General Research Tools
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Yale Library Catalog (Orbis)Searches the books, e-books, journals, government documents, and other physical and digital items owned by the library. Individual journal articles are not retrieved by the search.
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QuicksearchA combined search of the library's books, journal articles, databases, and more. Consider this a Google-like search of a vast amount of resources, but keep in mind some library materials are not indexed by the search. The search refinements and availability of multiple search fields are key to limiting the usually large number of results and finding the most relevant sources.
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Yale Finding Aid DatabaseThe long-standing search portal for finding archival materials in Yale's special collections units - e.g., Manuscripts and Archives department (Sterling), Beinecke Library, etc.
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Archives at YaleThe new search portal for finding archival materials at Yale, offering a more nuanced set of search features.
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Borrow DirectUse the Borrow Direct platform to find and borrow books from partner libraries when our copy is checked out or we do not own the item.
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Primary Sources at YaleAn engaging introduction to what primary sources are, how to use them, and where to find them at the Yale University Library.
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ArchiveGridThis is a useful platform for finding archival materials beyond Yale.
General Resources
This guide is intended for students in Dr. Samuel Milner's course and provides an overview of key resources in the Yale Library and elsewhere for writing your research papers this semester.
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Wiley Online LibraryIncludes many encyclopedias, handbooks, and other sources of background information. Look for relevant titles under headings such History, Economics, and Political Science. Individual books include American Business Since 1920: How It Worked, A Companion to 20th Century America, and A Companion to Post-1945 America.
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Gale Virtual Reference LibraryThis is a large library of background sources. The International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences may be especially useful for finding relevant information on 19th-20th c. urban and suburban history.
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Oxford Handbooks OnlineIncludes The Oxford Handbook of Capitalism and other relevant titles.
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Cambridge CoreIncludes the Cambridge Histories - a key set of reference works.
While the platforms above contain multiple works, here are a few specific background sources that might be helpful in the early stages of your research:
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Oxford Research Encyclopedia in American HistoryContains numerous helpful articles on a wide variety of topics in U.S. history. Keyword searchable and arranged by subfield for browsing.
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A Companion to 20th-Century AmericaThe link here goes directly to this book, but it can also be found via the Wiley Online Library.
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The Routledge Handbook of Major Events in Economic HistoryThis is a print volume (the link here goes to the Orbis record).
