Contributing Columnist: Cindy Vallar
The
1930s: The Dust Bowl /The Great Depression
Palm Sunday, 1935, dawned with a bright sun in a clear blue sky in western
Kansas. At noon, the temperature reached 90 degrees, making it the hottest day
so far that year. Within a few hours, the temperature dropped as much as fifty
degrees and large flocks of twittering birds gathered in fields and yards. At
2:40 PM, a mushrooming black cloud swept across the Plains blotting out the sun
not with rain, but with dust. Drivers couldn't see past their windshields.
Static electricity cast an eerie glow around the blades of windmills and
barb-wired fences. Dirt sifted through cracks and windows, coating everything
whether it was left on a table or hidden within a cabinet. Wind slammed against
buildings and eddies of dust swirled across floors. "I thought the end of
the world was here," Art Leonard said.
Around 6:00 that evening, the winds subsided. As the dust settled, a dull orange
glow was visible to the west and an eerie stillness echoed through towns and
farms. Livestock, suffocated by the dust, littered roads and fields. Houses,
vehicles, and barns stood half-buried by dunes of soil and sand. The scattered
dust of the Plains blackened the sky as far away as Washington, D.C.
Fourteen dust storms hit in 1932. The following year, there were thirty-eight.
Black Sunday marked the halfway point of the drought that sparked the Dust Bowl.
Rains had been scarce for five years and it would be another five until good,
soaking rains came again to Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. According to
one resident the wind blew for twenty-seven days and nights without ceasing in
the spring of 1935. People spent most of their time cleaning up the dirt. No
matter how often or how hard they worked, however, the dirt always came again.
Many died from black pneumonia.
If the dust wasn't bad enough, swarms of grasshoppers destroyed what little
remained of crops and devoured anything edible. There were so many they blotted
out the sun. Another problem was the jack rabbits. Hundreds of thousands of them
forced farmers to hold rabbit drives to exterminate them. Summers were the
hottest on record. Cattle prices fell so low that ranchers couldn't afford to
feed them and they slowly died of starvation or were slaughtered. "For a
farmer to buy a toothbrush, he would have to sell eight dozen eggs and he then
would owe two cents." (John A. Simpon, president of the National Farmers
Union)
The Great Depression hit farmers long before it hit the rest of the nation and
the world. The stock market crash of October 29, 1929, merely intensified their
plight. After stocks became worthless, people raced to their banks to withdraw
their savings, causing many financial institutions to close their doors forever.
By 1932, one out of four men were out of work. Those lucky enough to have jobs
convinced themselves there was something wrong with the unemployed -lazy,
immoral, parasitic thieves- compounding the shame, guilt, fear, and
worthlessness that these men felt because they were no longer able to support
their families. Once hard-working people, they searched for jobs and told
themselves they'd soon find work, but the lack of jobs sent them farther and
farther from their homes. As the days passed and no work was found, they began
to look old and act poor, which further hindered them in finding employment.
Brought up in the belief that work brought its own rewards, accepting charity
just to survive was a bitter pill to swallow. Some preferred to starve rather
than seek help. Unable to cope with the shame of being unable to support and
shelter their families, some turned to drink, others withdrew from society. Some
beat their wives and children, others sought release by committing suicide. Some
rode the rails, making the 1930s the heyday of the hobo. Many times the mother
finally took sought needed help to spare the fathers from feeling like complete
failures.
A
Time Capsule of the Decade
| 1930 |
4.5 million people lose their jobs and
1,300 banks fail Al Capone arrested for income tax evasion
Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon and Grant Wood paints American Gothic
The Shadow premiered on radio and the Marx Brothers performed in Animal
Crackers
Songs: "I got Rhythm," "Embraceable You," and "Walkin'
My Baby Back Home"
Philadelphia Athletics beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 to win the World
Series
Gandhi leads 200-mile nonviolent march for India's independence from Britain
Betty Boop, Pluto discovered, vaccine for yellow fever, A&P biggest
retailer |
| 1931 |
Unemployment and bank closures double
"The Star Spangled Banner" becomes our national anthem
Nevada legalizes gambling
Pearl Buck publishes The Good Earth.
