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On this page:
Secondary Sources (scholarly books and articles about your topic)
Primary Sources (sources created in the period you're studying)
Texts and Images on the Web

Secondary Sources

IUCAT

Indiana University Libraries' catalog (searchable database containing a record for each item in the IU Libraries' collections).

Some useful subject headings (use Keyword or Exact search screen; search by Subject):

world war 1939-1945 personal narratives american
world war 1939-1945 public opinion
world war 1939-1945 war work
world war 1939-1945 women united states 
japanese americans evacuation and relocation 1942-1945
united states social life and customs 1918-1945 

Tip: use IUCAT to find primary sources too: use Advanced Keyword search screen, and limit your search by date of publication (see sample Advanced search limited by date).

Academic Search Premier

Interdisciplinary database which contains citations and full text from a wide range of popular magazines and scholarly journals. (Full text from over 1000 journals and magazines; citations from 2000 additional titles.)

To limit your search to articles from scholarly journals, select peer reviewed.

America: History and Life
Electronic index to about 2,000 journals relating to American History. (Full text for some journals; citations, most with 75-100 word abstracts. All or most of the sources are available in the IU Libraries.)

Tip: Advanced Search is actually easier to use than Simple Search

Use world war ii as a subject, then add keywords to narrow search to specific topics.

Reader's Guide Retrospective

Complete index of 150-200 most widely circulated American periodicals. Citations only; all or most of the sources are available in the IU Libraries (click on IU-Link button for access options).

New York Times, 1851-1985

Electronic archive of the New York Times, 1851-1985. Searchable full text and page images.

Use Guided Search for more search options.

The New York Times is the only complete U.S. newspaper archive available electronically, but other newspapers are available on microfilm.

Periodicals Contents Index (PCI)

Searchable index of nearly 2,500 scholarly journals in the humanities and social sciences, from their first issues through 1990/1991. (Citations only; all or most of the sources are available in the IU Libraries.)

To find primary sources, limit your search by date (for example, 1939-1945).

Lexis Nexis Congressional (Select Historical Indexes.)

Searchable index of U.S. congressional publications. (Citations, some full text. All texts cited are available in Government Publications.)

Use world war ii as subject. Add additional subject(s) to narrow results, or use date limits to find materials from war years.

Selected print and microfilm collections:

American Legion publications - the American Legion Auxiliary is "the world's largest women's patriotic service organization." The IUB Main Library has their World War II-era publications (Research Collections, D570.A1 A22). Handle carefully! Also available: Time, Life, Newsweek, etc, from this period (ask library staff for assistance).

The Morgenthau diaries. World War II and postwar planning, 1943-1945 - incredibly detailed diaries of Henry Morgenthau Jr, US secretary of the Treasury from 1934-1945. (Microforms, Pr32.2: M82/2x)

Papers of the NAACP. Part 26, Selected Branch files, 1940-1955, Series C: The Midwest - archives of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (Microforms: check with staff)

Smith, J. Douglas. World War II on the Web : a guide to the very best sites. (Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 2003). (on reserve for J300: Main Library, Media/Reserves D743 .S65 2003)

Using Primary Sources on the Web (librarian-created guide)

Japanese American Internment (personal page)

War Relocation Authority Camps in Arizona (University of Arizona)

Ad*Access (Duke University)

A digital archive of American advertising. Use Browse Ad*Access to find World War II-era materials.

American Memory: Photographs 1935-1945 (Library of Congress)

Rosie the Riveter webcast and links (Library of Congress)

Updated March 1, 2004

Celestina Wroth ( cewroth@indiana.edu)

Librarian for History, Religious Studies,

and History & Philosophy of Science

Main Library E560, Indiana University

Bloomington, IN 47405, (812) 855-1336