The purpose of this guide is to familiarize you with finding credible and scholarly research resources in the library, historical collections, and on the internet for your research paper.

	Getting Started
	Books
	Articles
	Primary Sources
	Additional Sources (museums, etc.)
	Searching the Internet
	Citing Your Sources
	Need More?

From the Course Description by Dr. Schwartz:

      "This course necessarily involves both the recorded history and the ethnography of native peoples in Southern California. The recorded history can only be understood in the context of a knowledge of indigenous cultures, which is most accessible to us through the work of ethnohistorians and anthropologists. (An ethnohistorian is a historian who uses anthropological data and methods, or an anthropologist who integrates ethnology and ethnography – the study and recording of cultures – with historical knowledge.)" http://courses.csusm.edu/hist338bas/s08/

What do you need?

• Primary sources (at least one) for more on primary sources, click here.
• Scholarly sources (at least two) for more on scholarly sources, click here. You will be treating the works of the ethnohistorians and anthropologists as scholarly works.
• Include as a significant source at least one scholarly source that can be considered an historical source, apart from texts for the course.
• Include the point of view of the native group involved as expressed by an accepted website or publication approved as a source by the professor.
   

Getting Started

Take a few minutes to think about what you know about the topic that interests you and meets the requirements for this assignment. Look for terms, personal names, and specific time periods in your notes and readings (you are to begin with 1769 and the Mexican colonists' arrival in San Diego). Before committing to specific group, you will need to do some beginning research to be sure appropriate, accessible, and sufficient resources are available. Many smaller groups are harder to research as there has not been as much published as for larger and well known groups. There are difficulties in language transcription which result in various names and spellings. An example is one of the local band may be commonly known as Kumeyaay but a search of the CSUSM catalog returns also Kumiai and Kamia. While researching, you will find they are part of a larger tribal group, the Luiseńo (a name given to them by the Spanish), and if you cast a very broad search, this group can be found in the category of Indians of North America--California which, because of the wide-ranging groups gathered under this heading, becomes almost useless for your purposes.

Remember to keep photocopies of your research as you are required to turn the pages cited in with the completed research paper. If you are not sure you will be using the material, you may not want to make copies immediately of easily-accessed materials, but be sure to record all information on where and how you found it in order to find it again. (Call numbers and the library's name for a book you saw, full web address for a website, etc.)

The general means to start your research is to type a word or phrase into a search engine, whether that is a library catalog, research database collection of articles, or using a general search engine for the internet. This is KEYWORD searching and the searching program's response is to match exactly what you type, no more, no less. Since what you type is what you get, you will find that the computer will return matches that may not have any meaningful relation to what you are really looking for in your research. The following information is to help you get the best of the electronic and paper resources with as little time and effort spent on the unnecessary.

Books

Any well researched project uses books to support your thinking and writing. To find them, choose from the search options to either do KEYWORD searches using terms from your class readings and notes, TITLE searches for specific works, or search for AUTHORS who have been identified as authorities on the topic. Once you find a likely resource, look at the subject headings and use those links to find other works on the same topic rather than the blind match the computer will offer through the keyword search strategy. 

Subject headings can be like deciphering a foreign language and since computers are unforgiving in their character-by-character searches, it can seem hard to decide how to 'build' a subject heading to find what you need. Here are some tips:

• If you are looking for works about a person, type their name in lastname, firstname order as a SUBJECT search (firstname last name order will not get you anything.)
• If you are looking for works by a person, type their name in lastname, firstname order as an AUTHOR search
  • Example: Florence Shipek would be found by typing Shipek into the catalog and you would find her listing as Shipek, Florence Connolly, 1918-. (You do not normally need to know the birth or death dates, but the catalog will supply if known.)
• Unless you know the specific phrasing of a subject heading, try the KEYWORD search first and then look at the subject headings. Here are some examples:
  • California History (this is an example of an broad heading. The subject is further broken down by time periods in specific date ranges, formats, or topics.)
  • Franciscans--Missions--California--History
  • Death Valley (Calif. And Nev.)  (region as opposed to a distinct community)
  • Pauma Indian Reservation (Calif) (example of a 'group' subject heading)
  • The term ''Native Americans' is not a recognized subject heading--you need to use the term Indians of North America which will take you to subdivisions by tribal group, region and other topics. 