James Cagney and Jean Harlow in Public Enemy and Boris Karloff in
Frankenstein
Knute Rockne dies in a plane crash and Thomas Edison passes away
Empire State Building, Dick Tracy, Alka Seltzer, synthetic rubber |
| 1932 |
Franklin Roosevelt elected President
Unemployment reaches 13.7 million
Hoovervilles, breadlines, and soup kitchens in most cities across the country
MacArthur disperses out-of-work veterans who marched on Washington with
troops
Kidnapping of Lindbergh baby, Three Musketeers candy bar |
| 1933 |
New Deal puts Americans back to work
digging, writing, painting
FDR temporarily closes all banks and airs his first "Fireside Chat"
Frances Perkins appointed first woman Cabinet member (Secretary of Labor)
James Hilton publishes Lost Horizon and Fay Wray stars in King Kong
The Lone Ranger airs for the first time on radio
Mae West speaks her famous line "Come up and see me sometime"
Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
Stalin's purges begin
Ritz Crackers, Seven-Up, Spam, Alcatraz, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, "Easter
Parade"
"Stormy Weather," first All-Star baseball game |
| 1934 |
Hitler becomes der Fuehrer
FBI agents kill Public Enemy Number 1, John Dillinger
Dionne quintuplets born
It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, wins five
Oscars
Shirley Temple sings "On the Good Ship Lollipop"
Nylon |
| 1935 |
Huey Long assassinated
Will Rogers and Wiley Post killed in a plane crash in 1935
Clarence Day's Life with Father and Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps premieres
The first episode of Fibber McGee and Molly airs
The first nighttime baseball game played in Cincinnati
Pan Am World Airways, Alcoholics Anonymous, rumba, first beer cans,
paperbacks, Social Security
|
| 1936 |
Bruno Hauptmann executed for the
kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby
Dale Carnegie publishes How to Win Friends and Influence People
Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind published
Jesse Owens wins four gold medals at the Olympics in Berlin
Civil war erupts in Spain
Edward VIII abdicates his throne to marry the woman he loves
Life Magazine, Hoover Dam |
| 1937 |
First live broadcast of a disaster,
the explosion of the Hindenburg, aired
Amelia Earhart vanishes while attempting to fly around the world
John Steinbeck publishes Of Mice and Men
Premiere of 1st full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
First soap opera, Stella Davis, airs
Japan invades China
Golden Gate Bridge, cellophane tape, grocery carts, insulin, first blood
bank, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy |
| 1938 |
Edward R. Murrow broadcasts Hitler's
invasion of Austria
War of the Worlds sparks panic among listeners who thought Martians had
invaded
Pearl S. Buck wins the Nobel Prize
Benny Goodman and his orchestra play Carnegie Hall
Ella Fitzgerald sings "A-Tisket, A-Tasket"
Errol Flynn and Olivia de Haviland star in The Adventures of Robin Hood
Teflon, ballpoint pen |
| 1939 |
Lou Gehrig sets record for consecutive
games played, then retires because of illness
John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath published
William Butler Yeats dies
First major-league baseball game televised
Germany invades Poland
Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington
Einstein warns FDR about the possibility of building the atomic bomb
Goldfish swallowing |
Ice cream cost 20 cents for a pint, 30 cents for a quart. Malts, ice cream
sodas, sundaes, and sandwiches were a dime. Restaurants served sirloin steak
with onions, roast loin of pork, roast fresh ham, or pigs' knuckles and pigs'
head for twenty-five cents a plate. A haircut and shave cost thirty cents. Milk
cost 14 cents a quart and bread nine cents a loaf. Women's shoes averaged $15 a
pair. A negligee cost $29.95 and corsets $5-10. Men's suits cost $39.94, shirts
$1.65, shoes $12, and coats $37.50-57.50. A radio sold for $158, about the same
price as a round-trip plane ticket between New York and Los Angeles. In New
York, hotel rooms with bath cost $3 for a single, $4 for a double and towels
cost forty-eight cents. A new vacuum cleaner could be had for $52.20 and a
ten-piece Hepplewhite dining room suite with six chairs sold for $490. Chevrolet
roadster cost $495, coupe $565, and sedan $675.
Three years after the Stock Market crashed, nine million savings accounts were
gone and 86,000 businesses closed their doors. Life expectancy for a man was
58.1 years, for a woman, 61.6 years. The average family income was $1600 or
less, at least $700 less than in 1929. According to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, by 1935 the average family consisted of 2 adults and 1.6 children
who rented a four or five-room home or apartment on a gross income of $1,348.
Only 3% of the population owned their homes. Most farms lacked running water and
bathrooms. Only one out of every ten rural houses had electricity because each
family had to foot the bill to bring the lines out to them. At least 75% of the
family income provided the basic necessities.
