Find Articles in Databases
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window A multidisciplinary database providing full-text access to scholarly and popular journals in broad areas of academic study, as well as indexing and abstracts of additional titles unavailable in full text. Coverage: 1990-present.
- America History and Life This link opens in a new window Article abstracts and some full-text articles on the history and culture of the United States and Canada from the prehistoric era to the present, drawn from international periodicals from 1954 to the present.
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window Indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Provides abstracts of journal articles and citations of book reviews as well as abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers. Coverage dates from 1952 to the present.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new window Google Scholar indexes many scholarly journals, theses, books, and white papers from academic and society publishers. It also indexes patents and some case law.
SCHOLARLY JOURNAL articles are written by and for scholars. Look for a option to limit your results to peer-reviewed scholarly journals, the gold standard in academic research. 
MAGAZINES and NEWSPAPERS (although not scholarly) can be used as primary sources to show the attitudes/beliefs of a time.
- American Periodicals This link opens in a new window "This database contains periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals. Coverage includes the modernist movement in art and culture.
- African-American Periodicals, 1825-1995 This link opens in a new window Archive of over 170 historical periodicals, including journals, newsletters, magazines, and bulletins, providing a unique window into African-American culture and history.
- Alternative Press Index This link opens in a new window The Alternative Press Index offers online access to articles from a large collection of alternative periodicals, particularly those concerned with radical social change. Common topics include socialism, environmentalism, feminism, and LGBT rights.
- America's Historical Newspapers, 1690-1922 This link opens in a new window A searchable collection of historical U.S. newspapers spanning the period of 1690 to 1922, including thousands of small-town papers from all 50 states.
- Los Angeles Sentinel, 1934-2005 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window From its earliest beginnings when it urged African-Americans not to “spend your money where you can’t work,” the Los Angeles Sentinel has exposed prejudice, promoted social change, and empowered the black community. By accessing more than 70 years of cover-to-cover reporting, today’s readers view the Depression through the eyes of African-Americans in the 1930s. They can follow the grass-roots struggle against the racially restrictive housing covenants of the 1940s. Researchers can follow Roy Wilkins’ column, “The Watchtower,” and see how he attacked efforts to label civil rights activists as “communists” during the Cold War. Today, this independent publication continues to cover community and world issues from the unique cultural perspective of the Los Angeles African-American community.
- African-American Newspapers, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window Online access to approximately 270 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African-American experience. The collection features papers from more than 35 states—including many rare and historically significant 19th-century titles.
- Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowBoston Globe (1872-1982), Los Angeles Times (1881-1990), New York Times (1851-2009), Wall Street Journal (1889-1996), Washington Post (1877-1997).
- Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window Full-text database of periodicals of the American ethnic and minority press, with works offering African-American, Arab-American, Asian-American, European-American, Latino, Jewish, and Native American perspectives.
- Newspaper Guide This guide identifies and provides links to newspapers and newspaper databases to which Colby subscribes. Coverage is both current and historical. Also included are selected portals of newspapers freely available on the Web.
Citation & Writing Help
- Purdue OWL The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.
The Chicago Manual of Style
This 2017 edition of the guide has updated information on PDF annotation, citation management, and effective use of keywords. The chapter on grammar and usage includes an expanded glossary of problematic words and phrases and a new section on syntax as well as updated guidance on gender-neutral pronouns and bias-free language.
Publication Date: 2017
Citation managers help you organize your research, collect citations & automatically create bibliographies.
Our Citation Software guide can help you decide which to use.
For writing help, please don't hesitate to make an appointment with the Farnham's Writers' Center. They're a fantastic free resource for Colby students!
OneSearch
OneSearch searches multiple resources at once. Use for very precise searches:
- Finding a specific article
- Finding book chapters on a writer or an artistic work
- Finding book reviews
For best results, use limiters.
What's a Primary Source?
PRIMARY SOURCES - Documents & artifacts created at or near the time of an event. The testimonies, memories and recollections of people who experienced or witnessed the event.
- Photos or images
- Newspaper or magazine articles/reviews of the time
- "Personal narratives" (used in CBBcat records) and diaries
- Interviews
- Witness accounts
- Official records (e.g. contracts, government documents)
SECONDARY SOURCES - Writings after the fact by people who did not experience the event. This includes the scholarly analysis found in journal articles.
Primary Source Archival Collections
- HathiTrust This link opens in a new windowA digital library containing assets from over 100 research libraries, with document types including books, images, images, music scores, newspapers, and videos. Use the yellow "Log In" button to find and select Colby College, then follow the login prompts.
- Library of Congress Archival Photos & Prints Covers diverse subjects and time periods.
- Internet Archive Non-profit portal to multimedia.
- Oneida Community Collection, Syracuse University A selection of Oneida Community collection material and publications has been digitized, including in some cases full-text transcriptions.
- Oneida Community, Hamilton College Includes Daily Journal of Oneida Community, 1866-1868
- Digital Jonestown A collaborative project of Cowles Library at Drake University and the Special Collections Department of Library and Information Access at San Diego State University. Includes sermons by Jim Jones.
- Peoples Temple Photo Gallery Webpage from San Diego State University Archive. Do not use these photos publicly (including on the Web) without checking for permissions. Please direct all questions about permissions and copyright to Fielding McGehee.fieldingmcgehee@yahoo.com
In GOOGLE searches, add these words and phrases:
- digital collection* OR "digital library" OR digitized
- "oral histories" or "oral history"
- museum OR archive*
- manuscripts OR papers
For more precise results, click on: Settings > Advanced Search
- In the Site or Domain field enter: .edu or .gov or .org
Search Tips When Using Library Resources
Use an ASTERISK to search all endings of a word: religi* = religion, religions, religious
Use QUOTATION MARKS to glue together a phrase: "oneida community"
Put synonyms in PARENTHESES with OR between each term: (utopia OR dystopia)
Look for ALTERNATIVE SEARCH TERMS in item records and references, and then try new searches.
Start with a keyword search and look for SUBJECT HEADING LINKS in item records.
SAMPLE SUBJECT HEADINGS
Reference
- Credo General Reference This link opens in a new window A search engine covering hundreds of reference works, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses, and books of quotations, plus subject-specific titles covering topics such as arts, business, history, law, literature, medicine, music, philosophy, psychology, religion, science, and technology.
Find Books/Films in CBBcat
E-BOOKS! PRINT BOOKS! FILMS! Search our library catalog.
For PRINT MATERIAL & PHYSICAL MEDIA, note the book location and call number. The stacks in Miller, Olin and Bixler are open to browsing. To order physical items from the Colby Annex, Bates or Bowdoin: Click on 
For DIGITAL MATERIALS, look for a small circular red E in the icons to the left of your results. (E-books, streams, digital documents.)
Or use the drop-downs on the CBBcat search page, for a more precise search.
Items not available in CBBcat or MaineCat? Check WorldCat and order through ILLiad, our interlibrary loan service.
History Librarian
Other Library Guides
- Resource Guides by Academic Subject Research guides by academic departments
Need to use these resources off campus?
Off-campus users will often be able to gain access to Colby Library resources using their Colby ID and password.. But for the most reliable access, install VPN (Virtual Private Network) on your computer or device. This fools your device into thinking you're on campus! (You may also need to click on the VPN app icon every time you sign in.)