But not just any book will do. Historians need to be particular about their sources, checking for both scholarly content  which well-researched and documented and authority of the author. Primary source material such as newspaper accounts, government legislation, diaries and more are to be viewed as a testimonial of the times in which they were recorded and will exhibit attitudes, biases, and behaviors possibly not found acceptable or true today.

Finding Books

CSUSM Library Catalog Do a KEYWORD search on the topic by typing the word or phrase in the search box. Since keywords can have multiple definitions and therefore, uses, once you locate a useful title, examine the SUBJECTS for precise 'labels' to identify your topic. While looking at each item, note authors who are writing on your topic and the call number for browsing the stacks. Check to see that they have bibliographies (listing of the research sources used) to substantiate the book's claims. A scholarly publisher is helpful also!

Example of Catalog Screen

San Diego Circuit This shows materials you may borrow from other San Diego County universities. Either search from the CSUSM catalog by clicking on OTHER CATALOGS in the beginning search screen, or you can extend your CSUSM catalog search to Circuit by clicking on the CIRCUIT button towards the top of the screen. If you are already looking at a specific item in the catalog, Circuit will only search for that item, so be sure to work from the keyword search results list to get broader results. You may request the item online to be delivered to CSUSM for you.

Reference Books & Government Documents (in library use)
These are works like encyclopedias, directories, and collections of reviews that do not circulate from the library. They may be quick overviews or in-depth studies and are frequently useful for short facts or overviews, birthdates, statistics and bibliographies of sources.

• Handbook of North American Indians (REF E77 .H25)

• Census of the United States REF HA201 (various years)

• Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs GOVDOC I 20.5 (note the I is the capital i, not a number)

• Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution GOVDOC SI 2.1

• Bulletin: Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology GOVDOC SI 2.3

Circulating Books (check out and take home)
Find books on your topic by using KEYWORD or subject searches. Some books are now available in full text through the catalog. When you see a WWW connection offered, click on that link to read the book online (access is in 2 hour increments.) You can find primary document collections in book form, especially correspondence, diaries and journals that are useful.

Newspapers 
Primary source reports on events, CSUSM's collection starts with the mid-1800s publication of the San Diego Union, Los Angeles Times and New York Times.

 

Journal Articles

History journals include some of the latest research in the field and can be very helpful in your project but are secondary sources, not primary documents. They're a good source for finding very detailed information on your topic. To find articles, you need to start with a research database and preferably one that indexes scholarly sources as they are based on careful research and peer-review prior to publishing. NOTE: most databases do not cover material published prior to the early 1980's, so you may need to use print resources to do complete research to find older materials.

Some databases do not offer full text of the articles. Use the button to check our other resources for full text and Interlibrary Loan for documents that we don't own in full text.

America: History and Life
Abstracts of journal articles covering US and Canadian history, from pre-history to the present. This database covers materials published since 1964-on, but covers history from prehistory through modern times. 

Indian Question
A good CD-ROM covering Native American history, including primary source materials (eyewitness accounts of native life), treaties in full-text, and government reports on Indian civil rights. This requires downloading Citrix software which is all ready loaded on the library machines. 

JSTOR
Full-text. Contains complete full-text back files (EXCEPT for the latest five years) of core scholarly journals in such areas as sociology, history, economics, political science, mathematics, African-American studies, Asian studies and others. This collection offers articles published since the late 1800's.

LexisNexis Congressional
Comprehensive access to U.S. legislative information including bill tracking, hearing testimony, Congressional Record, and Federal Register. Recent (1970-present) claims by Native Americans can be located using the CIS Index.

Project MUSE
Full text. Scholarly article collection supplementing the holdings on many titles in JSTOR by offering more currently published materials.

Primary Sources on the Internet

A primary source is a document or artifact that reflects the individual viewpoint of a participant or observer of an actual historical event. They include diaries, letters, memos, and books and commentary published at the time of the event. These are valuable tools in verifying the validity of information on another site. Many internet sites exist providing access to a mix of primary and secondary sources. Following is a list of some of the best on the internet.

