HST 290: US Advertising and Consumer Culture in the Cold War Era: Searching for Sources

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HST 290 US Advertising and Consumer Culture in
the Cold War EraSearching for Sources

• Dr. Tammy Stone-Gordon
• Ms. Beth Kaylor kaylorj_at_uncw.edu
• Ms. Sue Cody codys_at_uncw.edu

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Small Group Discussion

• Do you like doing research?
• Why or why not?
• What confuses/frustrates you most about doing
  research?
• What questions do you have about conducting
  research for this class?
• How would you rate your current research skills?
• Strong/Satisfactory/Needs improvement/Poor (Take
  a vote.)

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Our plan for the week

• Review Research Guide for this course.
• Explore various finding aids.
• Learn to identify primary sources.
• Become familiar with special services.
• Interlibrary Loan
• Ask a librarian

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How much do you know about life in the US during
the Cold War?

• Where do you plan to start?

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Which finding aids are most useful?

• For books?
• For scholarly articles?
• For government documents?
• For articles written during the time studied?
• For other primary sources?

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Finding Books

• Library Catalog
• local UNCP/FSU
• WorldCat
• 9,000 libraries
• Some databases lead to books
• Cited directly
• Book reviews

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Randall Online Catalog Keyword v. Subject

• Whats the difference?
• What are some useful Subject Heading for
• 1950s consumers?
• Start with a keyword search, then look for
  subjects in the records retrieved.

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Keyword/Subject features

• Keyword
• Finds words anywhere in record.
• Look at records to see subject headings.
• Search lots of terms, word variations

• Subject Headings
• Controlled vocabulary
• May not be natural language but may find more
• Hierarchical arrangement helps narrow topic
• Searches only the subject field

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Searching Personal Names

• Keyword searches
• Either order
• Try name variations, e.g., initials
• Author/Subject
• Last name first (Western names)

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Online Catalog links

• Subjects for related items
• Call numbers for related items (usually)
• Library of Congress outline
• http//www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html
• SuDoc arranges by agency
• Cover, summary, reviews
• Location maps
• Expanding search to UNCCLC
• Repeating search

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Journal Holdings Access

• Follow the citation trail!
• Search your citation
• Does the library have it?
• What format or location?
• What online access?

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Working from a known citation

• Pennock, Pamela. Televising Sin Efforts to
  Restrict the Televised Advertisement of
  Cigarettes and Alcohol in the United States,
  1950s to 1980s. Historical Journal of Film,
  Radio and Television 25 (2005) 619-636. H
• Boyenton, William H.. Enter the Ladies 86
  Proof A Study in Advertising Ethics.
  Journalism Quarterly 44 (1967) 445-453. H

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Working from a known citation

• Gros, Robert R. Fifth Freedom, Economic
  Freedom. Vital Speeches of the Day 29 (1963)
  465-468. H
• Buchanan, Nicholas. The Atomic Meal The Cold
  War and Irradiated Foods, 1945-1963. History
  Technology 21 (2005) 221-249. H

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Database Exploration

• America History Life
• WorldCat
• JStor
• Alternative Press Index
• Project Muse
• Business Source Premier
• Communication and Mass Media
• Search your topic

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Search tips

• And, Or, Not
• And narrows
• Or adds synonyms/related
• Not excludes (use carefully)
• Truncate for word variations
• (diploma diplomacy, diplomat, diplomats)
• Words anywhere or phrase?
• Cold War

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Next Class

• Primary Sources
• What they are
• How to find them

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Questions?

• What will you do when you have questions?

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Ask for help its what we do!

• kaylorj_at_uncw.edu
• codys_at_uncw.edu
• http//library.uncwil.edu/askref.html

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HST 290 US Advertising and Consumer Culture in
the Cold War EraSearching for Sources
Part 2 Locating Primary Sources

• Dr. Tammy Stone-Gordon
• Ms. Beth Kaylor

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Primary Sources

• Dairies, journals, other writings of players
• Eyewitness/Observer accounts
• Memoirs, autobiographies (written later)
• Official documents
• Laws, treaties, reports, orders, transcripts of
  proceedings, addresses, etc.
• Ads!

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Primary or Secondary?

• Scholarly article on the early development of
  television advertising
• Text of the 1965 U.S. Supreme Court opinion on
  FTC v. Colgate-Palmolive.
• An encyclopedia of advertising history.
• Book compilation of cigarette ads.
• A 1985 unauthorized biography of Estee Lauder
  by Lee Israel.
• Government publication from the Surgeon General
  reviewing the history of tobacco ads and their
  impact on teen smoking.

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Primary or Secondary?

• Book by a historian about the history of G.I. Joe
  action figures.
• Collection of transcripts of interviews with ad
  executives published in a book.
• New York Times clothing ads, found in the New
  York Times Archive database.
• Wall Street Journal article about the long
  tradition of offensive ads in the U.S.
• Military recruitment ads, circa 1969.
  Chronology of major advertising history events.

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Randall Online Catalog

• Search general headings, use indexes
• Cold War and personal narratives
• Search specific headings or persons
• Harry S. Truman as author
• Look for items not tagged as primary source
• Primary documents may be included in secondary
  sources
• Eyewitness authors may not be tagged as sources

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Randall Online Catalog

• Standard Subheadings
• Correspondence
• Diaries
• Personal narratives
• Sources
• Treaties
• See guide for others

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WorldCat

• May find items at Randall that catalog search
  didnt (records enhanced later)
• Finds items for ILL requests
• Rare items not lent
• Rare items may be reprinted available
• Websites included often w/ free access!

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Periodicals and Newspapers

• Readers Guide Retrospective
• New York Times Archive
• Business Source Premier (1965-date) 
• PAIS Archive
• Business Periodicals Index (INDEX HB1 .B87,
  1958-1995)

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Official Documents

• Foreign Relations of the United States
• U.S. Statutes at Large (laws)
• U.S. Congressional Record
• Lexis-Nexis Congressional
• Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
• UN Year Book
• Presidential Papers

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Digital Collections

• Digital National Security Archive
• Presidential Libraries
• AdAccess
• John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising and
  Marketing History
• See the Research Guide for more!

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BibliographiesFollow the trail

• Book-length (Reference Collection)
• Secondary sources (books and journal articles)
• Types
• Classified (easiest to find primary sources)
• Alphabetical
• Footnotes/Endnotes

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Internet Finds

• Advertising Archives (UK)
• Classic TV Ads
• Library of Congress Prints Photographs Online
  Catalog
• Medicine and Madison Avenue
• Tobacco Documents Advertising Collections
• Truth in Advertising

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Questions?

• What will you do when you have questions?

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Ask for help its what we do!

• kaylorj_at_uncw.edu
• codys_at_uncw.edu
• http//library.uncwil.edu/askref.html