MC Library Research Guides: History: Find Sources

Search Tools for History

Academic articles, sometimes also called journal articles or scholarly articles, are relatively short publications that academic researchers use to communicate new findings and ideas to other scholars. Articles are compiled in scholarly journals, which are essentially academic magazines that come out on a schedule. Many journal articles are peer-reviewed, which means they've gone through a formal review process before being published.

When & Why to Use Articles:

You need information based on research and expertise.
You need detailed information that focuses on a narrow topic.
You need to find peer-reviewed material or ensure that the information you find is accurate.

Search for Articles on History:

U.S. History (Gale in Context)
Best Bet
Covers U.S. historical topics from pre-colonial times to the present, offering a broad collection of U.S. facts, primary documents, full-text journals, and articles from various reference works.
World History (Gale in Context)
Best Bet
Information about important world events, places, and people from ancient history to the present.
African American Experience
African American social, political, and cultural history in distinct historical eras. Contains primary documents, peer-reviewed scholarly essays, and images.
African American Historical Serials Collection
Includes newspapers, magazines, reports, and annuals from various African American organizations, including churches and educational and service institutions.
American Historical Periodicals from the American Antiquarian Society
Collection of books, pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, periodicals, music, and graphic arts material printed through 1876. Common themes depicted include industrialization, western expansion, and regional political differences.
Archives of Sexuality & Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940
Primary sources on social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ communities around the world. Includes newspapers, manuscripts, government records, organizational papers, correspondence, and posters.
Black Thought and Culture
African American social, political, and cultural history in distinct historical eras. Contains primary documents, peer-reviewed scholarly essays, and images.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Full-text collection of hundreds of papers selected by U.S. states as part of the Library of Congress National Digital Newspaper Program. Dates range from 1789 to 1922, but available content varies for each newspaper.
Daily Life through History
Everyday life around the world from ancient times to the present day. Includes reference articles, visual material, cultural and government documents, speeches, letters, and personal narratives.
JSTOR
Journals across arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Most journals are digitized back to the first issue, but recent content is usually not accessible for 3 to 5 years. Also contains Artstor and other image collections.
Military & Government Collection
News and scholarship related to all branches of the U.S. military and government.
Military and Intelligence (Gale OneFile)
Contains articles and reports covering all aspects of the past and present military affairs, including governmental policies, the socioeconomic effects of war, and the structure of the armed forces.
National Geographic Virtual Library
Complete full-text for National Geographic magazine, 1888 to present, along with a cross-searchable collection of National Geographic books, maps, images and videos.
New York Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
Digitized collection of every issue of the New York Times from 1851 to 4 years prior to the current year. For more recent articles, use ProQuest's Newspapers database.
Oxford African American Studies Center
Journal articles and primary sources in African American studies. Also includes reference sources on African American history, biography, art and architecture, and culture.
Primary Sources Collection (ProQuest)
Access primary source collections, including Early English Books, 20th century newspapers, documents from the civil rights movement, US government records, film scripts, and much more!
Smithsonian Collections Online
Provides access to the Air & Space and Smithsonian Magazine Archive (including current issues) and digitized primary sources from the Smithsonian in three collections: Evolution of Flight (1784-1991), Trade Literature and Merchandizing of Industry, and World's Fairs and Expositions: Visions of Tomorrow.
Social Justice Suite (HeinOnline)
Contains legislative histories, Supreme Court briefs, scholarly journal articles and more. Collections include: Civil Rights and Social Justice, Gun Regulation and Legislation in America, LGBTQ+ rights, Open Society Justice Initiative, and Slavery in America and the World.
U.S. History (Gale OneFile)
Provides access to scholarly journals and magazines useful to both novice historians as well as advanced academic researchers. Offers coverage of events in U.S. history and scholarly work established in the field.
Washington Post (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
Digitized collection of every issue of The Washington Post from 1877 to 16 years prior to the current year. For more recent articles, use ProQuest's Newspapers database.
Women and Social Movements in the United States
Primary sources documenting women's activism in U.S. public life. Includes books, images, pamphlets, scholarly essays, and more, plus publications of state and local women's commissions.
Women's Studies Archive: Voice and Vision
Documents the social, political, and professional aspects of women's lives. Manuscripts, newspapers, and periodicals pertain to the roles, experiences, and achievements of women in society.
Women's Studies International
Indexes the core disciplines in women's studies and feminist research. Supports many fields of study, including sociology, history, international relations, and humanities.

