Classics 141: Ancient Cities: Getting started

Welcome to the Preindustrial Environmental History research guide!

For this project, you will want to think carefully about the history of your state in relation to European colonization. This project will likely be quite different for states that were in the original colonies as opposed to those further west. 

I recommend looking for books on state history first. You can find those in WorldCat. In the "Books" tab of this guide, you will find some suggestions for "subject headings". In WorldCat, you can go to the Advanced Search page, change the drop-down next to the search box to "subject" and copy and paste a relevant subject heading into the search. You'll want to add your state. You can also simply type keywords into the WorldCat search box. Look for books that cover earlier parts of the states histories, natural history, or Native American history. You should be able to look in those books for the region of your state your town is in. You may find whole books on a particular region, as well.

We may have some of the books, but I imagine many of you may need to request books through Interlibrary Loan. If you don't see a red button that says "View eBook" or a call number pointing to a print book, look for a red button that says "Get It." Remember to request these books early, as physical books take about a week to arrive in the mail (articles are much faster).

Once you have a foundational overview, you can use the history museum/archive directory on the Internet Resources page to look for digitized primary sources and the recommended databases below to look for articles on your state history.

Don't hesitate to contact me if you get stuck anywhere!