Contested History
Japanese / Sophomore Seminar 242

Significant dates:

Hiroshima bombed on August 6th, 1945
Nagasaki bombed on August 9th, 1945
Japan agrees to surrender, August 14th, 1945; Formal surrender, Sept. 2nd, 1945

Enola Gay/Smithsonian Controversy Chronology of dates, 1993-1995

Newspapers and News Magazines

New York Times (1851 to 3 years ago) < about > full text of the New York Times from ProQuest Historical Newspapers

Kalamazoo Gazette Newspaper

For issues from 1922 - 1978, you will need to go to the Kalamazoo Public Library.

Other Newspapers at WMU 

Historical Newspapers database
Atlanta Constitution (1868 - 1945)
Atlanta Daily World (1931 - 2003)
The Chicago Defender (1905 - 1975)
Chicago Tribune (1849 - 1986)
Christian Science Monitor (1908 - 1996)
Los Angeles Sentinel (1934 - 2005)
New York Amsterdam News (1922 - 1993)
The New York Times (1851 - 2006)
Pittsburgh Courier (1911 - 2002)
Wall Street Journal (1889 - 1992)
The Washington Post (1877 - 1993)

Times Digital Archives Database
200 years of The Times, a major British newspaper. PDFs of each article and of the full page.

News Magazines

Readers' Guide Retrospective (1890-1982) < about >
Online Index for news magazines and popular periodicals. Index Coverage for Newsweek, Time, and U.S. News & World Report:

The Atlantic July 1932 - June 1971 ( Kalamazoo College holdings: v 150- 1932- present; 1932-1949 in storage)
Harper's Magazine March 1913 - Aug 1976 (Kalamazoo College holdings: v 126- 1913-present; 1913-1949 in storage)
Life Jan 1940 - Dec 1972 (Kalamazoo College holdings: v 1- 1936-2000; 1936-1972 in storage)
Newsweek (Kalamazoo College holdings begin with 1947)
Time July 1935 - Jan 1983 (Kalamazoo College holdings: v. 16- 1930 - present )

Kalamazoo Public Library
Hours and Location/Map
The Kalamazoo Public Library has more popular magazines in its collection.

Search the KPL Catalog

Western Michigan University Waldo Library
Waldo Library - Hours and How to get to Western

Search WestCat - Western's Library Catalog
Title search on Title of the Journal

Finding Journal Articles

See Also the Guide to Finding Articles.

Off-Campus Access to Licensed Resources

Journal Indexes

Subject Indexes

America: History and Life < about > U.S. and Canadian History, prehistory to the present *

Historical Abstracts < about > The World, except the U.S. and Canada, 1450 to the present *

* You may search both indexes simultaneously as well.

Humanities Abstracts < about >

Social Sciences Abstracts < about >

Social Sciences Citation Index < about >

General Indexes

ArticleFirst < about >

Readers' Guide Abstracts (1983-present) < about >

Readers' Guide Retrospective (1890-1982) < about >

Full Text Databases

JSTOR < about > All Scholarly Journals

Project Muse < about > All Scholarly Journals

ProQuest Research Library < about > Mix of Scholarly and Popular

Academic OneFile < about > Mix of Scholarly and Popular

Expanded Academic ASAP < about > Mix of Scholarly and Popular

All Kalamazoo College Library Indexes and Full Text Databases

Do you have access to a journal?  

1.) Ariadne (print)

• Title search on Title of the Journal to locate print journal

2.) Online Journals at K

• Title search on Title of the Journal to locate article in a Full Text Database

3.) WestCat - Western Michigan's catalog

• Title search on Title of the Journal
• Waldo Library - Hours and How to get to Western

4.) Interlibrary Loan

• Order item through Interlibrary Loan
• Use *only* when the journal is not available through Ariadne or Online Journals at K

Finding Books

Using Catalogs to locate books:

1.) Ariadne

• Search by Keyword
• Find and Use Subject Headings
• Browse the shelves by Call Number

2.) MeLCat

• Search by Keyword
• Find and Use Subject Headings
• About MeLCat

3.) WestCat - Western Michigan's catalog

• Search by Keyword
• Find and Use Subject Headings
• Browse the shelves by Call Number
• Waldo Library: Hours and How to get to Western

4.) WorldCat and 5.) Interlibrary Loan

• Search by Keyword
• Find and Use Subject Headings
• Order item through Interlibrary Loan

Primary Sources on the Web

Kalamazoo College Library Guide to Primary Sources

OAIster
Search engine for archives of digital resources, many primary sources, including online books and journals, audio files (e.g., wav, mp3), images (e.g., tiff, gif), movies (e.g., mpeg, quicktime), reference texts (e.g., dictionaries, directories), etc..

UNESCO Archives Portal Links to primary documents and images; also includes links to National, Regional, and State Archives worldwide.

History Digital Libraries Worldwide from AcademicInfo
http://www.academicinfo.us/histaalibrary.html

AMDOCS: Documents for the Study of American History
http://www.vlib.us/amdocs/
Full text of primary source documents in American History, from 1400 through 2000.

Web Sites on the Enola Gay and the War in the Pacific

Air Force Association Enola Gay Archive

Books and Articles On the Enola Gay Controversy from Lehigh University

PBS American Experience: Victory in the Pacific includes first hand accounts

The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II: A Collection of Primary Sources

Asia for Educators Timeline
An initiative of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University, Asia for Educators (AFE) is designed to serve faculty and students in world history, culture, geography, art, and literature.

Truman Library: The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb
Includes primary documents, photographs, and oral histories.

Voice of Hibakusha
Eye-witness accounts of the bombing of Hiroshima, from the video HIROSHIMA WITNESS produced by Hiroshima Peace Cultural Center and NHK.

Internet Archive
Created to offer permanent access for researchers and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format. Good place to look for news films and audio recordings.

NuclearFiles.org. Smithsonian Controversy
Side-by-side comparisons of the first draft and final draft of the exhibit script, and historical documents relevant to the "Decision to Drop the Bomb."

American Historical Association. Historians Protest New Enola Gay Exhibit

Image Collections and Databases

flickr Commons < about > Historic photographs on flickr

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Catalog < about > Free database with some free images

NYPL Digital Gallery < about > Free database of Images from the New York Public Library

Smithsonial Institution Online History and Culture Exhibits

Evaluating Web Sites

Use these points to evaluate the credibility of Websites:

1. Accuracy
How reliable is the information? Are there editors and fact checkers?
2. Authority
What are the author's qualifications? Is the publisher reputable?
3. Objectivity
Is the author trying to sway opinion? Is the information free from bias?
4. Currency
Is the publication date indicated? Is the source up to date?
5. Coverage
Does the site cover the topic comprehensively, or are there information gaps?

Sites that provide guidance on evaluating Websites:

• Evaluating Web Resources
  Widener University Library
• Evaluating Information Found on the Internet
  Johns Hopkins University Library
• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, or Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Resources
  New Mexico State University Library
• Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources
  UCLA College Library

Citing Your Sources

See: How to Cite Sources

See also Citing Sources for help in citing print and electronic resources in various bibliographic styles (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.)

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
7th ed., New York : Modern Language Association of America, 2009.
Reference, LB2369 .G53 2009.

• MLA Style From The University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center.
• MLA Style From the Modern Language Association (MLA).
  (see the FAQ on MLA style).
• MLA Style Form Guide from the Ohio State University Libraries
• Using MLA Style to Cite and Document Sources
  (includes information on citing electronic sources)