HST 290005: Korean War Searching for Sources

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HST 290-005 Korean WarSearching for Sources

• Dr. Yixin Chen
• Ms. Sue Cody

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Database Exploration

• Historical Abstracts
• WorldCat
• JStor
• Academic Search Premier
• Project Muse

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Search tips

• And, Or, Not
• And narrows
• Or adds synonyms/related
• Not excludes (use carefully)
• Truncate for word variations
• (prison prison, prisons, prisoner, prisoners)
• Words anywhere or phrase?
• psychological warfare

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Primary Sources

• Dairies, journals, other writings of players
• Eyewitness/Observer accounts
• Memoirs, autobiographies (written later)
• Official documents
• Laws, treaties, reports, orders, transcripts of
  proceedings, addresses, etc.
• Images, Artifacts

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Exercise Results Question 9

• Scholarly article on President Trumans
  decision-making process relating to the
  Korean War.
• National Security Council Directives issued
  during the Korean War years.
• An encyclopedia of the Korean War.
• U.S. soldiers letters home from the Korean War.
• Biography of General MacArthur.
• Government publication from the Armys Center of
  Military History.
• 1986 book by a historian about the integration of
  African-American soldiers in the U.S. Armed
  Forces during the Korean War.

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Exercise Results Question 9

• English translation of a memoir by Paek Son-yop
  (South Korean Army officer)
• New York Times articles on the war, 1951.
• New York Times articles on the 50th anniversary
  of the Korean War.
• Photographs relating to the Korean War on the
  Eisenhower Library website.
• Korean War Chronology.

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What did you find?

• Bibliographies often lead to primary sources.

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Bibliographies

• Book-length (Reference Collection)
• Secondary sources (books and journal articles)
• Types
• Classified (easiest to find primary sources)
• Alphabetical
• Footnotes/Endnotes

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Randall Online Catalog WorldCat

• Standard Subheadings
• Correspondence
• Diaries
• Personal narratives
• Sources
• Treaties
• See guide for others

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Randall Online Catalog

• Search general headings, use indexes
• Korean War and personal narratives
• Search specific headings or persons
• Harry S. Truman as author
• Look for items not tagged as primary source
• Primary documents may be included in secondary
  sources
• Eyewitness authors may not be tagged as sources

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WorldCat

• May find items at Randall that catalog search
  didnt (records enhanced later)
• Finds items for ILL requests
• Rare items not lent
• Rare items may be reprinted available
• Websites included often w/ free access!

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Periodicals and Newspapers

• Readers Guide Retrospective
• New York Times Archive
• Official Index to the Times (London) (INDEX AI21
  .T46) 
• PAIS Archive

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Official Documents

• Foreign Relations of the United States
• U.S. Statutes at Large (laws)
• U.S. Congressional Record
• Lexis-Nexis Congressional
• Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
• UN Year Book
• Presidential Papers

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Digital Collections

• Digital National Security Archive
• Presidential Libraries
• See the Research Guide for more!

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WWW Google with Care

• Try Advanced Search (.edu domain limit)
• Evaluate!
• Who created the site?
• What does it contain?
• How current is it?
• Who is it for?
• What is its intent? (inform, entertain, sell)
• How accurate is it?
• How usable is it? (design, live links)

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Ask for help its what we do!

• codys_at_uncw.edu
• http//library.uncwil.edu/askref.html