Historic Mountain Roads and Trails in the Willamette Valley
VIKAT | Congressional Serial Set | Finding Journal Articles-Databases/Indexes | Useful Call Numbers |Websites
Primary v. Secondary Sources
Primary sources are firsthand documents of events or research. They exist in a variety of formats, i.e. print, photos, interviews, art, and statistical tables. In general, primary source documents are the foundation for secondary source documents.
Primary source documents can include: eyewitness accounts, some newspaper articles, diaries, autobiographies, original scientific research, some government documents, speeches, photographs, interviews (print, broadcast, oral history).
Secondary sources are often based on primary source material and generally analyze or evaluate other research or information. Secondary sources can usually point the user towards primary source materials through bibliographies or a works cited section.
Secondary sources include: books, journal articles, biographies, reviews, reference items (encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, etc.).
Vikat: http://vikat.pdx.edu/
The Portland State University Online Catalog for books. Use VIKAT to search for books by keyword, author, title, subject. VIKAT locates journals by periodical title, not by subject.
Boolean Operators: Boolean operators can limit or expand searches depending on which one is used.
| AND Limits search by added word or phrase | ex: Oregon and public lands |
| OR Expands search by searching for both words or phrases | ex: Mountain roads or Mountain trails |
| NOT Limits search by excluding second word or phrase | ex: BLM not impact statement |
The Serial Set is a selection of congressional publications, such as committee reports on legislation, House and Senate journals, rule manuals, executive branch publications, including department and agency annual reports and special recurring publications. Many of these items go back in the PSU collection to 1850.
| Year | Congress | Format | Location |
| 1850-1907* | 31st-60th | Paper | Basement |
| 1959- | 86th-present | Fiche | Basement |
| 1981-1988 | 97th-100th | Paper | Basement |
| 1989- | 101st-present | Paper | Basement |
*Holdings are incomplete
CIS (Congressional Information Service) Serial Set Index. Z1223 .Z9 C65 1975 | 2nd Floor Reference Shelves.
The Serial Set Index is the best tool at the PSU library to locate documents in the Serial Set by subject. Each time period (i.e. 1878-1888) encompasses three volumes and items within the set are indexed by subject. Each enty gives the report and publication number, session number, and serial set volume number. The Serial Set Index is best used in conjunction with the Checklist of Serial Set Volumes Held, which is located behind the basement reference desk.
If you have questions or need assistance with government information please contact Judy Andrews, Documents Librarian, 725-4126, andrewsj@pdx.edu
Finding Journal Articles-Databases/Indexes
America: History and Life. http://sb1.abc-clio.com:81/
America: History and Life. Z1236 .A48 | 2nd Floor Reference Shelves.
America: History and Life is the companion database to Historical Abstracts. It contains abstracts of journal articles, dissertations, and other sources for history dealing with the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. It is also available on the Third Floor in paper. Electronic access limited to on-campus and proxy users see http://www.lib.pdx.edu/services/distance/proxyserver.html for more information about the proxy server.
EBSCOhost Academic Search Elite: http://search.epnet.com/login.asp?profile=web
A multidisciplinary database that includes full-text access to many of the journal articles. EBSCOhost Academic Search Elite has a broad scope and is an excellent starting source for finding journal articles. Access limited to on-campus and proxy users see http://www.lib.pdx.edu/services/distance/proxyserver.html for more information about the proxy server.
Humanities Index. AI3 .H8 | 2nd Floor Reference Shelves.
The Humanities Index is a print index that allows the user to find citations to journal articles within the humanities. The Humanities Index can be searched by subject or by book reviews. The Humanities Index can be found on the third floor.
Impact/Access GDCS: Enhanced GPO Catalog. http://www.auto-graphics.com/cgipac/mmx/psun/Access
Impact/Access is a commercial version of the Government Printing Office's online catalog (available: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/locators/cgp/index.html). Impact/Access can be searched by browsing keywords or subject searches. Use Impact/Access to find government information. Items found on Impact/Access may not be available at PSU.
WORLDCAT. http://www.lib.pdx.edu/resources/databases/databases_A-K.html#w
Worldcat is a database that contains over 35 million records including books, dissertations, multimedia, and other sources. WORLDCAT contains items located at the PSU library and other libraries worldwide. Use WORLDCAT to find items locally, as well as items to find potential items to interlibrary loan (http://www.lib.pdx.edu/services/ill/illindex.html).
American History 4th Floor
F852-853 Pacific Northwest history
F871 to F885 Oregon history.
Bureau of Land Management Homepage. Available: http://www.blm.gov/nhp/index.htm
Government Documents at the PSU Library. Peigahi, R. Available: http://www.lib.pdx.edu/resources/pathfinders/government_publications.html
GPO Browse Topics: Topical Pathfinders for Government Information. Available: http://library.ucok.edu/gov/browsetopics/
Oregon Historical Society Homepage. Available: http://www.ohs.org/homepage.html
University of Washington Libraries Digial Collections: Digital Northwest Collections. Available: http://content.lib.washington.edu/dnw-collections.html
H. Reza Peigahi
Send comments to:
peigahih@pdx.edu