"Doing without" became the norm. Mothers made new clothes from flour
sacks and hand-me-downs were worn until they fell apart. A total of 227,000
Kansans and more than 440,000 Oklahomans left the Dust Bowl, hoping to find a
better life somewhere else. In all, 2.5 million people joined the exodus. Many
went to California's San Joaquin Valley, but there were never enough jobs and
some states turned these migrants away. Californians scorned homeless farmers,
derisively referring to them as "Okies." Dorothea Lang's photographs
put faces on those who suffered the most and remain indelible portraits of a
time long past.
By the end of the 1930s, 85% of homes had radios in them. Daytime serials, like
The Romance of Helen Trent, were popular during the early afternoons. When the
children came home from school, they listened to Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
or Jack Armstrong the All-American Boy. Listeners who bought the sponsors'
products sent for a Green Hornet ring or Captain Midnight's code-o-graph. In the
evening, families gathered around the radio to listen to The Lone Ranger, The
Shadow, Amos 'n' Andy, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Jack Benny, and Fred
Allen. Bing Crosby, Kate Smith, Guy Lombardo, and the swing orchestras brought
music into our homes.
Fifteen cents bought a movie, news reel, short subject, and prizes and
giveaways. Other pastimes included playing bingo or Monopoly, reading comic
books, watching or playing baseball, going on picnics or to barn dances, playing
cards, going ice skating or having sledding parties, and attending church
functions and social clubs.
The thirties gave rise to G-men and bank robbers. Pretty Boy Floyd, Machine Gun
Kelly, Bonnie and Clyde, and John Dillinger became folk heroes before the law
tracked them down and permanently ended their crime sprees. Strikes and riots
also became more prevalent. On March 19, 1935, a supposed killing of a
twelve-year-old boy in Harlem sparked a race riot in which more than 200 stores
were burned and looted. Property damage exceeded $2,000,000 and 1 person was
killed, more than a hundred injured, and a hundred arrests made. The year before
420,000 mill workers walked off the job, closing down the second biggest
industry in the South. In 1937, ten people were killed and thirty wounded during
a strike against the powerful steel industry.
Websites:
America from the Great Depression to World War II - photographs taken from
1935-1940 http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html
American Cultural History 1930-1939 - a guide from Kingwood College Library http://www.nhmced.edu/contracts/lrc/kc/decade30.html
"
Day of the Black Blizzard - a recounting of one of the worst dust storms http://www.discovery.com/area/history/dustbowl/dustbowl1.1.html
Depression News: the 1930s - Michigan Historical Museum http://www.sos.state.mi.us/history/museum/explore/museums/hismus/1900-75/depressn/labnews2.html
Dirty Thirties http://www.mindspring.com/~jwar/dust/dirty.htm
dMarie Time Capsule - create a personalized look at the events of a particular
year http://www.dmarie.com/timecap/
Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" Photographs http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/print/128_migm.html
Dust Bowl References - a bibliography of books on the Dust Bowl http://www.weru.ksu.edu/DustBowl/
Dust Bowl Sisters - a personal remembrance http://www.pioneerplanet.com/archive/cent/dox/cent12.htm
Inflation Calculator - calculate the value of money now and then http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
Kansas in the Dust Bowl: "We Aim to Stay" by Susan Chaffin http://www.ukans.edu/carrie/voices_1998/0398dust.htm
Lindbergh Case: The Trial of the Century http://www.lindberghtrial.com/
Main Causes of the Great Depression by Paul Alexander Gusmorino III http://www.escape.com/~paulg53/politics/great_depression.shtml
New Deal Network - educational guide to the Great Depression http://newdeal.feri.org/
The NY Times - Thursday, October 24, 1929 - newspaper accounts of the stock
market crash http://sac.uky.edu/~msunde00/hon202/p4/nyt.html
1920s and 1930s: The Depression and the New Deal - words to popular songs of the
period http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/depress.html
Related Accounts of the Great Depression - economic news stories http://www.perfecteconomy.com/principal---related-accounts-of-the-great-depression.html
Riding the Rails - PBS' American Experience about hobos http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rails/
Surviving the Dust Bowl - PBS' American Experience http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dustbowl/
Surviving the Great Depression http://cstl.semo.edu/us107/mainst/HoffmanClasses/waddell/
Voices from the Dust Bowl - audio collection of migrant workers' stories http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html
We Made Do - Recalling the Great Depression - collection of personal
remembrances http://www.mcsc.k12.in.us/mhs/social/madedo/
Books:
Low, Ann Marie. Dust Bowl Diary. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska
Press, 1984.
