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HIST 314: American Society and Culture

Finding Books...

Look for resources by searching Omni to find books, journals, videos and other materials owned by the Library.  You may search by keywords, author, title or subject headings.    

Subject Headings vs Keyword Searching

Subject headings allow you to search for resources on a particular author or topic and are often more productive than keyword searches. 

Keyword searches work best if you have multiple concepts or topics and need only a few books. 

For a comprehensive subject search, search with subject headings as well as keywords.

Searching Omni

Start with a keyword search, but expect to revise it. 

Keyword Searching TIPS

 

Search Technique  

What It Does

quotation marks

Searches for exact phrase

Truncation *

Searches for all forms of a word

Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT)

Lets you broaden or narrow your search

 

For example, do a simple search:   "black power" AND "united states"

When searching OMNI for books, use the facets located on the search results screen, to limit your search results to books & ebooks.

When you find relevant results, note the subject headings assigned. Refining your search using the same subject heading terminology may yield more precise results.

Subject Headings

There are many relevant subject headings for this course. Some suggestions include: 
 
African Americans--Civil rights--History--20th century
African Americans--Employment--History--20th century.
Agriculture--Southwestern States--History
Agriculture--Great Plains--History
Black power--United States--History--20th century
Civil rights movements--United States--History--20th century          
Depressions--1929--United States
Dust storms--1929--United States
New Deal 1933-1939
Nineteen twenties
Nineteen thirties
Nineteen fifties
Popular culture--United States--20th century
Political culture--United States--20th century
Populism--United States--History
Prohibition--United States  
Vietnam War, 1961-1975 
World War 1939-1945--United States    
 
For an overview of the historical period, try these searches.  Note the standard sub-division headings.
 
United States--Economic conditions--1918-1945                 
United States--History--1933-1945
United States--History--1945-1953 
United States--History--20th century
United States--Politics and government--20th century

United States--Politics and government--1929-1933
United States--Politics and government--1933-1945
United States--Social conditions--1918-1932
United States--Social conditions--1933-1945      

To search subject headings, click on Advanced Search, which allows you to execute complex searches.

For example, you want to find books on the Vietnam war.

 

 

 
 
 

         

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