Research Guide for History 179 P: Proseminar Native Americans
Spring 2008
Your assignment is to find representations of Native Americans in fiction, academic studies, newspapers, magazines, movies, museum exhibitions, visual arts, comics, and in other media outlets. To find these materials you will need to use the UCSB online catalog as well as abstracts and indexes databases.
Finding books
The UCSB online catalog, Pegasus is your main research tool that will give you the essential information to find the materials in the library. The catalog record in Pegasus will provide you with the call number, location,and availability of these materials.
Use the MELVYL catalog if the items you need are not available or checked out from our library. You can request materials from other U.C. libraries via interlibrary loan and get them within 1 week.
Search Strategies
Use Keyword search to find materials on your topic. Furthermore, you will need to think about the terms you will use, how to combine them, and more importantly, the time period. Think of related terms that best express your topic(s) e.g. example, movie, cinema, film, etc.
- Use OR to combine terms when either one will do: movie OR film OR cinema
- Use AND to force the results to have both terms: Native American* AND image*
- Most databases let you truncate by using a symbol to get other letters: wom* gets you woman , women...
- The truncation symbol can be a *, ?, ! or other symbols depending on the database
- Be careful that you don't truncate too soon: ta* would also get you Tagalog, tabernacle and all other words starting with "ta"
For example:
- Search Type: "Keyword"
Native American AND images AND film From savage to nobleman: images of Native Americans in film
Main Library PN1995.9.I48 H55
- Search Type: "Journal Title Begins with ..." New York Times
Microfilm area: AN 34.N 6
- Search Type: "Journal Title Begins with..." Los Angeles Times Microfilm area: AN 5. L7
Finding Articles
Select the appropriate database for your topic. Use the Keyword search function and enter the terms relevant to your topic.
You will need to write down the citation in order to find the article itself by using the UCSB catalog. In some cases the entire article is available online that you can print, email or save on a disk. To access these databases from off campus, you must go through the proxy server.
From the Library's homepage click RESEARCH then choose ARTICLE INDEXES & DATABASES to find the appropriate databases for your topic. A citation has the following basic information: journal title, author, article title, publication date, volume and page numbers. You will need the JOURNAL TITLE to locate the article in the online catalog.
Humanities
- America: History and Life
- Film Literature Index
- Historical Abstracts
- Literature Online Master Index
- MLA International Bibliography
Social Sciences
- Anthropology Literature
- PsycINFO
- Social Sciences Database (via CSA)
- Web of Science
Literature
- LION
- MLA International Bibliography
Multi-discipline (Gender, Ethnic, and Area)
- Alternative Press Index
- Expanded Academic
- Gender Watch
- JSTOR
- Left Index
- Project Muse
Primary and Archival Sources
What is a Primary Source?
Ask for Help!
Don't forget to ASK FOR HELP when you need it. You can find a reference librarian at the Main Reference Desk during the week, weekends and even on holidays. For reference help please call (805) 893.3133. Gerardo (Gary) Colmenar: colmenar@library.ucsb.edu.