Modern American History
Online Resources: Spring Project, 1960-present
Video Guide to Online Resources (covers the information written below).
Modern American History
Online Resources: Spring Project, 1960-present updated 4/2020
Information literacy topics:
- Determining best sources
- Searching strategies for information
- Evaluating sources
- Using technology tools
Learning Expectations:
- Academic-Writing: “Students will produce and distribute a variety of writing designed to entertain, inform, or argue, as well build and present knowledge derived from research.“
- Academic: “Students will demonstrate the ability to effectively read a range of texts with varying complexity.”
- Academic-Problem-solving: “Students will use appropriate tools strategically to solve problems.”
Objective: To understand the characteristics of reliable and relevant online sources for research, concentrating on encyclopedic/reference databases, “non-scholarly” periodicals, and websites, and to apply effective searching strategies.
How to Cite
Make sure to use our instructions for citing, Chicago Style, using NoodleTools.
- Cite material from the ABC-CLIO databases as “Database,” then “Reference Source.”
- Cite material from the EBSCO databases as “Database,” then choose the kind of material it is, like “magazine,” or “photo.”
- Cite the web sources as “Web Site,” then choose the kind of material it is.
Recommended Modern History Resources
Sample topic: Vietnam
If you are interested in Civil Rights, visit the “Civil Rights Era” guide on this same web page.
To access the databases, remember to ALWAYS START from the Library Database page, so you get the correct log-on link.
- Google Search “Amity Library”
- “Find Online Stuff”
- “By Database”
Use the links found on the library database page, and if asked for an Amity log-in, use your username (not email address) and password.
ABC-Clio World History: The Modern Era
(Find in library Database list).
There is no specific unit on Vietnam, but a search for “Civil Rights Movement” turns up a great page with lots of links.
Don’t forget to also search by topics and events you have studied, like “The Tet Offensive.” Try broader and narrow topics (e.g. “Paris Peace Talks” and “Anti-war Movement.”)
ABC-Clio World History: American History
(Find in library Database list).
From the main page, scroll to the time period “A Nation in Upheaval, 1954-75,” and you will see a very thorough chapter on Vietnam. Make SURE to read the overview!
Also, do specific searches, like “Agent Orange”, or “Paris Peace Accord.”
And don’t forget to FILTER your search results to limit them to formats like “Reference Articles,”, “Speeches,” or “Photos.”
ABC-Clio World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society
(Find in library Database list).
From the main page, scroll to the time period “The Cold War, 1945-1991,” and you will see another very thorough chapter on Vietnam.
Make SURE to read the “Overview”, “Causes”, and “Consequences”!
The History Reference Center
(Find in library Database list).
When you do a search for a topic, try to limit your results to things that are helpful, like “Newspapers,” “Magazines,” “References Books,” and “Primary Sources.”
(Find in library Database list).
The Biography Reference Center allows you to search for important figures throughout history, using useful categories like “Vietnam.” You can also search by name.
U.S. National Archives: Vietnam War
This free public resource from the U.S. government has several topics available with lots of PRIMARY SOURCE material!
Use your own clicking and seeking skills to see what is here.
Mr. Clifford
Modern American History
The Civil Rights Era updated 3/2020
Information literacy topics:
- Determining best sources
- Searching strategies for information
- Evaluating sources
- Using technology tools
Learning Expectations:
- Academic-Writing: “Students will produce and distribute a variety of writing designed to entertain, inform, or argue, as well build and present knowledge derived from research.“
- Academic: “Students will demonstrate the ability to effectively read a range of texts with varying complexity.”
- Academic-Problem-solving: “Students will use appropriate tools strategically to solve problems.”
Objective: To understand the characteristics of reliable and relevant online sources for research, concentrating on encyclopedic/reference databases, “non-scholarly” periodicals, and websites, and to apply effective searching strategies.
How to Cite
Make sure to use our instructions for citing, Chicago Style, using NoodleTools.
- Cite material from the ABC-CLIO databases as “Database,” then “Reference Source.”
- Cite material from the EBSCO databases as “Database,” then choose the kind of material it is, like “magazine,” or “photo.”
- Cite the web sources as “Web Site,” then choose the kind of material it is.
Civil Rights Resources
All of these databases can be found in the AHS Library Database page.
- Google Search “Amity Library”
- “Find Online Stuff”
- “By Database”
You have to use the links found there, and if asked, log on with your username (not Google) and password.
ABC-Clio World History: The Modern Era
(Find in library Database list).
There is no specific unit on Civil Rights, but a search for “Civil Rights Movement” turns up a great page with lots of links.
Don’t forget to also search by topics and events you have studied, like “The Greensboro Sit-ins.” Try broader and narrow topics (e.g. “Civil Rights” and “Rosa Parks.”)
