Modern China: A People's History
History 280

Spring 2007

Books | Articles | News and Other Websites | Citing Sources and Plagiarism

FINDING BOOKS

Using Subject Headings

Search by Keyword and look for Subject Headings in individual records.
To modify a search:

• Use words from the Subject Heading in a Keyword search
• Click on the Subject Heading itself

Examples of Subject Headings:

• China -- History
• China -- History -- 20th Century
• Revolutions -- China
• China -- Politics and government -- 20th century

FINDING JOURNAL ARTICLES

Indexes

Indexes will lead you to article citations that include author, article title, journal title, volume number, publication date, and page number. Citations do not include the entire article. You must locate the journal once you have a citation.

Historical Abstracts < about >

Social Sciences Abstracts < about >

Readers' Guide Retrospective (1890-1982) < about > (you must enable popup windows)
Readers' Guide Abstracts indexes and abstracts general interest and popular periodicals published in the U.S. and Canada.

Readers' Guide Abstracts (1983-present) < about >
Readers' Guide Abstracts indexes and abstracts general interest and popular periodicals published in the U.S. and Canada.

Academic OneFile < about >

Periodical Abstracts < about >

Dissertation Abstracts  < about >
This database searches for summaries of dissertations (PhD and Masters Theses). It does not give the full text of the entire dissertation.
*BEWARE!* Dissertations are student works, and your instructor may or may not accept them. Also, many dissertations are difficult to obtain.

Full-Text Resources

Full text databases include citation information as well as the text of the article itself.

JSTOR < about >
Scholarly academic journals

Project MUSE < about >
Scholarly academic journals

Proquest Research Library < about >
Can limit to scholarly academic journals

New York Times (1851 to 3 years ago) < about >
PDF version of the historical New York Times. Looks exactly like a copy of the paper.

New York Times (1995 to present) < about >
Text version of the New York Times. Does not include sidebars or graphics.

Harper's Weekly (1857-1889) < about >

Infotrac General Reference Center Gold < about >

Infotrac Health Reference Center - Academic < about >

Wilson Select Plus < about >

LEXIS-NEXIS Academic < about >

Book Reviews

Book Review Digest < about >

Project MUSE < about >
(In Advanced Search, limit to "reviews." Good for relatively recent materials.)

Proquest Research Library < about >
(In Advanced Search, click "More Search Options" and limit Document type to "Book Review." Can also limit to peer-reviewed journals.)

JSTOR < about >
(In Advanced Search, limit to "reviews." Good for older materials.)

Types of Periodicals

Scholarly Journals (American Journal of Chinese Studies)

• Authors are scholars or researchers in their fields.
• Authors cite their sources in footnotes, endnotes, and bibliographies.
• Individual issues have little or no advertising.
• Articles must go through a peer-review process.
• Articles usually report original scholarly research.
• Most illustrations are charts, figures, or graphs.
• Authors use the specialized language or jargon of the discipline.

Popular Magazines (Newsweek or Time)

• Authors are free lance writers or magazine staff members.
• Authors may mention sources, but rarely cite them in notes or bibliographies.
• Individual issues contain many advertisements.
• There is no peer review process. Articles are reviewed by editors or publishers.
• Illustrations are numerous and colorful.
• Articles are meant to inform and entertain an educated audience.
• Language is written for the general adult audience (no specialized jargon).

  Scholarly or Not?
  Use Ulrich's Online < about >
  Document Type MUST say "Academic/Scholarly Publication" to be considered scholarly!

Don't forget to use bibliographies contained in reference books, annotated bibliographies, circulating books, and journal articles!

NEWS AND OTHER WEBSITES

News Resources

New York Times (1851 to 3 years ago) < about >
PDF version of the historical New York Times. Looks exactly like a copy of the paper.

New York Times (1995 to present) < about >
Text version of the New York Times. Does not include sidebars or graphics.

LEXIS-NEXIS News Search < about >
An excellent source for national and international news

InfoTrac Custom Newspapers < about >

Some free websites with good news coverage:

World Newspapers - China
http://www.world-newspapers.com/china.html
This site links to world newspapers, magazines, and news sites in English, sorted by country and region.

China Post
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/

Images

Google Image Search
http://images.google.com/

New York Public Library Digital Gallery
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgadvsearch.cfm

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/catalog.html
Many photos are digitized -- some are not. Also, be aware of copyright restrictions when using these photos!

Free Websites

Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles (AAFLA)
http://www.aafla.org/
The AAF has a digital archive of academic journals, scholarly books, popular sports magazines of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and an extensive offering of Olympic publications.

International Olympic Committee
http://www.olympic.org/
The official website of the International Olympic Committee, this site includes historical information on both summer and winter Olympic games.

CITING YOUR SOURCES in the MLA style

See also: How to Cite Sources

For help with citing online sources, see the MLA Style FAQ.

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
6th ed. New York : Modern Language Association of America, 2003.
(Ref. LB2369 .G53)

Hornet, Kay. "Kalamazoo's Inspirational College Mascots." Jivin' in the Hive 26.3 (1999) : 21-35.

Reader, Avid, and Perma Bound. A Comprehensve History of Books and Bookmaking in Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo: City Press, 1933.

Seashore, Shelly. "Bathing Cap Use in Kalamazoo, Michigan." Sand, Soil, and Toil: Beaches in the American Midwest. Ed. Ivana Suntann and Misty C. Weed. Chicago: Flaming Dune Publications, 1998. 234-267.

ALWAYS check the style manual!! DO NOT rely on other guides!

 PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism: copying or stealing another’s work or ideas.

To avoid plagiarism, you must cite:

• spoken and written quotations
• ideas and opinions
• facts that are not general knowledge
• paraphrases of all of the above

See Plagiarism: What it Is and How to Recognize and Avoid It
(Produced by Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University)

When in doubt, ask your instructor!