HIST 250: Historical Inquiry

Periodicals include popular magazines, newspapers, and academic journals. These may contain news, original research, opinion pieces, and other types of information. While many magazines and newspapers offer some articles for free online, academic articles can typically only be found through specialized tools like Academic Search Complete or Google Scholar.

Below, I will provide a handful of reasonably reliable, trusted news sources. Some will lean to the left, some will lean to the right, but all could be useful. If you want help deciding whether or not to trust a source, the next page of this guide has a few simple tips that you might be able to use.

Above, you'll find a link that will take you to a list of online databases that have been set aside as great places to start for history research. Each database has a description of the kind of information you'll find in it, so make sure you're reading carefully!

And remember, some of your research may be interdisciplinary - it won't all fit neatly into the bucket of history. If you click the 'subjects' button, you can pull up academic databases on psychology, sociology, literature, and more. Feel free to explore!

Evans Collection FAQ

What's in it?

Books, pamphlets, speeches, periodicals, and more.

How old are the items?

Items range in date from 1639 to the early 1800s.

How do I view the materials?

Evans materials are available on microfiche. The microfiche reader is in the basement of Beeghly, near the Media Center. Reach out to your librarian if you have any questions or issues using the microfiche machine.

Can I print from the microfiche reader?

Yes!  Use your OWU copy card or cash.  See a staff member for help. You can also scan from the microfiche reader completely for free and e-mail the document to yourself or save it to a flash drive.

Here are step-by-step instructions to help you browse, search, and access the materials in the Evans Collection:

• Go to .
• Click on the Advanced Search tab.
• Type "early american imprints" (you MUST include quotes around this phrase).
• Limit to OWU's collection by selecting Ohio Wesleyan University in the All Libraries tab.

Now you can browse the results list (if you dare - there are over 32,000 results).

To narrow your search...

• Go to .
• Click on the Advanced Search tab.
• Type "early american imprints" (you MUST include quotes around this phrase).
• Add a word or phrase in the second search box.  (For example, add revolution, colonies, or war.)
• You could also enter a date range to limit to an even more specific era.
• Limit to OWU's collection by selecting Ohio Wesleyan University in the All Libraries tab.

Important Search Tip!

These are very old documents.  Think historically!  

For instance, searching the imprints for "American Revolution" between 1775-1778 will get you fewer than thirty hits; searching [revolution AND colonies] instead will get you more than a hundred.

Sometimes, you may need to try a few different searches before you figure out the right words. Don't be discouraged!

Each document in this collection is assigned a number.  Use this number to find the microfiche.

You want to view the following document:

You see this information about its location:

The call number (MICROFORM EVANS COLLECTION 1670) is NOT how you locate the document.

Scroll to the bottom of the item record to find the Series number.  It will look like this:

Early American imprints. First series ; no. 34135

Use that number, 34135, to find your document.

Important Search Tip

Each microfiche has several documents on it. You may need to scroll around before you find yours. For help with the microfiche machine, please see a librarian.

Finally, do not refile microfiche. Simply place it on the box on top of the Evans Collection cabinet.