ABC-Clio World History: American History
(Find in library Database list).
From the main page, scroll to the time period “A Nation in Upheaval, 1954-75.”
Also, do specific searches, like “Selma.”.
And don’t forget to FILTER your search results to limit them to formats like “Reference Articles,”, “Speeches,” or “Photos.”
ABC-Clio American Government
(Find in library Database list).
Search like in the other ABC-CLIO databases above. Try broader and narrow topics
The History Reference Center
(Find in library Database list).
When you do a search for a topic, try to limit your results to things that are helpful, like “Newspapers,” “Magazines,” “References Books,” and “Primary Sources.”
(Find in library Database list).
The Biography Reference Center allows you to search for important figures throughout history, using useful categories like “Civil Rights.” You can also search by name.
Library of Congress: “Chronicling America”
Lots of great historical newspapers from the time period, up to 1963.
Try an Advanced Search, and limit by Year, State, and search for phrases.
Library of Congress Civil Rights History Project
One hundred and forty-five filmed oral history interviews with 175 participants in the civil rights movement, PLUS some great articles and essays.
To see all the interviews, look under the tabs for “Collection Items.”
Also look by topic under “Articles and Essays.”
World History (updated 9-2018, R. Musco)
Introduction to Citations, References, and Note-taking with NoodleTools
Information literacy topics:
-Taking notes
-Organizing source citations
-References
-Using technology tools
Objective: To understand and define the concept of a research “citation”, and to use a web citation generator, NoodleTools, to create citations and bibliographic references, and organize notes.
1: Find the activities for this class, at:
Amity website→High School→AHS Library Information Center
(tab) Find Online Stuff→By Subject→History
(tab) Class Projects →Cumpstone→ Introduction to Citations, References, and Note-taking with NoodleTools
Part A: Understanding and Creating Citations
2. Discuss objective.
3. Answer the question, “What kind of information is included in a citation?”
4. Answer the question, “What kind of source is this?” (see below). What parts of the citation can you identify?
Haerens, Margaret. "Breakthroughs in Science." In World History: The Modern Era, ABC-CLIO. Accessed September 19, 2017. http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com
5. Sign up for your account in NoodleTools.
Activate your own personal account through your @amityschools.org Google account.
Go to the NoodleTools log-in screen.
Enter your @amityschools.org Google account email.
Click “Sign In with Google”.
Re-enter your Amity Google account email, and your Google password.
For 7th/8th/9th Grades: (other grades, look here).
Click on “Create a new account”.
Click “Submit”.
Next:
Choose “I am a student”.
Click “Submit”.
Choose your graduation year.
Click “Save Profile”.
Under “My Profile” make sure your first and last names are complete.
You are now in Noodle Tools!
Your new username is your Google @amityschools.org email address and password.
6. Create a project to begin citations.
6.a. Click on “New Project”.
6.b. Enter a “Project Title”.
6.c. Choose “Chicago/Turabian” style (for this History class), and click the “Advanced” citation level for full functionality. Click “Submit”.
6.d. Write a “Research Question” (think of something related to your topic).
6.e. Write a “Thesis” statement. This is the statement or question you will prove or discuss.
6.f. Click the “Projects” tab to view your project list.
6.g. Click on the name of your project to open it.
6.h. Click on the “Sources” tab. You are now ready to cite a source.
7. Create a COPY AND PASTE citation for a database article.
7.a. Go to this article from the ABC-Clio database World at War, titled “Breakthroughs in Science.”
7.b. Click on “CITE” in the top of the page.
7.c. COPY the citation (use Chigago format).
7.d. Return to NoodleTools, and click on “Create a New Citation”.
7.e. Answer the question “Where is it?”. Note that the choice here refers to WHERE the source was found, not what KIND of source it is. Choose “Database”.
7.f. Answer the question “WHAT is it?”.Choose “Original Content in Database” (because the citation shows this article was written for this database).
7.g. Click “Quick Cite”: Copy & Paste Citation”. Paste in the citation you copied.
7.h. Click “Submit”. Look at your citation.
Haerens, Margaret. "Breakthroughs in Science." In World History: The Modern Era, ABC-CLIO, 2018. Accessed September 23, 2018. https://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/25.
8. Create a MANUAL citation for a database article.
8.a. Go to the same article from the ABC-Clio database World History: The Modern Era.
8.b. From the Sources tab, click on “Create a New Citation”.
8.c. Answer the question “Where is it?”. Once again choose “Database”.
8.d. Answer the question “WHAT is it?”. Once again choose “Original Content in Database” (because the citation shows it was written for this database).
8.e. Start filling in as much information as you can, copying from the article, and adjusting the text as needed. Notice the pop-up hints.
8.f. Click “Submit”.
