Library Databases-History Department

Mason Library Databases

The Challenge:

600-700 databases. How do we organize and display these resources so that it provides effective access to the tools for a diverse community. Community of users ranges from Novice-Advanced Researchers across the university.

Access Resources at Mason

The library website offers a few options for access

inPrimo Discovery tool that TRIES to search everything at once.

What it searches

Database Wizard and how we use it

Subjects Plus http://www.subjectsplus.com/ SubjectsPlus was developed from Pirate Source developed by the Joyner Library at East Carolina University. It became abandonware, and with permission, an expanded version of this original software was open sourced and renamed SubjectsPlus. Development was undertaken at the Ithaca College Library, and now the University of Miami Libraries. Many people have contributed to SP over the years. What Institutions Use it?

• History Resources: This is a mixed list of resources that contains some primary, secondary and tertiary sources. Articles & Databases : History http://infowiz.gmu.edu/dbs/subjects/hist
• Primary Sources Articles & Databases : Primary Sources (Humanities & History) http://infowiz.gmu.edu/dbs/subjects/primary
• Source Type: Articles & Databases : News & Newspapers http://infowiz.gmu.edu/dbs/subjects/news
• Newspapers
  • Government Documents
  • Statistics/Data
  • Atlases/Maps
  • Disciplinary Content and Everything Else
  • Compendex-Engineering 1884-Present
  • MLA
  • Mental Measurements Yearbook
• A-Z
• A New Nation Votes This database was included in our “database wizard” but the people who manage the resource removed it opting to only include “our purchase resources” BUT this is actually inconsistent American Presidency Project

LibGuides (aka InfoGuides):

http://libguides.com/community.php?m=i&ref=libguides.com

• Course Guides

• History of the Book

• Region/Period
  • Primary Sources in American History: 1600s to 1820s (Colonial, Revolutionary, and Early Republic Eras)
  • Primary Sources in American History: 1820s to 1880s (Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction Eras)
  • Primary Sources in American History: 1880s to 1930s (Gilded Age, Progressive Era, and Great Depression Eras)
  • Primary Sources in American History: 1940s to Present (World War II, Cold War, Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, and Recent Eras)
  • Primary Sources in Asian History
  • Primary Sources in British History
  • Primary Sources in Latin American History
  • Primary Sources in Middle Eastern and African History
  • Primary Sources in Russian, Former Soviet Union, and Eastern European History
  • Primary Sources in Western European History

A Few Examples

Emory

• 5 or 6 subdivisions for history
• Subject but allows you to build collections yourself.

Yale

• Yale is using Libguides as their hosting platform.
• Many specialized guides that include very specialized resources however they have many specialized librarians. NYU
• Essentially just an A-Z list.

Cornell

• A little bit like ours.

Stanford

• Not really consistent either but very cool metadata and interesting way to sort stuff.

University of Georgia

• libguides platform and little bit like ours in that they have subjects and courses.

University of North Carolina

• no use of word “database” which is probably worth considering.

Duke University

• LibGuides-Selected Secondary Literature in History
• Seperate Primary Sources

William & Mary

• Best Bets (Secondary)
• Full list

University of Virginia

• A-Z List
• History “Best database choices”

University of California (Berkeley)

• Mix of resources but mostly secondary. Links to related content by type on the side.

  • History Government Resources-US
  • History Atlases Maps

Virginia Tech

• Interesting option for display by “format”

University of Texas

• History A really long list that mixes many thing but leaves some things out.

East Carolina

• By subject with icons. History is a complete list.