Yale University Library Research Guides: AMST 190/URBN 307: Race, Class, and Gender in American Cities: Home

Yale Library Search Tools

The main search tools for finding books, articles, databases, archival collections, and more at Yale (and beyond) can all be found on the "Find, Request, and Use" page of the library's website. Here are a few quick refreshers, but be sure to visit the page for a full overview:

Orbis (classic catalog)
Searches books, e-books, journals (but not individual articles), government documents, and other physical and digital items. It's the classic catalog of Yale Library *not* including items from the Law Library. Can be used to find both primary and secondary sources.
Morris (classic catalog of Law Library)
If your topic relates to legal history or potentially involves research in legal materials, be sure to include Morris in your search, or alternatively to use Books+ (which searches both Morris and Orbis).
Quicksearch
A combined search of the library's books, journals and journal articles, licensed databases, digitized archival collections, archival finding aids, and more. Searches Orbis as well as Morris, which is the Law Library catalog. A vast, Google-like search, but some library materials will still not be retrieved by it, and the advanced search refinements and options to use just one part of Quicksearch or another can be key to running efficient, manageable, and successful searches.
Articles+
Within Quicksearch, Articles+ can be a powerful tool for finding individual journal, newspaper, and magazine articles.
Books+
Within Quicksearch, Books+ will limit your search to the books (and reports and numerous other monographs, as opposed to journal articles) that are found across the Yale Libraries. Orbis + Morris (Law Library) collections are searched together.
Archives at Yale
The search portal for finding archival materials at Yale. Look for the Scope & Contents notes, inventories, and PDF Finding Aids to assess the relevance of materials to your research project.
Also see the Guide to Using Special Collections at Yale University for more information on finding, requesting, and using archival materials in the Yale Library.
Yale Library Digital Collections
Access to millions of digitized works and images from the Yale Library. This site is a living database, and new materials are added regularly.

Background Sources

Background or "reference" sources are a great place to start your research. Reference works include bibliographies, scholarly encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and other sources that provide overviews of topics and suggestions for further reading.

A Companion to the City

For instance, includes the chapter by Susan Fainstein and Michael Harloe, "Ups and Downs in the Global City: London and New York at the Millennium," though other chapters could be helpful, too.

The New Blackwell Companion to the City

Oxford Bibliographies
An extensive collection of annotated bibliographies often pointing to both primary and secondary sources, for example an article on "Urbanization" by Joe William Trotter..

Routledge Companion to Photography and Visual Culture (print)

Routledge Companion to Urban Media and Communication

Routledge Companion to Media and the City

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History
A scholarly encyclopedia that includes a set of articles in Urban History -- just one example being "The Central Business District in American Cities."

Oxford Handbooks Online
Lengthy chapters in the Oxford Handbooks usually provide helpful overviews of scholarly topics and historical literature, along with suggestions for further reading. A number of the handbooks may be helpful depending on your research topic.

Maps

David Rumsey Map Center
Stanford University
Digital Map Collections from the Library of Congress
Native American Spaces: Cartographic Resources at the Library of Congress
Old Maps Online
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
University of Texas, Austin
World Digital Library

Secondary Sources/Subject Databases

In addition to the online library catalog (Books+ and Orbis), reference sources, and footnotes in sources you've already found, subject-specific databases are another extremely helpful resource for finding secondary literature, including the latest scholarly journal articles in the field, and some key ones are:

Art and Architecture Source
Database covering a broad range of art history subjects, including fine, decorative and commercial art, architecture & architectural design, and photography.
America: History and Life
Index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. The database indexes journals from 1964 to present and includes citations and links to book and media reviews.
MLA International Bibliography
Provides access to citations of books (and chapters in books), journal articles, conference papers, and dissertations concerning general and comparative literature, linguistics in general and of all modern languages, all modern literatures, and folklore.