This guide provides an overview of information resources available at the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library. Selected print and electronic resources are provided. There are many more excellent sources.

The following steps will assist you in the research process.

Step 1: Get Organized

Think about what you are required to do. What do you want to write about? What are some search terms or key words you may use in locating information for your topic?

Step 2: Gather Information

Begin by finding reference books to develop an overview of your chosen topic. Reference books will help you define your topic, provide you with a vocabulary of terms to further search for information on your topic, and often give you bibliographies for finding more information. Reference books for this topic are located in 970, 970.1, 973.03, 973.5, and 978 in the Garver Room.

See below for a list of selected specialized reference books you may wish to consult.

970 Am35	American Indians
970/1 P93na	Native Americans
970.5 P95a	Atlas of American Indian Affairs
973.03 D56	Dictionary of American History
973.03 En19	Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History
973.03 En192	Encyclopedia of American History
973.03 W54a	Atlas of Westward Expansion
973.5 En 19	Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century
978 En19	Encyclopedia of the American West

Key Words Dawes Act Indian Boarding Schools Buffalo Indian New Deal Peyote

Subject Headings Indians of North America- Government Relations Indians of North America-Cultural Assimilation American bison Indians, Treatment of U.S. Peyotism

Finding books on Desk Reserve:

Books from the circulating collection containing primary and secondary source materials on a variety of Native American topics are on reserve at the library’s circulation desk. A list of books on reserve can be accessed through OWL. Remember this is a selection of material. The library has many other primary and secondary sources that may be more appropriate to your particular topic. See the staff at the circulation desk to obtain reserve material.

Finding journal articles:

The library subscribes to several bibliographic and full-text periodical databases
that will provide you with both current and historical articles. Try the following:

America: History and Life contains citations to articles and dissertations

American Periodicals Series Online 1741 - 1900 APS Online features over 1,100 periodicals spanning nearly 200 years from colonial times to the early 1900’s. Titles range from religious and historical journals such as The Dial and Southern Review to popular magazines like Vanity Fair and Ladies' Home Journal.

Historical Newspapers Searches 4 newspapers; Christian Science Monitor (1908-1991), New York Times (1851-2001), Wall Street Journal (1889-1987), and the Washington Post (1877-1988).

JSTOR contains full-text recent scholarly articles

New York Times Archives contains the full-text of all articles in the NYT from 1851 to 1999

Readers’ Guide Retrospective contains citations to articles from 1900 to
1982

Note that America: History and Life and the Readers’ Guide databases are not full-text. You must check the titles of the periodicals in these databases using Serials Solutions to determine if the library owns a particular title. Some of these articles may have to be obtained from other libraries. Be sure to allow enough time in you research for this to happen. Also be sure to check the paper handout of subject headings for Native Americans/Indians from the Readers’ Guide when searching in that database. It will make your searching more efficient.

Finding Internet Web Sites:

**Remember to evaluate web sites just as you evaluate books for authority and content.

• Avalon Project Yale University
  Contains documents concerning relations between the U.S. government and
  Native Americans.
  

Step 3: Use the Information

Synthesize the information, make an outline, take notes, organize the information, write the paper and document sources. Capture the information you will need for your bibliography the first time you use each source. Use these handy forms for collecting all the data elements you will need. To help in the construction of your bibliography please use the workscited4u.com website. Make sure to avoid Plagiarism! Use this useful guide to quoting and paraphrasing sources.

Step 4: Take time to Reflect

Ask yourself: did you accomplish what you wanted to do? If you take the time to evaluate what you did you will become a better researcher.

Questions or comments? Email OWHL Web Team at
© Phillips Academy 1999
Last Update April 2005