McElvaine, Robert S. "'Fear Itself:' Depression Life" from The Great
Depression: America, 1929-1941. NY: New York Times Books, 1933.
Press, Petra. The 1930s (A Cultural History of the United States Through the
Decades series). San Diego: Lucent Books, 1999.
Riney-Kehrberg, Pamela. Rooted in Dust: Surviving Drought and Depression in
Southwestern Kansas. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1994.
Svobida, Lawrence. Farming the Dust Bowl: a First-Hand Account from Kansas.
Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1986.
Van Amber, Rita. Stories and Recipes of the Great Depression of the 1930's.
Neenah, WI: Van Amber Publishers, 1999.
The WPA Guide to 1930s Kansas. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1939.
'We Had Everything, But Money.' Greendale, WI: Reiman Publications, 1992.
Worster, Donald. Dust Bowl: the Southern Plains in the 1930s. NY: Oxford
University Press, 1979.
Cindy Vallar, GWN Resource Editor
ResourceEditor@cindyvallar.com
September 1, 2001
Searching
for
Information
One task that confronts any writer is the need to locate information on a given
topic. Not knowing how to go about doing research can intimidate the strongest
of us. Most high schools teach basic techniques of finding resources for writing
papers, but sometimes the writer requires a trivial tidbit that can prove quite
elusive. Librarians are a great resource to consult when this occurs, but you
should be aware of two things.
First, there are many different kinds of librarians and libraries. We tend to
specialize in some aspect of library science: school, public, academic,
archival, or special. Most people know school librarians and public librarians.
Academic librarians work at college and university libraries. Archival
librarians specialize in preserving historical documents and artifacts. Special
librarians work in a wide variety of settings: museums, law firms, corporations,
government, historical societies, etc. When you have a question, consider which
type of librarian might best answer your question.
Second, understand that not every person who sits behind a reference or
information desk at a public library is a librarian. Contrary to popular belief,
people who choose to become librarians have both a bachelor's degree from a
college as well as a master's degree in library or information science. Budget
constraints, however, may require that libraries staff reference desk with
volunteers or library aides with some special training. Even so, they should
help locate the answer you need or direct you to someone who can.
For those of us who like to do our own research, here are some hints that may
help you find what you need faster and allow you to retrieve the needed
information on the first try.
1. Develop a search strategy. Similar to following a path through the forest, a
search strategy guides you from general resources to specific resources. The
Environmental Design Library at the University of California Berkeley [http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/resstrat.html]
has a good example of one and you can adapt it to fit your needs.
2. Check the bibliography. Most nonfiction books contain a list of resources
that the author consulted in doing his/her research. You may well find titles
that will provide more information on the topic you're seeking that didn't come
to light when you searched the library's catalog.
3. Use Interlibrary Loan (ILL). One neat feature of most libraries is that they
share resources. ILL allows you to request a book that your library doesn't own
from a library that does. Some libraries may charge a minimal fee (usually
equivalent to whatever they charge to reserve a book) while others won't charge
any fee. On occasion, you may want to consider offering to pay some additional
amount of money (I usually limit this to $5-10) if the resource you desire is of
utmost importance and the lending library is located in another state. Usually
you must supply the title and author of the book, but it helps if you also know
the publisher and publication date. While doing research on Canadian pirates, I
needed a book that was owned only by the Library of Congress. My local library
obtained a copy of the book for me, and the only stipulation was that I read it
in the library.
4. ILL isn't just for books. In addition to lending books, ILL can also acquire
photocopies of magazine and journal articles. This service may require you to
pay for the pages, but it's particularly useful when the article you need is in
a publication that few libraries own. I was able to acquire several articles on
Canadian pirates published in the 1940s via ILL. At times, you can also request
a particular chapter from a book in this manner.
5. Quality over quantity. Whether in print or on the Internet not everything you
see is correct or worthy of your time. If you're not sure how to decide whether
the information is accurate and relevant, you might consult any or all of these
links for guidance.
Evaluating the Quality of Information on the Internet
http://www.virtualchase.com/quality/index.html
Evaluating Web Resources
http://www2.widener.edu/Wolfgram-Memorial-Library/webevaluation/webeval.htm
Internet Detective
http://sosig.ac.uk/desire/internet-detective.html
T is for Thinking (ICYouSee)
http://www.ithaca.edu/library/Training/hott.html
Evaluating Quality on the Net
http://www.hopetillman.com/findqual.html
Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria & Tools
http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/webeval.html
Organizing information
Libraries classify information to make it easier to locate. They use one of two
classification systems: Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress. Most of us are
familiar with the first because it's what schools and public libraries often
use. Academic and special libraries use the second.
