: follow the path Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Finding ArticlesPeriodical Databases & IndexesListed Alphabetically. Subscribed to by Muhlenberg College for a substantial fee, these databases can be accessed without restriction on campus, or from home with name and student ID.

NOTE: Not all databases are full text. Many of the best are indexes only, to be used in conjunction with the library's journal collection, with interlibrary loan, or possibly with another database. Such indexes (MLA, PsycInfo, Historical Abstracts, etc.) contain a depth of information and level of organization in their specialty areas unmatched by any other database or search engine.

Academic Search Premier is a good starting place for journals, and includes the full text of about 3000 journals. Limit to "peer reviewed" to find only scholarly articles. Back issues of journals begin as early as 1990. Recent issues may not be included yet, due to publisher agreement. Journals held in Trexler Library are marked accordingly.

JSTOR is an archival project from Stanford University to electronically collect back issues of some of the best research journals. Current issues are not included, by publisher agreement. Back runs may go back as far as the late 1800s.

Project Muse is completely scholarly (only academic presses like Duke and Chicago) and completely full text. A relatively small database, about 150 journals. Archive back to late 90s. Focuses on humanities.

Try America History & Life and Historical Abstracts for journal articles, books, and book reviews on U.S. and non-U.S. history respectively. Not full text. Extensive in coverage. Useful for nitty-gritty historical detail. Emphasis is on post-medieval history.

Try Iter for an index to both books and journals specializing in the Renaissance era.

Philosopher's Index is the standard index for philosophy research published in journals and books.

Books not found in Trexler Library can be ordered by following the path Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Finding BooksILL Book Request.

Journal articles not found in Trexler Library can be ordered by following the path Trexler Library Home Page (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library)Finding ArticlesILL Article Request.

Scholarly secondary documents via the Web

Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com) points to abstracts of published books and scholarly journals, and to the full text of unpublished papers.

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.