RaptorSearch
Find items located physically at the library along with most content that MC Library subscribes to online. Results may include articles from scholarly journals, books, e-books, videos, newspaper articles, and more.

Primary Sources:

Primary Sources are immediate, first-hand accounts of a topic, from people who had a direct connection with it.

Examples of primary source formats include:

archives and manuscript material.
photographs, audio recordings, video recordings, films.
journals, letters and diaries.
speeches.
scrapbooks.
published books, newspapers and magazine clippings published at the time.
government publications.
oral histories.

Use the databases below to locate primary sources for your assignment:

Primary Sources Collection (ProQuest) Access primary source collections, including Early English Books, 20th century newspapers, documents from the civil rights movement, US government records, film scripts, and much more!
African American Experience African American social, political, and cultural history in distinct historical eras. Contains primary documents, peer-reviewed scholarly essays, and images.
African American Historical Serials Collection Includes newspapers, magazines, reports, and annuals from various African American organizations, including churches and educational and service institutions.
Archives Unbound Topic-focused digital collections of historical documents covering a broad range of topics. Particular strengths include U.S. foreign policy, U.S. civil rights, global affairs, colonial studies, and modern history.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers Full-text collection of hundreds of papers selected by U.S. states as part of the Library of Congress National Digital Newspaper Program. Dates range from 1789 to 1922, but available content varies for each newspaper.
Digital Maryland Collaborative, statewide digitization program of the Enoch Pratt Free Library/Maryland State Library Resource Center. Provides online access to digital versions of rare and unique materials, including historical maps, photographs, reports, books, manuscripts, and artwork. Digital Maryland hosts two digitized collections from Montgomery College's special collections.
New York Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) Digitized collection of every issue of the New York Times from 1851 to 4 years prior to the current year. For more recent articles, use ProQuest's Newspapers database.
Wall Street Journal (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) Digitized collection of every issue of the Wall Street Journal from 1889 to 12 years prior to the current year. For more recent articles, use ProQuest's Newspapers database.
Washington Post (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) Digitized collection of every issue of The Washington Post from 1877 to 16 years prior to the current year. For more recent articles, use ProQuest's Newspapers database.

All Primary Source Databases

Scholarly books are nonfiction books usually based on academic research done by the author or authors. They can contain multiple chapters on different aspects of a particular topic, or they can focus entirely on one concept or idea.

When & Why to Use Scholarly Books:

You need to understand a complex topic. Books are generally easier to read than journal articles.
You need very in-depth analysis of a topic.
You need a broad understanding of one or more topics.
You need a summary of existing research on a topic.

Search for Books and E-Books on History:

ACLS Humanities Ebook Collection
Full-text e-books in most humanities and area studies disciplines.
African American Experience
African American social, political, and cultural history in distinct historical eras. Contains primary documents, peer-reviewed scholarly essays, and images.
American Historical Periodicals from the American Antiquarian Society
Collection of books, pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, periodicals, music, and graphic arts material printed through 1876. Common themes depicted include industrialization, western expansion, and regional political differences.
American National Biography Online
Biographical information on notable Americans from colonial times to the present. Does not include biographies of people who are currently living.
Biography (Gale in Context)
Database of biographical information on more than one million people from throughout history, around the world, and across all disciplines and subject areas.
Black Thought and Culture
African American social, political, and cultural history in distinct historical eras. Contains primary documents, peer-reviewed scholarly essays, and images.
CQ Press Library
Contains the online version of many of CQ Press's reference titles on government and politics. Users can search or browse the Library as a whole or by accessing any of the online editions.
Encyclopedia of American Studies
History, philosophy, arts, and cultures of the U.S. in relation to the world, from pre-colonial days to the present, with perspectives from the global American Studies movement.
JSTOR
Journals across arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Most journals are digitized back to the first issue, but recent content is usually not accessible for 3 to 5 years. Also contains Artstor and other image collections.
Latino American Experience
Primary and secondary sources reflecting heritage and culture of Latino groups in the Americas. Spans the pre-Columbian period through the present day.
Oxford African American Studies Center
Journal articles and primary sources in African American studies. Also includes reference sources on African American history, biography, art and architecture, and culture.
Primary Sources Collection (ProQuest)
Access primary source collections, including Early English Books, 20th century newspapers, documents from the civil rights movement, US government records, film scripts, and much more!
Social Justice Suite (HeinOnline)
Contains legislative histories, Supreme Court briefs, scholarly journal articles and more. Collections include: Civil Rights and Social Justice, Gun Regulation and Legislation in America, LGBTQ+ rights, Open Society Justice Initiative, and Slavery in America and the World.

