OC logo

Library
Skip to main content

History: Books

This guide list resources that will get you started on doing historical research. Some sources will be more specific on certain periods and geographical locations.

OC Library Catalog

Search All Libraries

Search for an item in libraries near you:
WorldCat.org >>

Books in the Library

Olympic College Library has a collection of of over 77,000 hardcopy books and around 7,000 ebooks.  They can all be found by searching the Library Catalog.  The ebooks are identified by the phrase "[electronic resource]" after the title in the bibliographic record.  Click on the title and then on Open Electronic Book in the full record to access the full text of the ebook.  This can be done both on and off campus.

O.C. Library shelves its hardcopy book collection by Dewey Decimal Classification number, which divides knowledge into ten broad categories.  The numbers for history and geography are the 900s.  The 900s are subdivided into ten subsections by large geographic or subject area and then subdivided further by region and country and then by historical period.  The ten divisions of the 900s are:

900-909  General treatment of history & geography

910-919  Geography & travel

920-929  Biography (Most biographies in the O.C. Library are either shelved in a separate Biography section or with the subject for which the person is known, e.g., Rembrandt with art.)

930-939  History of ancient world

940-949  History of Europe

950-959  History of Asia

960-969  History of Africa

970-979  History of North America

980-989  History of South America

990-999  History of other areas

O.C. Library shelves its book collection in different areas based on such things as the purpose or use of the book.  An encyclopedia on the Vietnam war would be shelfed in the Reference Collection and a journalistic account of the Vietnam war would be shelved in the Nonfiction Circulating Collection, but they would both have the same Dewey number.

 

Books on the Skills of Historical Research

 

The following is a list of some the books in the O.C. Library collection (both hard copy and electronic) that will help you develop the skills necessary to succeed in history courses.

901 Ar64h

Arnold, John H.  History:  A Very Short Introduction.  Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 2000.  Print.       

 

907.2 Be438s           

Benjamin, Jules R.  A Student's Guide to History.  New York:  St. Martin's Press, 1975.  Print.

 

808.0669 Fe340r       

Felt, Thomas Edward.  Researching, Writing, and Publishing Local History.  Nashville:  American Association for State and Local History, 1976.  Print.

 

938.0072 Fi496a       

Finley, Moses I.  Ancient History:  Evidence and Models.  New York:  Viking, 1985.  Print.

 

907.2 Fr911L                  

Frick, Elizabeth.  Library Research Guide to History:  Illustrated Search Strategy         and Sources. Ann Arbor:  Peirian Press, 1980.  Print.

 

907.2 Fu965m 

Furay, Conal.  The Methods and Skills of History:  A Practical Guide.  Arlington Heights, IL:  H. Davidson, 1988.  Print.

 

025.069 Hi629t Internet 

The History Highway:  A 21st Century Guide to Internet Resources.  Armonk, N.Y.:  M.E. Sharpe, 2006.  Web.

 

907 Ma316n 

Manning, Patrick.  Navigating World History:  Historians Create a Global Past.  New York:  Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.  Print.

 

907.2 Mi625e 

Mills, Elizabeth.  Evidence Explained:  Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace.  Baltimore:  Genealogical Pub. Co., 2007.  Print. 

 

907.2 Pr926i 

Presnell, Jenny L.  The Information-Literate Historian:  A Guide to Research for History Students.  New York:  Oxford University Press, 2007.  Print.

 

907.2 Wi729h

Winks, Robin W.  The Historian as Detective:  Essays on Evidence.  New York:  Harper & Row, 1969.  Print.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subjects: History