Searching C19
- Be mindful of your search terms. Remember that the language used in primary sources will be the language of the time periods they represent, and may include different words, formatting or other 'quirks' than we would expect to see in a modern source.
- Date limits are your friend. Many primary resources can be browsed (or in the case of online tools, searched) by publication date. This will be very useful if you are trying to find information about a very specific event or time period. Consider how perspectives on / representations of events or issues may differ at various points in time (as the situation changes, as more information emerges, etc.)
- Use the index when possible. Since normal keyword searching can be more difficult when searching primary sources (since a - the vocabulary may be different and b - many primary source databases search full-text), use indexes whenever possible to target publications dealing with a specific topic, representing a specific period, etc. C19 has an extremely useful subject index, which is often more effective than searching by keyword.
- Start early. It is always a good idea to allow as much time as possible for your research, but this is especially true for primary source research. It can be more difficult to find primary sources which are not only relevant but also helpful for what you are trying to accomplish. There may be valuable sources which you will want to request through Interlibrary Loan (requiring at least several days to a week). You may also need more time to decipher, digest, and interpret the content of your primary sources, and to properly incorporate them into your research. Leave yourself plenty of time, pace yourself, and ask questions or for assistance earlier rather than later.
Click any image to expand.
When you enter C19, you will first see the screen below:
From this page, your options include viewing a list of Information Resources (i.e., the journals and other publications C19 searches); Browsing the different sub-sections/sub-indexes including in C19; or Searching the Indexes (i.e, searching the entire database). If you are not looking for a specific publication or section of C19, Searching the Indexes is often the most productive starting point.
When searching C19, it's a good idea to use limiters where you can. Since searching for primary sources can be tricky, this will help you to pull up a more relevant set of resources. For example, you can focus on a specific type of publication or a specific date range (useful if you are researching a specific event, decade, etc.). You also have the option to search within specific journals. In a hurry? Click on the next tab (Searching for Periodicals in Dinand) tosearch only for articles immediately available in our print collections.
Using the keyword lists can sometimes be helpful if you are not sure what terms to use or if you are searching on a fairly broad topic. In addition to giving you options to choose from, the keyword list might also bring up terms that you might not have thought of using on your own.
At the top of your search results, C19 will break down your results by the type of publication. Use this to sort through your results. For example, if you are only interested in journal and magazine articles, click on Periodicals.
Each entry in your results list will include: the Collection or sub-index in which the item was found; the citation information for the source (note this carefully, since you will need it to find the article later; see the Locating Sources from C19 tab for more information); the option to add the source to your Marked List (a way of collecting multiple results to send yourself later in a single batch); and Check for Full Text box which you can use to begin the process of finding full-text by searching our other online resources.
To search for only titles from C19 that Dinand owns in print (i.e., which do not require Interlibrary Loan), go to the Search Indexes page type your search terms into the "Keyword" search box. Then, copy and paste the following text into "Periodical Title" search box on the Search Indexes page:
EXACT "Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine" OR EXACT "Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, 1824-1900" OR EXACT "Blackwood's Magazine" OR EXACT "Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine" OR EXACT "Arena" OR EXACT "The Arena (1889-1909)" OR EXACT "The Atlantic Magazine (1824-1825)" OR EXACT "Atlantic Monthly" OR EXACT "Bay State Monthly" OR EXACT "Bookman" OR EXACT "Brownson's Quarterly Review" OR EXACT "Brownson's Quarterly Review (1844-1875)" OR EXACT "Catholic World" OR EXACT "Century" OR EXACT "Century Illustrated Magazine (1881-1906)" OR EXACT "Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine" OR EXACT "Century Magazine" OR EXACT "Chautauquan" OR EXACT "The Chautauquan; A Weekly Newsmagazine (1880-1914)" OR EXACT "Dublin Review" OR EXACT "The Dublin Review, 1836-1900" OR EXACT "Edinburgh Review" OR EXACT "The Edinburgh Review, 1802-1900" OR EXACT "Forum" OR EXACT "Forum (1886-1930)" OR EXACT "Forum (New York, 1886)" OR EXACT "Harper's Bazaar (1867-1912)" OR EXACT "Harper's Magazine" OR EXACT "Harper's Monthly Magazine" OR EXACT "Harper's New Monthly Magazine" OR EXACT "Independent" OR EXACT "Irish Monthly" OR EXACT "Irish Monthly Magazine" OR EXACT "Littell's Living Age" OR EXACT "Littell's Living Age (1844-1896)" OR EXACT "McClure's Magazine" OR EXACT "McClure's Magazine (1893-1926)" OR EXACT "Month" OR EXACT "New England Magazine" OR EXACT "New England Magazine [New Series]" OR EXACT "New Englander" OR EXACT "North American Review" OR EXACT "The North American Review (1821-1940)" OR EXACT "North British Review" OR EXACT "The North British Review, 1844-1871" OR EXACT "Outlook" OR EXACT "Outlook (1893-1924)" OR EXACT "Quarterly Review" OR EXACT "The Quarterly Review, 1824-1900" OR EXACT "Review of Reviews" OR EXACT "Scribner's Magazine" OR EXACT "Scribner's Monthly" OR EXACT "Scribner's Monthly (1870-1881)" OR EXACT "World's Work"