History 298G: The Enlightenment and its others

Library Resources

 

Background Information

The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature. 3rd ed. 2v. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. (016.9G9411995, Main Reference, History Ref)

This work serves as an introductory annotated bibliography of the "best historical literature extant at the time of compilation". Though primarly organized chronologically under geographical areas, the index also identifies numerous books on the Enlightenment by topic and by country.

Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment. Ellen Judy Wilson, ed. New York : Facts On File, c1996. (Q.940.2503 EN19, Uni High Library Reference)

This one-volume encyclopedia provides an introduction to an important period of Western intellectual thought. Many of the important figures of the day are included (e.g., Rousseau, Voltaire, Newton); biographies make up a large part of the entries. Important writings, such as Wealth of Nations and Emile are explicated as to their importance to the movement. Entries also include countries, so that the reader may compare the history of the movement in Austria and France, for example.
 
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Using the Online and Card Catalogs to Find Books/Journals

The library's online catalog contains information about which books and journals the library owns. You can access the catalog from any computer on or off campus via the Library Gateway at http://www.library.uiuc.edu. From the Library Gateway, choose Online Catalog – Direct Access to Telnet Interface, or choose Web Interface to Find Books, which although under construction many find easier to use.

Workshops are provided each semester on using the online catalog and article databases.

While the online catalog provides access to much of the material in the UIUC Libraries, as well as the holdings of 45 other academic libraries in Illinois, it does not provide comprehensive subject access for materials acquired at UIUC before 1979. Particularly for historical research, it is important to supplement use of the online catalog with a subject search in the card catalog. For example, checking the card catalog under the subject enlightenment, you find a complete entry for "Addy, George. Enlightenment in the University of Salmanca (1966)." In the online catalog, you can only find it by author or title, but not by subject.

Both the online and card catalogs use controlled vocabulary, i.e., assigned subject headings. Some of these headings may change over time, so it is best to consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings (on tables in the online catalog area). The subject headings most relevant for a study of the Enlightenment period include:

Enlightenment (also includes geographical subdivisions, e.g., Enlightenment--Spain)

[Country name]--Intellectual Life--18th century (e.g., France--Intellectual Life--18th century.

Exoticism in literature (also Exoticism in art, etc.)

Women--[country name]--History--18th century (e.g., Women--Germany --History--18th century).

Hint: Try combining the term enlightenment with another topic by doing a keyword title or just a keyword search. Do not type "and" in your search, e.g., enlightenment women. Though this may provide some irrelevant hits, it pulls together books on the topic that may not be under the subject enlightenment.

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Using Article Databases and Indexes to Find Articles

While the online catalog lets you know which books and journals/magazines the library owns and where they are located, you need to use article databases and printed indexes to find articles on a particular subject. Until recently the coverage of article databases was limited to publications within the last few decades--not quite adequate for historical research. Though retrospective coverage has improved significantly, many older citations can only be found by using print indexes. You can connect to article databases via the Library Gateway by selecting Search for Articles. The print indexes are in the Reference Room of the Main Library.

A selected list of relevant databases and indexes for this class is provided below.

Article Databases

Bibliographic databases (citations to articles)

These databases provide a citation to an article, i.e, they give the author, title of the article, name of the journal/magazine where the article was published, and the date and page numbers of the issue where it can be found. You then need to check the title of the journal (not of the individual article) in the online catalog to determine if the library owns the journal/magazine, and where it is located.

Historical Abstracts

Focusing specifically on history, this database provides citations to articles and book reviews on world history from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada, which are covered in America: History and Life). Over 2,000 journals from throughout the world are indexed from 1954 - present.
 
Arts and Humanities Citation Index
This multidisciplinary database indexes over 1,200 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals from 1980 - present. A unique feature includes a listing of the works each author cites in a given article. Useful for coverage of ancillary literature in art history, literature, and philosophy.

Humanities Abstracts

While this database indexes relatively fewer journals (300 titles), it covers core articles and book reviews in all areas of the humaities. Coverage includes 1984 - present, with abstracts beginning in 1994.

Periodical Contexts Index

The importance of this database lies in its retrospective coverage. When complete, the contents of nearly 3,000 periodicals in the humanities and social sciences will be indexed from their first issue to the early 1990's.
 

Full Text Article Databases

Full text databases not only provide the citation, but also the complete text of the article. A designation of FT next to a database title on the Article Databases page indicates that many (but not necessarily all) of the articles contain the full text.

Expanded Academic Index FT
 
Indexes 2,000 scholarly and popular interdisciplinary journals, national news magazines, and the last six months of the New York Times. About half of the entries include full text. Initial search covers 1996-present, with access to a backfile (1980-1995).
JSTOR (Journal Storage) FT
 
This useful database allows searches by keyword, author, or title, and provides the full text of articles from 15 history journals, as well as journals in philosophy, political science, and other related fields, from their first date of publication to the mid 1990's. For example, the full text of articles from the journal Eighteenth Century Studies is available from 1967-1995 and American Historical Review from 1895 - 1994.

Print Indexes

C.R.I.S. The Combined Retrospective Index to Journals in History 1838-1974. 11v. Washington: Carrollton Press, 1977. (016.9 C868, on index table in Main Reference)

Though cumbersome to use, this computer-generated index to historical literature provides subject and keyword access to articles in nearly 250 journals, providing coverage from 1838 through 1974.

Note: There are numerous additional retrospective indexes and bibliographies in history. Please consult with Reference librarians (200 Library) if you need assistance in finding information on your topic.

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Citing What You Have Found

The Chicago Manual of Style. 14th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. (655.25C43m1993, Main Reference, Undergrad Reference)

MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 2nd ed. New York: Modern Language Association, 1998. (808.02Ac47m1998, Main Reference, Undergrad Reference)

Online style manuals and guides for citing online sources

If you have any questions about this assignment or webpage, please contact Jo Kibbee, j-kibbee@uiuc.edu. If you need reference assistance, contact reflib@uiuc.edu.

 

Last modified: 2/2000