RaptorSearch Find items located physically at the library along with most content that MC Library subscribes to online. Results may include articles from scholarly journals, books, e-books, videos, newspaper articles, and more.
eBook Collection (ABC-CLIO) Academic and reference e-books from ABC-CLIO Greenwood, Praeger, and Libraries Unlimited. Includes searchable full-text books.
eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) Includes reference works, scholarly monographs, literature, and other fiction. E-books can be read online in your web browser or can be checked out and downloaded for offline reading. Checking out and downloading a book requires creating a MyEBSCO account and installing Adobe Digital Editions.
Ebook Central (ProQuest) Scholarly e-books from various publishers across all academic disciplines.

Research Skills & Tips:

Find Books and Other Sources in RaptorSearch
by Niyati Pandya Last Updated May 27, 2025 1786 views this year

MC Library has access to streaming videos and audio, as well as DVDs and CDs. Different types of video and audio include documentaries, educational videos, mainstream movies, radio interviews, and podcasts. Additionally, users have access to a variety of images that can be used in their research.

When & Why to Use Videos or Media:

You need to include an expert's point of view, and a documentary or podcast on your topic includes an interview.
You're doing a presentation and need to include a visual or audio element.
You need to learn a concept that is best understood visually.

Search for Videos and Media on History:

American History in Video
Best Bet
Archival and documentary films of historical interest. Includes selected content from the History Channel, PBS, the U.S. Government and other educational media sources.
African American Experience
African American social, political, and cultural history in distinct historical eras. Contains primary documents, peer-reviewed scholarly essays, and images.
Kanopy
Collection of streaming videos in all genres, from documentaries to feature films to training videos.
Primary Sources Collection (ProQuest)
Access primary source collections, including Early English Books, 20th century newspapers, documents from the civil rights movement, US government records, film scripts, and much more!

Digital Maryland
Collaborative, statewide digitization program of the Enoch Pratt Free Library/Maryland State Library Resource Center. Provides online access to digital versions of rare and unique materials, including historical maps, photographs, reports, books, manuscripts, and artwork. Digital Maryland hosts two digitized collections from Montgomery College's special collections.
Early Days of Montgomery College
Photographs from the early years of MC, including photographs of the Bliss Electrical School, which became the first site for the Montgomery Junior College, images of the three campuses during different phases of construction, former graduating classes, various ground breaking ceremonies, and early faculty members.
JSTOR
Journals across arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Most journals are digitized back to the first issue, but recent content is usually not accessible for 3 to 5 years. Also contains Artstor and other image collections.
National Geographic Virtual Library
Complete full-text for National Geographic magazine, 1888 to present, along with a cross-searchable collection of National Geographic books, maps, images and videos.
Oxford African American Studies Center
Journal articles and primary sources in African American studies. Also includes reference sources on African American history, biography, art and architecture, and culture.

RaptorSearch Find items located physically at the library along with most content that MC Library subscribes to online. Results may include articles from scholarly journals, books, e-books, videos, newspaper articles, and more.
Academic Video Online Multidisciplinary video collection, which includes documentaries, interviews, feature films, performances, news programs, and more.
Feature Films for Education Hundreds of full-length feature films for educational instructional purposes.