The Library of Congress Classification System separates knowledge into 21
categories using letters to designate each area. Additional letters subdivide
the broad categories and then numbers are added to identify a book's particular
shelf location. What follows are the general categories. For more detailed
information, click here. [http://www.library.yorku.ca/lc/lc.html]
A - General Works M - Music
B - Philosophy, Psychology, Religion N - Fine Arts
C - Auxiliary Sciences of History P - Language and Literature
D - General & World History Q - Science
E - United States History R - Medicine
F - Local History S - Agriculture
G - Geography T - Technology
H - Social Sciences U - Military Science
J - Political Science V - Naval Science
K - Law Z - Library Science
L - Education
The Dewey Decimal System is by far the most familiar system and some Internet
sites now use it to index their contents. Dewey classifies knowledge into 10
broad categories using numbers and then subdivides each of those to further
classify the book. If you'd like to visit a web site that utilizes this system,
try Suite101.com [http://www.suite101.com]. Suite101.com is a best-of-the-web
directory where editors write articles on different topics (I write about
pirates) and provide annotated and rated links to the best web sites on that
topic. At the end of this article you'll find more information on Dewey along
with subject-specific links to get you started on your research.
Search Engines
One final tool librarians use to locate information is an index. In books, the
index is usually located at the back of the book. On the Internet, we use search
engines. To effectively use search engines take a tutorial, such as Web Search
Strategies [http://home.sprintmail.com/~debflanagan/main.html]
or Help Using Search Engines [http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/library/guides/engines.htm].
Questions to ask before Hunting for Stuff on the Web [http://marylaine.com/ccc2.html]
provides guidelines as to what to ask, where to search, and how to determine
whether the information found is of value. There are a lot of search engines out
there, and you most likely will find one that you prefer over the others. Here
are a few that I've found most useful.
BUBL LINK http://bubl.ac.uk/link/
British search engine that annotates each site and identifies the author, date
last checked, type of resource, and Dewey classification.
INFOMINE http://infomine.ucr.edu/
Search engine for scholarly Internet resources.
Karnak http://karnak.com/
This search engine hunts for your keywords while you go do something else. Once
a week it sends e-mail notifications of what it's found. One search at a time is
free or a membership fee allows multiple searches at the same time and in more
specific resources. Karnak continues to search until you change the topic or ask
it to stop.
Search Engine Colossus http://www.searchenginecolossus.com/
This international directory of search engines allows you to search by country
or category. It's available in English, French, and Spanish.
Other popular search engines:
AltaVista [ http://www.altavista.com/ ]
Google [ http://www.google.com ]
Hotrate.com [ http://hotrate.com/ ]
Northern Light [ http://www.northernlight.com/
]
Yahoo! [ http://www.yahoo.com/ ]
Links
000 - General Works
This is where you'll find encyclopedias and other general reference information.
Other subjects classified here are computers, newspapers, and the Internet.
Banned Books and Censorship
http://publishing.about.com/business/publishing/msub24.htm
Chris' HTML Tutorial Center
http://members.tripod.com/~chrismartin2/
Fast Facts: Almanacs/Factbooks/Statistical Reports & Related Reference Tools
http://gwu.edu/~gprice/handbook.htm
HeadlineSpot
http://www.headlinespot.com/
How To Find Statistics Online
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/librarians_information_science/70139
HTML Tutorials for the Complete Idiot
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Campus/1924/index.html
100 - Philosophy, Psychology, Paranormal
The resources here answer the question "Who am I?"
American Psychological Association
http://www.apa.org/
Ghost Study
http://www.ghoststudy.com/
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/
International Ghost Hunters Society
http://ghostweb.com/
Mental Help Net
http://www.mentalhelp.net/
National Institute on Mental Health
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/
Temple of Dreams
http://www.templeofdreams.com/
Valdosta State University's Department of Philosophy
http://www.valdosta.peachnet.edu/~rbarnett/phi/index.html
Working (and playing) with Dreams
http://www.rider.edu/users/suler/dreams.html
200 - Religion
While Christianity is the primary focus of this category, you'll also find
information on all religions, including Wiccan, and mythology.
