The American Presidency

Need help with your research? Contact:

Jen Jarson
Social Sciences Reference Librarian
phone: x3552
email: jarson [at] muhlenberg [dot] edu
IM (AIM, Yahoo, MSN): jjarson1 (add @hotmail.com for MSN)

Need help after hours?
IM the Library at TalkToTrexler (for AIM, Yahoo, and MSN)
Note: Add @hotmail.com for MSN.
Online Sunday-Thursday 2pm-10pm.
See Ask a Librarian for more information.

Selected Reference Materials

Archer, J. Clark, ed. Atlas of American Politics, 1960-2000. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2002.
Reference 320.973 A881o

Archer, J. Clark, ed. Historical Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections 1788-2004. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2006.
Reference 324.973 H673a

Cayton, Mary Kupiec, Elliott J. Gorn, and Peter W. Williams, eds. Encyclopedia of American Social History. New York: Scribner; Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada; New York: Maxwell Macmillan International, 1993.
Reference 301.0973 E56o v.1-3

Foner, Eric, and John A. Garraty, eds. The Reader's Companion to American History. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1991.
Reference 973.03 F673r

Goethals, George R., Georgia J. Sorenson, and James MacGregor Burns, eds. Encyclopedia of Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2004.
Reference 303.3403 E56o v.1-4

Graff, Henry F., ed. The Presidents: A Reference History, 2nd ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996.
Reference 973.092 P933a

Havel, James T. U.S. Presidential Candidates and the Elections: A Biographical and Historical Guide. New York: Macmillan Library Reference USA, 1996.
Reference 324.63 H384u v.1-2

Kutler, Stanley I., ed. Dictionary of American History, 3rd ed. New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003.
Reference 973.003 D554o v.1-10

Kutler, Stanley I., ed. Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996.
Reference 973.003 E56o v.1-5

Levy, Leonard W., and Louis Fisher, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Presidency. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.
Reference 353.0313 E56o v.1-4

Morris, Richard B., ed. Encyclopedia of American History, 6th ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1982.
Reference 973.03 E56

Nelson, Michael, ed. Guide to the Presidency, 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1996.
Reference 353.0313 C749g v.1-2

Nelson, Michael, ed. The Presidency A to Z: A Ready Reference Encyclopedia. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1992.
Reference 353.03 N428p

Ragsdale, Lyn. Vital Statistics on the Presidency: Washington to Clinton. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1996.
Reference 324.63 R144v

Roberts, Robert North, and Scott John Hammond. Encyclopedia of Presidential Campaigns, Slogans, Issues, and Platforms. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004.
Reference 324.973003 R646e

Rose, Cynthia, ed. American Decades Primary Sources. Detroit, Gale, 2004.
Reference 973.92 A512dp v.1-10

Shade, William G., and Ballard C. Campbell, eds. American Presidential Campaigns and Elections. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, 2003.
Reference 324.973 A512p v.1-3

Sobel, Robert, ed. Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch, 1774-1989. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990.
Reference 353.03 B615d

Tompkins, Vincent, ed. American Decades. Detroit: Gale, 1994-2001.
Reference 973.92 A512d v.1-10

Watson, Robert P., and Richard Yon, eds. American Presidents, 3rd ed. Pasadena, CA: Salem, 2006.
Reference 973.099 A512p v.1-2

Finding Primary Sources

What is a primary source? See How to Distinguish Between Primary and Secondary Sources.

News and Popular Publications

19th Century Masterfile
Citations to Anglo-American nineteenth century newspapers, periodicals, books, and goverment documents.

Academic Search Premier
 Large and diverse database that contains both scholarly and news/popular resources. Includes many articles in full text.

LexisNexis Academic
Indexes and provides full-text of major national and international newspapers (English Language editions only), newswires, select journals and magazines, and legal publications. Updated daily. Dates of coverage vary by publication.

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Use the New York Times website archive to search for articles from 1851-1980. Once you have the information about the articles you want (title, author, date, section, page numbers), use our microfilm collection (in the AV Alcove, Level A) to access the text. Do not pay for the articles online. NOTE: For New York Times articles 1981-present, use LexisNexis Academic (above).

Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature
Print index -- 1890-1997 (available in Indexes area of Reference Section)
Online (via OmniFile) -- Indexing 1983 to present, Abstracts 1984 to present, Full-text 1994 to present.

Via Websites

American Memory (Library of Congress)
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
"[P]rovides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. It is a digital record of American history and creativity. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the public as a resource for education and lifelong learning." Includes a wide variety of collections, including those specific to Government/Law and Presidents.

American Presidency Project (University of California, Santa Barbara)
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/
These online archives contain more than 68,000 documents "related to the study of the Presidency," including addresses, press conferences, executive orders, and more.

National Archives (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
http://www.archives.gov/

Presidential Libraries (American Presidency Project, UCSB)
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/libraries.php
Links to presidential libraries and museums.

AP MultiMedia Archive
http://www.powerlibrary.net/Remote/Remote.asp?ID=Allentown
"Over two million photographs dating back to 1826, more than one million audio sound bytes dating from the 1920’s, two million Associated Press news stories from 1997, and a professionally produced collection of more than 45,000 maps, graphs, charts, logos, flags, illustrations, etc. are included."

Note: This resource is available through the online POWER (Pennsylvania Online World of Electronic Resources) library. To access this you must have a Pennsylvania public library card. The above link takes you to the login screen for Allentown Public Library cardholders. If you have a public library card from another system, log on through your library's website (http://www.publiclibraries.com/pennsylvania.htm). If you do not have a Pennsylvania public library card and would like one, contact the Allentown Public Library (http://www.allentownpl.org/). Muhlenberg students from outside Pennsylvania are still eligible for public library cards.

Via Library Catalogs

All items in our library catalog are assigned Library of Congress Subject Headings. These are fixed and standardized terms that describe the content of documents. Subject headings are divided into elements, or subdivisions. The subdivisions modify the main headings, describing a narrower topic within a subject category or even describing the type of document. A number of these subdivisions, then, identify documents as "primary sources." By adding these terms to your search in the library catalog, you can pull up relevant Trexler Library holdings.

See the Using Franklin to Find Primary Resources guide (http://gethelp.library.upenn.edu/guides/hist/franklinprimary.html) from the University of Pennsylvania Library for a listing of potentially relevant subdivisions.
Note: Do NOT follow the search tips in the guide. They are specific to the University of Pennsylvania Library catalog and will not help you search the Trexler Library catalog. The guide will only provide a list of the subdivisions (e.g., correspondence, interviews, sources, etc.).

To search Trexler Library's holdings, go to the Advanced Search screen of the Library Catalog (Library Homepage -- Books, Videos, Music, ... -- Trexler Library Catalog Advanced Search).

  • In the first search box, enter keyword(s) describing your topic. Leave the drop-down menu at Any Field.
  • In the second search box, enter one of the subject heading subdivisions terms (e.g., correspondence). Select Subject from the drop-down menu.
  • Click Search.

To search for these kinds of items in other libraries, use WorldCat (Library Homepage -- Books, Videos, Music, ... -- WorldCat). To search WorldCat, follow the search tips above. You may be able to request materials via Interlibrary Loan or E-ZBorrow (Library Homepage -- Books, Videos, Music, ... -- E-ZBorrow).

The following are examples of potentially useful subject headings:

  • Ford, Gerald R., 1913- -- Interviews
  • Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875 -- Correspondence
  • Presidents -- United States -- Correspondence
  • United States -- History -- Sources
  • United States -- Politics and government -- 1775-1783 -- Sources

Government Documents

Muhlenberg College receives about 30% of all materials published by the Federal Government. All of the government documents that we receive have records in the Trexler Library Catalog.

LexisNexis Congressional
Provides access to detailed information about Congress. It includes The Congressional Record, congressional hearings, legislation, legislative histories, etc., from 1969 to the present.

Documents Center (University of Michigan Library)
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/
"The Documents Center is a central reference and referral point for government information, whether local, state, federal, foreign or international. Its web pages are a reference and instructional tool for government, political science, statistical data, and news."

Finding Secondary Sources

What is a secondary source? See How to Distinguish Between Primary and Secondary Sources.