Search: African American History

Suggested Databases: African American History

African American Experience African American social, political, and cultural history in distinct historical eras. Contains primary documents, peer-reviewed scholarly essays, and images.
African American Historical Serials Collection Includes newspapers, magazines, reports, and annuals from various African American organizations, including churches and educational and service institutions.
Oxford African American Studies Center Journal articles and primary sources in African American studies. Also includes reference sources on African American history, biography, art and architecture, and culture.
Black Thought and Culture African American social, political, and cultural history in distinct historical eras. Contains primary documents, peer-reviewed scholarly essays, and images.

Black Studies in Video Sub-collection within American History in Video database
Chicago Defender, 1909-1975 Part of the ProQuest Primary Sources Collection
Chicago Defender, 1999-2019

Suggested Websites: African American History

Enslaved: Peoples of Historic Slave Trade “Enslaved: Peoples of the Historic Slave Trade, a free, public clearinghouse that launched December 2020 with seven smaller, searchable databases, will for the first time allow anyone from academic historians to amateur family genealogists to search for individual enslaved people around the globe in one central online location.”
Banneker-Douglas Museum
Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park & Visitor Center
Lewis Museum: Maryland African American History & Culture
The History Makers Archive Recorded between 1999 and 2005, this digital archive includes 14,000 stories compiled from oral history interviews with 310 "historically significant" African Americans.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute
National Memorial for Peace and Justice
National Museum of African American History and Culture "A People's Journey, A Nation's Story".
NAACP: A Century in the Fight for Freedom - Exhibitions - Library of Congress This digital exhibit from the Library of Congress "presents a retrospective of the major personalities, events, and achievements that shaped the NAACP’s history during its first 100 years."

Search: African History

African Mythology A to Z
An African Biographical Dictionary
Encyclopedia of African Religion
New Encyclopedia of Africa
Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa Access provided through JSTOR. Photographs, primary source documents, etc. relating to colonial rule and resistance within Southern Africa.
World Heritage Sites: Africa Access provided through JSTOR. Photographs, 3D imaging, maps, primary sources, etc. related to heritage sites.

Suggested Websites: African History

Africa Focus: Sights and Sounds of a Continent "A strong multimedia resource from a prominent African studies program. Covers all nations. Includes more than 3,000 slides and 500 photographs...artisans, buildings and structures, cities and towns, education, landscape, religion, and women.
Africa Portal "The Africa Portal is a research repository and an expert analysis hub on African affairs."
Enslaved: Peoples of Historic Slave Trade “Enslaved: Peoples of the Historic Slave Trade, a free, public clearinghouse that launched December 2020 with seven smaller, searchable databases, will for the first time allow anyone from academic historians to amateur family genealogists to search for individual enslaved people around the globe in one central online location.”
World Digital Library - Africa The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary source materials from countries and cultures around the world.

Search: Ancient History

eBooks (Gale) Collection of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
Oxford Reference Online Premium Contains dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press.

Reading Papyri, Writing Ancient History by Roger S. Bagnall The ancient Mediterranean world brought to us by Herodotus, Thucydides and Tacitus is one of politics, war and the power elite of Greece and Rome. There was another ancient world, in which ordinary people made a living, sold land, ran their towns and sued one another. This is the world that the papyri bring to life; this book is about how they do so. Reading Papyri, Writing Ancient History demonstrates how historians can put together information from scattered and often badly damaged documents to build up a picture of the society, economy and culture of the multicultural world of antiquity. Through discussion of contemporary historical work on the documents, Roger Bagnall scrutinises alternative ways of approaching these sources. He shows how the ancient historian can use the methodologies of anthropology, comparative history and statistics alongside more traditional tools to turn these texts into questions and answers. Students and teachers of ancient history will find Reading Papyri, Writing Ancient History an indispensable guide to using these ancient texts in their own work.
ISBN: 9780203422199
Publication Date: 2003-09-02

Suggested Databases: Asia and Pacific History

World History (Gale in Context) Information about important world events, places, and people from ancient history to the present.
National Geographic Virtual Library Complete full-text for National Geographic magazine, 1888 to present, along with a cross-searchable collection of National Geographic books, maps, images and videos.

