HIST 301: The Historian's Craft (Schechter, Fall 2023)

Some first thoughts

• Newspapers

• gov reports

• legal materials

• popular media

• accounts

• contemporary publications

• images

• interviews

Tips

• Limit dates. Let's say 1965-1975
• Only use 2 or 3 keywords, don't overload the search.
• try to use proximity searches
• Use our Newspaper & Magazine list

Examples:

• UFO* in NTY, 1965-75
• UFO* AND alien* ibid.
• UFO* AND extraterrestrial ibid 
• (UFO* OR extraterrestrial*) AND sighting*  ibid

For Newswires, NexisUni is a good place to look.
For example, this is a good place to search some of those earlier search terms from the original document like Ocean Springs AND UFO

Type of report will dictate where you look.

• Congressional studies will be in ProQuest congressional.
  • Ex. Try (UFO* OR "unidentified flying objects" OR extraterrestrial* OR "Flying saucers" OR "Alien life" OR "alien lifeforms") limited to 1965-1975
• Military and agency reports can be found in the catalog using the "author/creator" field
  • Example
  • you can also add the search phrase "Government Printing Office"
    • Example
• Agency and Military reports are also in WorldCat and the CGP

The best go-to NexisUni, which has law journals, court cases, admin codes, admin materials, and newswires.

Example search brings up really weird results.

I may want to omit UFO or "unidentified flying objects" and look at the admin material 

• Use reference books to identify books, films, tv, etc
  • ex: films
  • ex: television
  • ex. Literature
• Use our catalog to limit to films from 1960-1980 (ex)
• Use WorldCat to find novels & films & TV from this period.
  • Ex (UFO* OR "unidentified flying objects" OR extraterrestrial* OR "Flying saucers" OR "Alien life" OR "alien lifeforms" OR aliens)  limited to "fiction" and 1965-1975
  • EX (UFO* OR "unidentified flying objects" OR extraterrestrial* OR "Flying saucers" OR "Alien life" OR "alien lifeforms" OR aliens) limited 1965-1975 limited to visual materials

In WorldCat, use ("personal narratives" OR letters OR biograph* OR autobiograph* OR diaries OR letters OR interview*) to find interviews or diaries

Limit 1965-1975 and nonfiction

Try search (UFO* OR "unidentified flying objects" OR extraterrestrial* OR "Flying saucers" OR "Alien life" OR "alien lifeforms") AND ("personal narratives" OR letters OR biograph* OR autobiograph* OR diaries OR letters OR interview*)

Newspapers

Look up the names of individuals who have report abductions, or use a basic search like UFO* AND interview* in a newspaper database, limited to 1965-1975 (ex) in newspapers.com

Use "document type" feature in databases to limit to images.

example in proQuest for search (UFO* OR "unidentified flying objects" OR extraterrestrial* OR "Flying saucers" OR "Alien life" OR "alien lifeforms") for 1965-1975

Use Image databases like ArtStor or AP Image Collection

Example 1960-1980

Go into our biggest databases, narrow to 1965-1975, search  (UFO* OR "unidentified flying objects" OR extraterrestrial* OR "Flying saucers" OR "Alien life" OR "alien lifeforms") and see what happens.

Ex EBSCO