Helpful pointers:
-Did you fill in the date you got the article?
-Did you use the HOME page URL since the article URL was so long and complicated?
-There seems to be no published date.
-You can assume that the ID number is the same as a database accession number.
Haerens, Margaret. "Breakthroughs in Science." World History: The Modern Era. http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com.
8.g. Now compare your two citations.
Copy/paste
Haerens, Margaret. "Breakthroughs in Science." In World History: The Modern Era, ABC-CLIO, 2018. Accessed September 23, 2018. https://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/25.
Manual with NoodleTools
Haerens, Margaret. "Breakthroughs in Science." World History: The Modern Era. http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com.
In this case, neither citation (original article from a reference database) is completely accurate. The corrected form would be:
Haerens, Margaret. "Breakthroughs in Science." In World History: The Modern Era, ABC-CLIO. Accessed September 19, 2017. http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com
9. Student practice: Create an MANUAL citation for a database article.
Create a MANUAL citation for a database article.
9.a. Go to this article titled: “British Textiles Clothe the World”, from the EBSCO publishing company’s database History Resource Center.
9.b. Back in NoodleTools, from the Sources tab, click on “Create a New Citation”.
9.c. Answer the question “Where is it?”. Once again choose “Database”.
9.d. Answer the question “WHAT is it?”. Choose “Magazine” because this is an article in a magazine called “History Today”.
9.e. Start filling in as much information as you can, copying from the article:
-DOI (Direct Object Identifier): there is none listed
-URL: find the "permalink" on the right, because it does not change.
-Name of database: find it
-Database accession number: find it
-Most recent date of access: (today's date)
-Author: find it
-Article title: find it
-Pages: find it
-Name of journal: find it
-Volume: find it
-Issue: find it
-Publication date: find it
-Series: there is none listed
9.f. Click “Submit”.
Hopley, Claire. "British Textiles Clothe the World." British Heritage, September 2006, 28-33. https://search.ebscohost.com.
9.10. Now compare your finished citation to the copy-paste citation provided by EBSCO. Look at the differences (possibly due to different chicago versions, and errors in NoodleTools).
Manual:
Hopley, Claire. "British Textiles Clothe the World." British Heritage, September 2006, 28-33. https://search.ebscohost.com.
Copy/Paste provided by History Resource Center
Hopley, Claire. "British Textiles Clothe the World." British Heritage 27, no. 4 (September 2006): 28-33. History Reference Center, EBSCOhost (accessed September 19, 2017).
In this case, the manual citation is the more correct citation, though the URL might be problematic because you can’t see anything without logging in.
10. Create a MANUAL citation from a web source.
10.a. Go to this article entitled “Women and the Revolution”, from the website:
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution, a joint project of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (George Mason University) and American Social History Project (City University of New York)
10.b. Back in NoodleTools, from the Sources tab, click on “Create a New Citation”.
10.c. Answer the question “Where is it?”. Once again choose “Website”.
10.d. Answer the question “WHAT is it?”. Choose “Web page” because this online article is really a page in the larger museum web site.
10.e. Start filling in as much information as you can, copying from the article:
-URL: find it
-Date of publication: find it; if none, leave it blank.
-Most recent date of access: use it
-Contributors: find the author
-Web Page or document/article title: Find the article title
-Name of the website: find it (not the same as the publisher)
-Publisher of the site: Find it (bottom of page)
-Editors of the site as a whole: hard to find. We'll talk about this.
10.f. Click “Submit”.
Hunt, Lynn, and Jack Censer, eds. "Women and the Revolution." Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. Accessed October 6, 2016. http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/chap5a.html#.
Citing your sources within your paper
-How do you cite the article in the body of your paper?
-Chicago includes two basic documentation systems: notes-bibliography style (or simply bibliography style) and author-date style (sometimes called reference list style). We are using the notes-bibliography style.
The basics of the note-bibliography style are as follows: Whenever you need to cite a source, a superscript number is placed in the text at the end of the sentence or part of the sentence. A normal-sized number corresponding to that reference is placed at the end of the page or the end of the section (your teacher’s choice). The first time a source is used at the bottom of the page, the entire citation form is used. The second time it is used at the bottom it is shortened (see rules). When the same source is used twice or more in a row, you write “ibid” (which means “the same”), and change page number if needed. The bibliography at the end includes all sources with their complete citation forms, in alphabetic order.
-You will need to follow the instructions and examples from a reliable source, like the writing experts at Purdue University’s CHICAGO style pages.
-Look at the sample Chicago “Footnotes and Bibliography” paper on our History guide.
Jim Clifford
U.S. History
1920's
Create your own newspaper, using this template specifically made for this project.
Sign into your Google account, open the Google template, and make a copy of it to your own drive to create your own newspaper.