Asia-Pacific Review

Reference Sources: Asia And Pacific History

Encyclopedia of India Home to a fifth of the world's population and the largest democracy in the world, India holds a prominent place in current events yet remains unknown or misunderstood by many people who seek a single, authoritative source for information on this political and economic dynamo. The Encyclopedia of India meets this need, encompassing the history, cultures, geography, and religions of India from ancient times to the present day. As India's role in global politics and economics continues to grow, readers will find the wide range and depth of information contained within this work an indispensable tool to gaining a solid appreciation of India and its place in our modern world.
Publication Date: 2005-11-28

Search Tips: Asia and Pacific History

History is a very broad topic. It is always a good idea to narrow your topic down. Several ways of doing this are by

specific topic e.g., Vietnam War
by prefecture or region e.g., Kumamoto, Fukuoka City, etc.
by time period e.g., 19th Century or specific dates
combining important keywords e.g., The Great Wall of China and (labor or suffering)

Search: Latin American History

eBook Collection (ABC-CLIO) Academic and reference e-books from ABC-CLIO Greenwood, Praeger, and Libraries Unlimited. Includes searchable full-text books.

The Garland Handbook of Latin American Music

Latino American Experience Primary and secondary sources reflecting heritage and culture of Latino groups in the Americas. Spans the pre-Columbian period through the present day.

Search: Middle Eastern History

AtoZ Maps Online Over 100,000 downloadable maps, including country and regional maps, historic maps, war maps, topographic maps, and map glossaries.
Columbia Gazetteer of the World Encyclopedia of geographical places and features. Contains the names, descriptions, and characteristics of over 170,000 places in the world.
Ethnic NewsWatch Newspapers, magazines, and journals published by ethnic, minority, and native peoples' presses. Includes publications in English and Spanish.

Suggested Sources:

Search: United States History

American Decades (1900 - 1999) Background information about events, people, and significant places in American history, by decade (1900-1999)
American Decades (2000 - 2009)
Datapedia of the United States: American History in Numbers A factbook containing data on several hundred indicators of social, economic, political, and cultural developments in United States history. Graphs and other aids summarize significant historical patterns or crucial shifts in key subject areas. Data series cover United States history from 1790 to 2003 and include select data projections through 2050.
more...less...
Statistic make great support for any argument or thesis.

Encyclopedia of American Studies History, philosophy, arts, and cultures of the U.S. in relation to the world, from pre-colonial days to the present, with perspectives from the global American Studies movement.
Academic Search Complete Find peer-reviewed journals, full text periodicals, reports, and books across multiple subjects.
American History in Video Archival and documentary films of historical interest. Includes selected content from the History Channel, PBS, the U.S. Government and other educational media sources.
U.S. History (Gale in Context) Covers U.S. historical topics from pre-colonial times to the present, offering a broad collection of U.S. facts, primary documents, full-text journals, and articles from various reference works.

Suggested Books: United States History

Visions of America by Jennifer D. Keene; Hoffer; Saul Cornell; Edward T. O'Donnell Using images as primary historical evidence,Visions of Americabrings history alive for a generation of visual learners–and shows how conflicting visions of America have shaped our nation’s past. Visions of Americarecognizes the value of using images to engage students in serious inquiry about the historical development of the United States. Visual images are critical primary sources, and using them effectively requires the development of key analytic skills. This new textbook revolutionizes the role of images in the history survey by integrating them into the narrative. The visual legacy of the nation’s past also provides insight into the competing visions of America that have shaped American political culture.Visions of Americaexplores the tensions and conflicts that have marked virtually every chapter of American history. It presents history as a dynamic, unpredictable, and dramatic process shaped by the choices made by people of all classes.
Call Number: Rockville Campus Library, E178.1 .K432 2010
The Unfinished Nation by Alan Brinkley Known for its clear narrative voice, impeccable scholarship, and affordability, Alan Brinkley's The Unfinished Nation offers a concise but comprehensive examination of American History. Balancing social and cultural history with traditional political and diplomatic themes, it tells the story of the diversity and complexity of the United States and the forces that have enabled it to survive and flourish despite division. Volume 2 covers 1865 to the present. This fifth edition features six new essays and enhanced coverage of recent events and developments in the continuing American story.
Call Number: TPSS Campus Library, E178.1 .B827 2008

