Welcome!
This guide is designed to get you started with your history research at the Libraries. Get in touch if you have questions or need some additional guidance. My contact info is under "World History Librarian." Email is the best way to contact me initially. I'm always happy to meet with you to discuss your research.
The Basics
Find most of our books and journals using our library catalog. The link is to QuickSearch, but you can limit (pre- or postsearch) to books.
Rutgers University Libraries comprises over twenty libraries and centers in New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark, but the most substantial collection for history is located in the Alexander Library on the College Avenue Campus. Here's a page with street maps and directions to all the Rutgers libraries.
QuickSearch and Other Databases
QuickSearch is the search box that appears on the library home page and elsewhere on library pages. It subsumes our catalog and many other databases for books, newspapers, and journals. Hence your searches can access a great variety of material, but you may want to use the filters for material type, subject, date published, etc. Also be aware that many history indexes, like Historical Abstracts, MLA, and IMB, are not included.
The RUL website's database list compiles history databases here.
HathiTrust
Online full text of over 17 million items, both books and periodicals, of which more than 5 million are freely available and may be downloaded, while the others have full text searching with limited viewing. 60% of the public domain works are in English, 11.2% in German, 9.1% in French, and roughly one-fifth classified in call numbers D-F, history. A tremendous resource for reading and digital manipulation of older materials, but you can use the search capability in conjunction with library access to newer materials, too.
During the pandemic, HathiTrust ETAS (Emergency Temporary Access Service) enables you to view the text of in-copyright books that are in our collection. This service is available only as long as we refrain from circulating the print copy or providing access to the stacks. Click on Temporary Access, then the Check Out tab to view the book in one hour increments; no download is possible.
Cambridge Histories Online
CHO contains 350+ volumes from many different series by leading historians with extensive bibliographies that help you identify the best works to search for. The database contains the searchable fulltext of all the volumes we have purchased. They are also linked from our catalog