Ask a Rabbi
http://www.askarabbi.com
Buddhism
http://www.suite101.com/links.cfm/buddhism
Christian Theology Page
http://www.bu.edu/people/bpstone/theology/theology.html
Discover Islam
http://www.discoverislam.com/
Encyclopedia Mythica
http://www.pantheon.org/
Hindu Resources Online
http://www.Hindu.org/
Judaism 101
http://www.jewfaq.org/
Study of Judaism and Christianity
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/resources.html
Mythology
http://www.suite101.com/links.cfm/mythology
The Witches' Voice
http://www.witchvox.com/
300 - Social Sciences
This category is summed up by the statement "Man thinks about other
people." Information found here includes careers, customs, disabilities,
folklore, law, marriage and family, military, social problems, transportation,
and cultures.
Archaic Occupations
http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/terms.html
Civil Justice Facts: the Other Side of the Story
http://www.maryalice.com/cases/
Costume Site
http://www.milieux.com/costume/
Costumer's Manifesto
http://www.costumes.org/pages/costhistpage.htm
Criminal Law
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/criminal_law
Cultures of the World
http://www.suite101.com/links.cfm/cultures_of_world
Domestic Relations Law
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/domestic_relations_law
Dumb Laws
http://www.dumblaws.com/
General Military
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/general_military
Famous Trials of the 20th Century
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ftrials.htm
FindLaw
http://www.findlaw.com/
History of the European Family
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/7452
How Much is that Worth Today?
http://www.eh.net/ehresources/howmuch/dollarq.php
How To Find Legal Information on the Internet (2 part article)
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/librarians_information_science/65995
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/librarians_information_science/66902
John's Nautical & Boatbuilding Page
http://www.boat-links.com/
Publishing Law Center
http://www.publaw.com/
The Crime Library
http://www.crimelibrary.com/
400 - Language
Dictionaries and books on how to speak a foreign language.
AltaVista Translations
http://babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn
American Web Directory of Translators and Interpreters
http://www.amwebdirti.com/
Roget's Thesaurus Search
http://humanities.uchicago.edu/forms_unrest/ROGET.html
WordNet Dictionary
http://vancouver-webpages.com/wordnet/
Yourdictionary.com
http://www.yourdictionary.com/
500 - Science and Mathematics
Animals, astronomy, biology, birds, physics, chemistry, paleontology, and math
are some of the topics located here.
Epact: Scientific Instruments of Medieval and Renaissance Europe
http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/epact/
Historical Plants
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/historical_plants
600 - Applied Sciences
A synonym for this category is technology. Think in terms of "How can I use
what I know about nature to improve life?"
Archaic Medical Terms
http://www.paul_smith.doctors.org.uk/ArchaicMedicalTerms.htm
Construction Weblinks
http://www.constructionweblinks.com
EHow: How to Do Just About Everything
http://ehow.com/home/home.asp
Farm Journal
http://www.agweb.com/
Forensic Science for the Mystery Writer
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/forensic_science_mystery_writer
Health Central
http://www.healthcentral.com/home/home.cfm
How To Find Company Information on the Internet
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/librarians_information_science/55396
Islamic Medicine
http://www.islam-usa.com/im1.html
Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse How To Library
http://www.lowes.com/Lowes/howto/howtosection.asp?CATALOGID=20
Medical Antiques
http://medicalantiques.com
Medical History on the Internet
http://www.anes.uab.edu/aneshist/medhist.htm
Medieval Technology Pages
http://scholar.chem.nyu.edu/technology.html
Names of Illnesses and Causes of Death
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hornbeck/disease.htm
National Women's Heath Information Center
http://www.4woman.gov
Old Timer Page
http://waltonfeed.com/old/
Zeno's Forensic Site
http://www.forensic.to/forensic.html
700 - Arts and Recreation
How we spend our leisure time - sports, music, arts, crafts, and performing
arts.
Art History
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/art_history
Every Rule: Rules for sports, games, etiquette, etc.
http://www.everyrule.com/indextop.htm
History in Song
http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/history.html
Picturing the Century: 100 Years of Photography from the National Archives
http://www.nara.gov/exhall/picturing_the_century/home.html
University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections
http://content.lib.washington.edu/all-collections.html
800 - Literature and Writing
Information on world literature and how to write.
Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
http://www.grammarbook.com
Coffeehouse for Writers
http://www.coffeehouse4writers.com/welcome.html
Elements of Style (Strunk & White)
http://www.bartleby.com/141/
Freelance Writing
http://www.suite101.com/links.cfm/1639
Historical Writing
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/historical_writing
How to Find Literary Criticism on the Internet
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/librarians_information_science/62111
Looking for Critique Partners?
http://www.petalsoflife.com/cpc.html
Novel Advice
http://www.noveladvice.com
Online Medieval & Classical Library
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/
Painted Rock Writers and Readers Colony
http://www.paintedrock.com/index.html
Writing and Marketing Quality Fiction
http://www.suite101.com/links.cfm/writing_marketing_fiction
Writing Science Fiction
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/writing_science_fiction
900 - History and Geography
Here are kept records of the past, biographies, and geography.
Biographical Dictionary
http://www.s9.com/biography/index.html
British & World History
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/welcome.html
Center for Military History
http://www2.army.mil/cmh-pg/default.htm
Country Watch
http://www.countrywatch.com/
Cowboy.com: Site of the West
http://www.cowboy.com
Geneaology
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/genealogy
Historical Text Archive
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/9061/index.html
History and Primitive Technology Page
http://onagocag.com/index2.html
History & Travel - Historical Cheat Sheet
http://www.likesbooks.com/history.html
History Index
http://www.ukans.edu/history/VL/
History Link-o-rama
http://www.historylink.org/links/aln/index.htm
Internet History Sourcebooks Project
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/
Maritime History Research on the Internet
http://ils.unc.edu/maritime/home.shtml
Maritime History Virtual Archives
http://pc-78-120.udac.se:8001/WWW/Nautica/Nautica.html
Pirates and Privateers
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/pirates
TreasureNet Historical Image Collection
http://www.treasurenet.com/images/
World Royal History
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/royal_history
Cindy Vallar, GWN
Resource Editor
ResourceEditor@cindyvallar.com
August 1, 2001
Research and Writing - An Introduction
My name is Cindy Vallar. I write historical novels and a monthly maritime piracy
column, both of which require an extensive amount of research. Tracking down
obscure facts and a love of reading initially led me to become a librarian. For
the first 20 years of my professional career, I worked in private schools, a
public library, and a special library. In 1999, my husband's employer
transferred us from the East Coast to the Midwest. Rather than find another job,
I retired and pursued a dream - to become a published author. That's when I
became the Contributing Editor of Pirates
and Privateers at Suite101.com. I submitted The
Scottish Thistle to Pulsar Books, and in January of this year they
published my novel as an e-book.
Since I began pursuing my dream, I've met many writers who aspire to these same
goals, but don't know where to find needed information or how to begin to write.
Others want to know about the business side of writing. As GWN's Resource
Editor, I hope to provide you with overviews of different historical periods,
events, and people and help you locate the information you need to lend
authenticity to your stories, write queries and synopses, promote your work, and
learn about the legal aspects of publishing. I'll include links to resources
that I consider the best of the best. While not all inclusive, they are the ones
I've found most useful and the easiest to navigate.
I welcome your questions and suggestions. If you can't find information on a
particular topic or want to recommend a web site, book, video, or e-mail list
that you've found particularly useful, please write me at ResourceEditor@cindyvallar.com
For more information about me or my writing, please visit me at Thistles
& Pirates.
Locating Information
Librarians classify information into one of two categories: general or specific.
The most common example of a general reference book is the encyclopedia. When
asked a question, librarians often check The World Book Encyclopedia first. It
provides a wealth of information on many subjects that is easily accessible
through the index or an article's subheadings. When I need quick answers or
general information, I consult CD versions of Microsoft
Encarta or Comptom's
Interactive Encyclopedia or Britannica
Encyclopedia online. Britannica also locates relevant magazine articles and
web sites.
When I began writing The Scottish Thistle, I wanted my story to take place in
Scotland, but knew little about the country or its history and culture. A good
starting place to get an introductory lesson on any topic is in the children's
section of your public library. Once you have a better idea of what you need,
check the catalog for more books or browse the adult collection. You can also
check college and university online catalogs and then ask your local library to
borrow those books through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Some states maintain union
catalogs, a master inventory of books owned by libraries within a particular
state. Kansas and Oklahoma are two such states. The value of a union catalog is
that you only need search for the book in one catalog to get a list of all the
libraries that own that particular title. If your state doesn't have a union
catalog, then you might have to look up the book in several online catalogs in
order to find out who owns it.