Archives:

National Archives

Smithsonian:

Smithsonian: Our Museums, Galleries, and Zoo 19 world-class museums, galleries, gardens, and a zoo
Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) Completed in 1855, the Castle is our signature building and home to the Smithsonian Visitor Center. As such, it makes a great starting point for your journey—here you can get a grasp of the scope and scale of the Smithsonian, see collections highlights from each of our museums, tour the Castle’s 19th-century architecture, see what’s going on today at all the museums, and consult with our in-house experts about what to see and do.
National Museum of African American History and Culture "A People's Journey, A Nation's Story".
Anacostia Community Museum Located in the Anacostia neighborhood, this museum examines, documents, and interprets the impact of historical and contemporary social issues on urban communities
National Museum of African Art The National Museum of African Art is the only national museum in the United States dedicated to the collection, exhibition, conservation, and study of the arts of Africa. On exhibit are the finest examples of traditional and contemporary art from the entire continent of Africa.
National Museum of American History Devoted to the scientific, cultural, social, technological, and political development of the United States, the museum traces the American experience from colonial times to the present. The American History Museum’s collection contains more than three million historical objects—including the famed Star-Spangled Banner—and documents that explore the evolution of the American identity.
National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian cares for one of the world’s most expansive collections of Native objects, photographs, and media, covering the entire Western Hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego. The museum’s sweeping curvilinear architecture, its indigenous landscaping, and its exhibitions, all designed in collaboration with tribes and communities, combine to give visitors from around the world the sense and spirit of Native America.
National Museum of the American Indian George Gustav Heye Center Sitting at the foot of the Wiechquaekeck Trail, an old Algonquin trade route (aka Broadway), the American Indian Museum’s New York location shares the Washington, D.C., location’s incredible collection and its commitment to celebrating the diverse history and contemporary voices of Native peoples throughout the western hemisphere
National Postal Museum The largest and most comprehensive collection of stamps and philatelic material in the world—including postal stationery, vehicles used to transport the mail, mailboxes, meters, cards and letters, and postal materials that predate the use of stamps. Visitors can walk along a Colonial post road, ride with the mail in a stagecoach, browse through a small town post office from the 1920s, receive free stamps to start a collection and more.
National Air and Space Museum Launch into the history of flight by surrounding yourself with icons of air and space travel. The flagship building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C, exhibits aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, rockets, and other flight-related artifacts. The museum has an IMAX theater for out-of-this-world escapes.

Libraries:

A database is essentially a compilation of resources on a particular topic or field of study. Some databases cover multiple topics, and these are called multidisciplinary databases.

When & Why to Use Multidisciplinary Databases:

You're unsure of which database to choose for your research.
Your research encompasses several different topics.
You're just getting started with learning how to use databases for research -- multidisciplinary databases are often easier for beginners to navigate.

Search Multidisciplinary Databases:

Academic Search Complete
Best Bet
Find peer-reviewed journals, full text periodicals, reports, and books across multiple subjects.
Academic OneFile (Gale)
Contains peer-reviewed, full-text articles in the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and other subjects.
Academic Video Online
Multidisciplinary video collection, which includes documentaries, interviews, feature films, performances, news programs, and more.
Britannica Academic
Articles from Encyclopaedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus. Includes maps, photos, illustrations, videos, multimedia clips, and the Britannica Yearbooks dating back to 1993.
Credo Reference
Articles from reference sources such as encyclopedias and dictionaries on a variety of topics. Also includes tutorials on research basics.
Docuseek2 Collection
Collection of documentary films focusing on contemporary issues in a variety of disciplines, including environmental sciences, political and social sciences, history, health, psychology, and more.
Ebook Central (ProQuest)
Scholarly e-books from various publishers across all academic disciplines.
eBook Collection (ABC-CLIO)
Academic and reference e-books from ABC-CLIO Greenwood, Praeger, and Libraries Unlimited. Includes searchable full-text books.
eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
Includes reference works, scholarly monographs, literature, and other fiction. E-books can be read online in your web browser or can be checked out and downloaded for offline reading. Checking out and downloading a book requires creating a MyEBSCO account and installing Adobe Digital Editions.
eBooks (Gale)
Collection of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
Films on Demand
Educational, multidisciplinary streaming videos on a wide range of subjects from academic to life-skills content. Particularly strong in the social sciences and humanities.
Flipster
Access popular magazines via the web or your mobile device. Download the Flipster app to your iOS or Android device. Next, choose Montgomery College Rockville Library through the Find My Library search tool. Then, browse and read in the app.
JSTOR
Journals across arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Most journals are digitized back to the first issue, but recent content is usually not accessible for 3 to 5 years. Also contains Artstor and other image collections.
Kanopy
Collection of streaming videos in all genres, from documentaries to feature films to training videos.
MasterFILE Premier
Journals, magazines, reference books, and primary source documents across disciplines. Includes image collections and country reports.
Opposing Viewpoints (Gale in Context)
Provides information and discussion about current social issues and topics in the news and includes arguments from different viewpoints. Contains full-text articles, opinion pieces from reference sources, magazine and newspaper articles, pamphlets, transcripts, statistics, and links to selected websites.
Oxford Reference Online Premium
Contains dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press.
Oxford Scholarship Online
Scholarly e-books published by Oxford University Press covering a wide range of subjects.
Primary Sources Collection (ProQuest)
Access primary source collections, including Early English Books, 20th century newspapers, documents from the civil rights movement, US government records, film scripts, and much more!
Project Muse
Full-text access to scholarly journals and e-books in the arts and humanities, social sciences, and mathematics.
RaptorSearch
Find items located physically at the library along with most content that MC Library subscribes to online. Results may include articles from scholarly journals, books, e-books, videos, newspaper articles, and more.
SAGE Journals Online
Full-text access to SAGE journal subscriptions in fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, business, and humanities.
SIRS Issues Researcher
Explore current global social issues, offering analysis, pro/con articles, government documents, primary sources, and news and multimedia content. Topics include business and economics, world culture and politics, civil rights, social issues, health, and more.

Search for Sources

MC Library has access to different kinds of search tools:

RaptorSearch searches across most of the information that you can access through MC Library. Find books, e-books, streaming audio and video, and DVDs and CDs, as well as articles and other electronic resources from databases available through the library.
Databases are collections of articles, videos, images, or other types of sources. Some databases cover only one research area, like psychology or English. Other databases cover multiple research areas and are called multidisciplinary databases. Some databases are based on source type, like photographs or videos, instead of research area.

Use the tabs in the Search Tools box on this page to find suggested search tools to use for a variety of types of sources.

MC students, faculty, and staff can access all of our search tools and online resources from on- or off-campus.

Research Skills & Tips:

How to Access Library E-Resources

Identify Different Types of Information Sources
by Niyati Pandya Last Updated May 27, 2025 902 views this year

Unlike Google, library databases can't understand an entire sentence. You'll need to break your topic down into the most important ideas: the keywords. Keywords are individual words or short phrases that represent the main ideas in your topic, thesis, or research question.

Example Question: What time in U.S. history was facial recognition developed and used?

Keywords: U.S. history and "facial recognition"

After you've identified your main ideas and some keywords to start with, think of additional search terms for each concept. These can be synonyms, related ideas, broader terms, or narrower terms. Since a database will match only what you type, using different terms for similar ideas can help you find more articles.

