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Research Resources: Class Guides

HIS 172: Russian History Through Biography

Reference Resources - Encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks and bibliographies

Reference or secondary sources are informational resources written by individuals who were not the actual participants in the topic at hand. They may be of value to your research since they often provide greater objectivity and different perspectives as a result of the passage of time. Common secondary sources include encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and bibliographies.

Please Note: The general call number range for Russian History is DK1-DK949.5

Who's who in Russia: Ref Room CT1203 .W56 2006
Encyclopedia of Russian history: Ref Room DK14 .E53 2003 V.1-4
Russia : a reference guide from the Renaissance to the present: Ref Room DK36 .B59 2004
Historical dictionary of Russia: Ref Room DK36 .R39 1997
Encyclopedia of Russian women's movements: Ref Room HQ1665.15 .E5 2001

Search Terminology - Keywords and Subject Headings

When conducting research, always consider alternative keywords and subject headings for your topic. Begin by analyzing your topic or research question, and break it down into its key concepts. What keywords appear? Are there alternative keywords that come to mind?

For this course, keywords may include: serfdom, Ivan the Terrible, Ramanovs, Muscovite, Peter the Great etc.

Subject headings may include: "Russia--History", or "Russia Kings and rulers" or "Feminism--Russia" etc.

How to find and locate books and films

Click here to link to the F&M Library Catalog. In finding books for this class, try using the keyword and subject terms mentioned above.
When you discover a book of interest, select the title to see the complete "Item Information." Click on "Catalog Record" to look at the assigned subject headings for that item. Note related subject headings, and click on them to find other books that are described in a similar way, and may prove useful.
Remember to search out call numbers in both the STACKS and the REFERENCE ROOM. Call numbers are designed to mirror themselves in these two areas. If you find a valuable book in the STACKS, you will find similar, high quality REFERENCE items under the same call number in the REFERENCE ROOM.

How to find and locate journal articles

Start by consulting the following electronic resources:

JSTOR: A collection of abstracts and articles from over 250 scholarly journals, many dating from the nineteenth-century to the last 4 or 5 years.
OmniFile Full Text Mega: Access to full text articles, page images, article abstracts, and citations from thousands of sources. Coverage back as early as 1982.
New York Times Full Text: The New York Times (Sep 18, 1851 - Dec 31, 2005, full-text) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
Historical Abstracts: Comprehensive international historical coverage (excluding the U.S. and Canada) from 1450 to the present. Covers abstracts from 1955 to the present.

If the article you find is available in full-text, follow the appropriate links. If not, take note of the JOURNAL NAME being cited, and go to the Journals at F&M page to see if the library subscribes to the journal. If so, locate the journal in print or microfilm, and make a copy for your research.

For additional article resources, look under the Electronic Resources - A to Z List on the Library homepage.

Don't Forget: Always consult the bibliography at the end of a journal article for additional resources!

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web can be a helpful environment in which to access scholarly information. To search for more authoritative sites and information, use mediated search directories such as Google Scholar.

Additional Help

Contact Christopher Raab for further assistance or fill out a research appointment request form to meet with a librarian.

Last updated: 8/12/11 cmr