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:

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.

Gale in Context: U.S. History

This resource brings together reference articles, along with selected primary and secondary sources for getting started on your research.

Oxford Bibliographies

This is an extensive collection of annotated bibliographies that are keyword searchable and can also be browsed by subject area --

e.g., Political Science

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. Volumes in the series include:

Oxford Handbook of Canadian Politics

Oxford Handbook of Deliberative Democracy

Oxford Research Encylopedia of American History 
A scholarly encyclopedia of potentially great use in the early stages of your research project. Each article has a discussion of the literature, including primary sources -- often a great starting point for finding more sources. One or two examples of several potentially relevant articles are:

• "The Equal Rights Amendment"
• "The Civil Rights Movement in the Urban South"
• "Progressives and Progressivism in an Era of Reform"

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics

Cambridge Core

Link to the general collections of Cambridge University Press, including the Cambridge Histories and Cambridge Companions.

Wiley Online Library

Includes scholarly journal articles and monographs as well as reference works. Often a single chapter or two within a reference work can provide a helpful starting point for research. The Wiley Companions will be especially useful. Navigate to "Humanities" and then "History" to find a detailed listing of titles by subfield. Titles include A Companion to the Gilded Age and Progressive Era and A Companion to Post-1945 America.

Subject-specific databases are a key resource for finding secondary literature, including the latest scholarly journal articles in the field, and the main subject databases for finding historical literature are:

• America: History and Life Provides historical coverage of the United States and Canada and indexes over 2000 historical journals. A key resource if you are searching for historical scholarship related to your research project.
• Historical Abstracts Provides historical coverage of the world, not including the United States and Canada, from the 15th century to the present. Indexes thousands of journals in multiple languages.

Searching these databases will allow you to check for the latest scholarly articles, reviews of books, citations to book chapters, and more in a wide array of historical journals. Please note: the full text of articles will not always be available in these databases. If you see the "YaleLinks" icon instead of a PDF, click on the icon to discover whether we have online access to the article.

Bill Landis, Teaching Librarian, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library - bill.landis@yale.edu

James Kessenides, Kaplanoff Librarian for American History - james.kessenides@yale.edu

Josh Cochran, Curator for American History and Diplomacy, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library - joshua.cochran@yale.edu

Scott Libson, Special Collections Librarian, Yale Divinity Library - scott.libson@yale.edu