LibGuides: History: Getting Started

Welcome to the History Research Guide!

History at Murray State University is interdisciplinary. You don't know where your research will take you! We understand that many different people study and write about history. Whether you are a student, academic, practitioner, or hobbyist, this Research Guide gathers valuable research tools in one place.

Quick Start..

Historical Newspaper Databases
A listing of newspaper databases available through Murray State University Libraries and the web.

JSTOR - All Content This link opens in a new window
Searches indexed content, as well as full text content, on the JSTOR interface. Provides indexing for more than 12 million journal articles, books, and other content from a wide variety publishers on the well-known JSTOR interface.
Historical Abstracts with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Covers world history from the 15th century to the present (excluding the United States and Canada). Coverage extends to related disciplines such as archaeology, anthropology and sociology. Includes the full text of more than 530 journals and 140 books.
HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
Contains more than 150 million pages and 150,000 titles of legal history and government documents. Includes coverage of more than 2,400 law-related periodicals. Contains the Congressional Record, Federal Register, and Code of Federal Regulations, coverage of the U.S. Reports back to 1754, and treaties, constitutions, case law, world trials, classic treatises, international trade, foreign relations, U.S. Presidents, and more.

Tips for Getting Started

Determine why you are writing and researching
- Whether you researching on your own or working on an assigned essay, creating and/or following a prompt will help keep your research focused
Focus your interests/topic
- Example: You are assigned to write about any topic pertaining to World War II. After browsing some articles and reference materials you decide your focus is the role of Japanese-American soldiers in Italy during World War II
- If you are having trouble, try using the following template: "I am writing about the role of [subject] in [location] during [event/time period]."
Look at sources in bibliographies
- If you are writing an essay about a topic discussed in class, sources listed the bibliographies of your class textbook or other reading materials are a good place to find relevant books and articles
Use preselected databases
- This research guide includes databases identified by your librarian as useful for history research
Contact your librarian
- If you face any difficulties in the research process, feel free to contact your liaison librarian for assistance or to schedule a consulation

Topic Guides

Below are guides that have been created for specific courses and topics in the field of history:

Cold War Era
This is a topic guide focused on the Cold War Era. Students will be able to browse academic journals, newspaper repositories, primary source digital collections, and a variety of relevant websites.
HIS481/681: Revolutionary Mexico, 1810 to Present
This is a course guide created for students studying Revolutionary Mexico in HIS 481/681. Students will be able to browse academic journals, newspaper repositories, primary source digital collections, and a variety of relevant websites.