Finding Books

TREXLER LIBRARY

Search the Trexler Library Catalog to find out what books, government publications, journals, videos, etc. the library owns.

GETTING THERE: Use the shortcut search box on the Library Homepage or Library Homepage  --  Books, Videos, Music, ... (in Find box)  --  Trexler Library Catalog

For tips on searching the catalog, use the Help link above the search boxes.

OTHER LIBRARIES

WorldCat. To find books held by other libraries, search WorldCat, a database of over 60 million library records from around the country and world. Use the ILL button to request a book from another library. (ILL can take 10-14 days.)

GETTING THERE: Library Homepage  --  Books, Videos, Music, ... (in Find box)  --  Other Library Catalogs -- WorldCat

E-ZBorrow. For quick delivery of books from many Pennsylvania and area academic libraries (including University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, University of Pittsburgh, and many more), use E-ZBorrow. (E-ZBorrow takes 2-4 business days.)

GETTING THERE: Library Homepage  --  Books, Videos, Music, ... (in Find box)  --  Other Library Catalogs -- E-ZBorrow

TIP: Because E-ZBorrow books can arrive so quickly, check the E-ZBorrow catalog for any books you find in WorldCat. If not available there, then request via the ILL button in Worldcat.

LVAIC. You can borrow books directly from LVAIC (Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges) Libraries.

GETTING THERE: Library Homepage  --  Books, Videos, Music, ... (in Find box)  -- Regional Libraries  -- LVAIC Libraries

For more information on Interlibrary Loan options, see http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/more/ill/index.html or ask for help.

GETTING THERE: Library Homepage  --  ILL (in the Services & Forms box)

Finding Articles: Databases & Indexes

SEARCHING FOR ARTICLES

See a list of all databases at via the Library Homepage  --  Articles A-Z (in the Find box).

Specialized Databases:

America: History and Life
The primary database for locating articles on United States and Canadian history (from prehistory to the present).

PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service)
Top source for International Relations, Comparative Politics, and Public Affairs resources. Indexes select articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, statistical directories, 1972 to present. Especially useful for research on the political theory, environment, demographics, human rights, arms control, etc.

General / Interdisciplinary Databases:

Academic Search Premier
 Large and diverse database that covers most academic disciplines, including International Relations and Comparative Politics. Contains both scholarly and non-academic resources. Includes many articles in full text.

OmniFile (WilsonWeb)
Multi-disciplinary database providing the complete content--indexing, abstracts, and full-text--from six of Wilson's full-text databases.

GETTING THE ARTICLES

  1. When searching for articles, you may find the full-text of an article linked in the database.

  2. If not, you need to search the Trexler Library Catalog to see if we own the journal in which the article is published.
    • Most databases have a Get It! link embedded. Click the link to check our holdings.
    • Otherwise, search the catalog by journal title. Verify that we have online, print, or microform access to the year/volume you need.
  3. If we do not own the journal you need, request the article via Interlibrary Loan.
    • Some databases have a Request on Interlibrary Loan link embedded. Click the link to fill out the form. Click Submit.
    • Otherwise, use the Interlibrary Loan Journal Article Request Form (Library Homepage  --  ILL (in the Services & Forms box)  --  Articles request form). Fill out the form with as much information as possible. Ask for help, if you have questions.

Citing Your Sources

For help using Chicago Style, consult the following resources.

The Chicago manual of style, 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
Reference Desk Reserve 808.027 C632m (at Reference Desk)

Trexler Library handout on using Chicago style: http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/reshelp/chicago_example.pdf
This and other style guide handouts available from the library website.  Library Homepage --  Citation Guides (in the Research Help box).

Writer's Handbook (Writing Center, University of Wisconsin--Madison)
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocChicago.html

For additional help constructing an annotated bibliography, consult the following resources. Note: First consult your assignment handout.

Trexler Library handout on writing annotated bibliographies: http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/reshelp/annotated.html

Annotated Bibliographies (Purdue University)
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_annotatedbib.html

Annotated Bibliographies (Writing Center, University of Wisconsin--Madison)
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/AnnotatedBibliography.html

© Muhlenberg College
Last modified: 1 October 2008