When researching history, it's important for writers to access primary
resources. Most books, however, are secondary or tertiary resources, meaning
that the book itself isn't the original source of the information. Archives of
newspapers often give contemporary accounts of historical events, but the
information contained in the articles may not be correct. For example, check the
first editions after Titanic sank or Harry S. Truman won re-election. In both
cases, the articles provided incorrect information - many people perished and
Dewey did not win the presidency. On the other hand, newspapers allow writers to
experience first-hand what life was like in the past, through society columns
and advertisements for furnishings, clothing, and medicinal remedies. Editorials
provide glimpses into what people thought about particular events and issues.
More accurate and reliable first-hand accounts are found in journals, diaries,
state papers, legal documents, and archives (local, state, and national). An
interactive case study, Do History [http://www.dohistory.com], explores healer
and midwife Martha Ballard and the book and film, The Midwife's Tale, based on
her diary. Another site that deals with primary documents is the University of
Idaho's Repositories of Primary Sources [http://www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html].
This is a list of international web sites detailing a variety of primary source
materials (manuscripts, rare books, archives, photographs, etc.).
General Research Links
California Digital
Libraries
MELVYL, the online catalog for the UC Berkeley Libraries, is one of the most
extensive library catalogs available. By searching for books here, writers can
then request them through ILL.
College &
Research Libraries NewsNet Internet Resources
Extensive annotated lists of web sites on various topics.
Encyclopedia of Western Signs and
Ideograms
Information on the history, use, and meaning of more than 2,500 Western symbols
that are searchable through graphic and word indices.
How Stuff Works
This is the place to visit if you want to know how devices work.
Internet Public Library
Reference site that mirrors a major public library.
Knowledge Hound
A collection of How-To-Guides, tips, and tutorials on a wide variety of topics.
Librarians' Index to the Internet
Searchable, annotated subject directory of web sites evaluated by librarians for
their usefulness. Users can subscribe to an e-mail newsletter that highlights
the top 20 resources added each week.
Library of Congress
Online catalog of their vast collection, legislative information, online
exhibitions, American history, and copyright information.
Library Spot
Virtual guide to library and reference information.
Neat New Stuff
Annotated links to authoritative and easily-accessible informational web sites.
Visitors can also subscribe via e-mail to receive a regular mailing of these
gems.
O'Keefe
Library Online Reference Resources
General reference sources on the Internet.
Reference Desk
Information from ready reference to in-depth facts.
Research-It!
Tools for locating people, quotations, maps, currency, zip codes, e-mail
discussion groups.
Scholar's
Guide to the WWW
Extensive list of links covering ethnic studies, business, history, news,
culture, and more.
Scout Report Signpost
Searchable annotated archives of web sites and mailing lists of interest to
researchers. Visitors can subscribe to an e-mail version of the report.
Search Systems State Databases
Links to public records in the United States and the world.
Archives
Library
and Archival Exhibitions on the Web (Smithsonian Institution Libraries' Project)
Online exhibits created by libraries, archives, historical societies, and
museums. Search capabilities are currently under development.
National Archives and Records
Administration
Access to American documents and photographs housed in Washington, DC and across
the country. Information on presidential libraries, online articles from
Prologue - NARA's magazine, the Freedom of Information Act, and genealogical
research.
National Archives of Canada
In French and English, information on people, places, wars, and more relating to
Canada.
Public Records Office, Great
Britain
Access to documents dating back to the 11th century with a Virtual Museum of
some of these national treasures.
Vanderbilt University's
Television News Archive
One of the most extensive archives on television news in the world.
Ask an Expert
Directory of State
Humanities Councils
Some sites include speakers knowledgeable on various aspects of their states.
Experts.com Database
Experts who will answer your questions.
Information Outpost
After you submit a question, search specialists locate links that best answer
it.
ProfNet Global
A searchable database of information officers from various organizations that
answer questions.
Magazines and Newspapers
FindArticles.com
Allows users to search for magazine and journal articles with online access.
Ingenta (UNCOVER recently
merged with them)
Searchable database of scholarly journal articles. Full-text copies of articles
may be purchased for delivery or you can access the bibliographic information
for free and request them via ILL.
Internet Library of
Early Journals
Digital collection of English journals from the 18th and 19th century.
Making
of America Journal Collection
Cornell University's MoA provides online access to 19th-century magazines.
Newspaper
Archives on the Web
Directory of newspaper archives in the United States. Some are free while others
require a fee.
Newspaper
Indexes/Archives/Morgues
Library of Congress' links to newspapers around the world, both online or via
print.
Newspaper
Internet Resources
The British Library's collection of links to newspaper libraries and
collections.
Time
Magazine
Full text issues from January 1994 to the present.
Cindy
Vallar, GWN Resource Editor
July 1, 2001