Example Search Terms:

U.S. History: laws and immigration and citizenship
protest, "freedom of speech," censorship
content: information, misinformation, language
History and "facial recognition"

Click on the research issue you're having below to see tips for addressing it:

I'm Not Finding Enough Sources

I'm Finding Too Many Sources

I'm Finding Irrelevant Sources

None of These Tips Solved My Research Issue

Not Finding Enough Sources

Type the word OR between related search terms to get results containing either term. Put the related search terms in parentheses.
- Example: history and laws and immigrants or "U.S. citizens"
- Example: government and regulate and (Internet or "social media")
Use a truncation character (often the asterisk, *, but it can vary by search tool), which is a symbol added to the root of a word to tell the search tool that you want all forms of that word.
- Example: elect* will search for elect, election, elector, electoral, electorate, electing, etc.
Use a wildcard character (often the hash sign, #, but it can vary by search tool), which is a symbol that replaces any character in a word.
- Example: wom#n will search for woman or women.

Finding Too Many Sources

Type the word AND between the main ideas in your search to get results containing all ideas.
- Example: history and "facial recognition"
- Example: government and regulate and internet and "free speech"

Finding Irrelevant Sources

Type the word NOT before a search term that you do not want your search results to contain.
- Example: election not "united states"
Type quotation marks around a specific phrase to get search results that contain only that exact phrase.
- Example: "social media"
Use the search tool's filters to target search results that will meet your needs. You'll find filters on the search results screen. The exact location and filtering options varies by search tool.
- Example: use a publication date filter to find sources published in the last five years.
- Example: use a source type filter to find only articles or only videos.

If the options above did not help you find useful results, you may want to:

change your search terms,
select a different search tool,
make your topic broader or narrower, or
get research help from a librarian.

Research Skills & Tips:

Search Library Databases Effectively
by Niyati Pandya Last Updated May 27, 2025 309 views this year

Get Research Help

After you've selected your search tool, identified keywords, and fixed research issues, it's time to choose your sources. It is common to get more search results than you will use, so you must evaluate the sources you find to choose the best ones for your research.

Start by scanning the search results to locate sources that fit your research question or need. The search results page will include information about each source, such as the title, year, and abstract, to help you determine its relevance.

Once you've found a source you'd like to use, evaluate its credibility by considering the evidence, source, context, audience, purpose, and execution of the source. Learn more on the Evaluate Information and Fake News guide linked below.

Research Skills & Tips:

MC Library's Evaluating Information Tutorial

Evaluate Information and Fake News
by Niyati Pandya Last Updated May 27, 2025 508 views this year

Understanding Misinformation Tutorial
Finding Diverse Points of View Tutorial
Introduction to Maps and Geographic Literacy Tutorial
All Sides Presents media stories on topics, labeling each from the left, right or center.
FactCheck.org Check the accuracy of statements, including advertisements, from politicians, pundits and special interest groups.
Snopes Fact-checking site for "urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation".

Find Sources

This page will help you choose where and how to search for your sources. As you search, use the tips on this page to help you evaluate each source you find.

Journals by Title

If you want to locate a particular journal, magazine, or newspaper, instead of an individual article, use the Journals by Title feature in RaptorSearch. Search by publication title, such as Newsweek or Psychological Bulletin, or get a list of all journals on your topic by browsing through the journal categories.

Find Journals by Title

Identify Different Types of Information Sources
by Niyati Pandya Last Updated May 27, 2025 902 views this year

Where do I go in the Library?

Browse the library shelves in these call number areas to find materials relating to history of each region:

D 1 - 2009: History, general

DA 1 - DR 2285: History of Europe

DE 1 - 100: History of the Greco-Roman World

DS 1 - 937: History of Asia

DT 1 - 3415: History of Africa

DU 1 - 950: History of Oceania

E 11 - 143: History of America

F 1 - 975: History of the United States

F 1201 - 3799: History of Latin America

Suggested Websites for History

American Historical Association
The American Presidency Project
Civil Rights Digital Archive (Digital Library of Georgia)
Digital Collection at the Library of Congress
Digital Collections - Harvard University
Enslaved: Peoples of Historic Slave Trade “Enslaved: Peoples of the Historic Slave Trade, a free, public clearinghouse that launched December 2020 with seven smaller, searchable databases, will for the first time allow anyone from academic historians to amateur family genealogists to search for individual enslaved people around the globe in one central online location.”
Library of Congress
National Archives
PBS - History
Pew Research Center
Royal Collection Trust: George III’s Collection of Military Maps
Smithsonian Libraries
World History Association