A Few Useful Reference Books
Reference books are useful for identifying people, places, events, dates, etc. Many articles in reference books include a bibliography of recommended sources. The BGSU Libraries own hundreds of history reference books. Here is a a very small sample of the reference books that may be useful.
Encyclopedia of the Jazz Age by Call Number: REF E 784 .E53 2007 v.1-2ISBN: 9780765680785Publication Date: 2008
Encyclopedia of the Sixties by Call Number: REF E169.12 .E515 2012 v.1-2ISBN: 9780313329449Publication Date: 2011
Encyclopedia of United States Indian Policy and Law by Call Number: REF KF 8205 .E525 2009 v.1-2ISBN: 9781933116983Publication Date: 2008
Greenwood Encyclopedia of Daily Life in America by Call Number: REF E 169.1 .G7553 2009 v.1-4ISBN: 9780313336997Publication Date: 2008
Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History by Call Number: REF E183 .P85 2010 v.1-2ISBN: 9780691129716Publication Date: 2009
Social History of the United States by Call Number: REF HN 57 .S6236 v.1-10ISBN: 9781598841275Publication Date: 2008
Book Reviews
To find a list of online and print resources for identifying and accessing book reviews, click on this link to the Book Reviews page.
Start Here To Search for Books
When you know the title of the item you are seeking, the first step is to search by title in an online catalog.
- BGSU Libraries CatalogIndexes books, magazines and journals, videos, music, and electronic resources that are owned by BGSU.
- OhioLINK Central CatalogIf BGSU doesn't own the book, try the OhioLINK Central Catalog. It contains the holdings of the libraries at more than 80 colleges and universities throughout Ohio. You can request OhioLINK books online and have them delivered in 2-4 days.
- WorldCatWorldCat is a database of the holdings of many libraries throughout North American and some other countries. If you identify a publication you want to borrow, you can use your Interlibrary Loan (ILL) account to request it.
Searching for E-Books
The library provides access to more than 55,000 books from a variety of sources. For information about ebooks, see the online guide to Ebooks.
Finding Books That Include Primary Sources
One way to identify books that are primary sources is to look for books written by people who were involved in the event or activity you are researching. When you look at secondary sources, write down the names of people and then look for them as authors.
In the BGSU Libraries Catalog, the OhioLINK Central Catalog, and WorldCat, books that have been assigned subjects with the subheadings in the list below might be primary sources. However, don’t expect that a book that includes primary sources will always include one of these words or phrases in a subject heading. Also, these subheadings are not used in other databases.
--Diaries
--Correspondence
--Biography
--Sources
--Anecdotes
--Personal narratives
--Interviews
Examples:
Great Britain -- Colonies -- America -- History -- Sources
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal Narratives, Confederate
Pioneers -- United States -- Interviews
For information about the difference between primary and secondary sources, see:
Dissertations & Theses
Use these sites to identify relevant dissertations and theses:
- Dissertations & Theses (ProQuest)Index to more than 2 million doctoral dissertations and master's theses written from 1861 to the present for universities all over the world, with full text access to most.
- Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDTLD)A searchable digital library of electronically-published theses and dissertations dating back to 2005.
- OhioLINK Electronic Theses and DissertationsFull text doctoral dissertations, masters' theses and undergraduate honors theses from Ohio colleges and universities going back to 2000, including Bowling Green State University.
- NDLTDs List of Other Search Engines for Theses and DissertationsThis page lists additional sites that offer access to theses and dissertations.