• American Memory (correspondence and digitized documents, maps and photographs organized into focused collections.) Some California-related collections to browse are Early California History: An Overview and California, First Person Narratives (book collection). Statutes at Large and Bills and Statutues provide access to all public and private laws passed from 1789-1875. There are other resources as well, found by browsing the collection titles or searching the entire collection.
• California State Archives (through the CA Secretary of State) offers mostly finding lists, some materials are available full text or provide borrowing/purchase information from the appropriate state agency.
• Census materials (show growth, development and population movement for an area)
  • Selected Historical Decennial Census of the United States (PDF files)
  • Historical Census Browser (same data as the Decennial Census site, but in a spreadsheet that can be manipulated for specific demographic features such as gender, employment, ethnicity...)
  • Historical Census Populations of California State, Counties, Cities, Place and Towns 1850-2000 provides a downloadable Excel spreadsheet derived from the US Census data. Read the explanatory note on the page to understand how the census data has been collected and how this will affect your research.
• Gallica (French National Library's catalog) has scanned a large number of the Bureau of (American) Ethnology Reports. The site is presented in French, but don't let that stop you as the Bureau's materials are in English. Either browse the publication list (giving year of publication) or search the collection (Click on the "Recherche" tab, and type the words BUREAU and INDIAN in the "Recherche libre" box to see all works, or a specific tribal name or other term of interest.
• Journal of San Diego History provides secondary source material and all issues have been digitized except for the most current issue (collection begins in 1955). Not all is of equal scholarly value, so do consult with Professor Schwartz. The articles are useful for their bibliographies leading to other (sometimes primary) materials.
• Kappler's Indian Laws and Treaties (hosted by the University of Oklahoma) searchable collection of treaties and other government materials pertaining to Native Americans. Originally published as a seven-volume set, this covers materials from 1778-1971.
• List of Publications of the Bureau of American Ethnology (browsable list of several publications from the Smithsonian, several titles are held by CSUSM in the Government Documents collection)
• Online Archive of California has digitized a number of oral histories, texts, images and more to provide access to California history.
• Native American Treaties and Information (University of Colorado at Boulder) offers material for California. Many, but not all, items listed are available digitally.

Searching the Internet

There are ways to search the internet quickly and effectively. Use Advanced or Expert Search whenever possible to focus your results and eliminate sites you can't use like those in languages you cannot read.

Finding the better sites

• Limit your searches to high quality domains: .edu (university servers), .org (museums and associations), .mil (military servers) or .gov (US and state governments).
• Use appropriate language to accurately describe your topic.
• Spell names or phrases accurately--be aware of alternate spellings or names. One example is Temecula having been referred to in earlier works as Temeku.
• Look for bibliographies or references to the works used for the site's contents.
• Know your topic!
• Evaluate for bias or incomplete information.

Useful sites for Southern California resources

• San Diego Historical Society--a huge collection of primary and secondary materials for the county. Free access to all but the most current issue of their publication, the Journal of San Diego History is available online and is searchable. Be careful to evaluate the author's qualifications as some articles are contributed by less-experienced historians, especially in the earlier issues.
• Specific local museums and historical societies (see the Additional Sources page.)
• Museum of Man, Balboa Park offers a worldwide view of human development, but does have some specifically local materials and exhibits.

Citing Your Sources

As you write your paper, you'll need to cite passages and ideas from the sources you've found. Many historians use the Chicago Manual of Style for consistent resource citation. There are two forms in Chicago, the documentary note (use of footnotes or endnotes in the text) or the author/title (more like the APA citation style with a 'tag' in the text pointing to the References.) Dr. Schwartz has not expressed a preference, as long as the citations are complete, consistent and accurate so that a reader could locate the material you have cited. 

Chicago manual of style. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003 Diana Hacker's Guide to History: Documenting Sources (from Diana Hacker) Chicago/Turabian Documentation from University of Wisconsin-Madison Library Copies (REFERENCE Z253 .U69 2003)

Need More?

Judith Downie, Humanities Librarian (760) 750-4374
OR come by my office (KEL 3424), I am available if my door is open (most of the time)
OR come by the Research Help Desk (3rd floor of the Kellogg Library)