National History Day Subject Guide
Boolean Connectors
Use AND, OR, and NOT to connect search terms.
When you are creating a search to use in a library database, it's different than searching in the Google search engine. You cannot type in a question or a whole sentence. In order for a library database to understand your search, you will connect your search terms using the Boolean connectors AND, OR and NOT.
Search Examples:
magna carta
magna carta AND king john
magna carta AND (king john or england)
Resources Accessible from School, Home, or Public Library
You can access these databases anywhere. All you have to do is enter your Idaho Zip Code and City. Some of these databases may also be available through your school's or public library's site.
- The LiLI databases are freely available to all residents of Idaho.
- Go to: http://lili.org/
- Select a database from the list. You will then be prompted to enter your Zip Code and City.
- Some good databases for finding articles on the Grades 9-12 page:
- Academic Search Premier (articles from magazines, journals and newspapers)
- Digital Public Library of America (digital information related to American history)
- Explora Secondary (research for secondary schools)
- Gale Virtual Reference (online encyclopedias)
- History Reference Center (includes primary sources)
- Masterfile Premier (mostly magazines)
- Newspaper Source Plus (newspaper articles)
- World Book Advanced (For high school and new college students. An online general encyclopedia that includes some primary source documents)
Note: If a database link does not work, follow the instructions above for going directly to the lili.org site.
Resources Accessible Only at Boise State University's Albertsons Library
The following databases are some of the most useful ones for NHD research. However, these databases are only accessible at Boise State University's Albertsons Library or with a Boise State username and password.
See also the History subject guide at: http://guides.boisestate.edu/history
Note: If you do not have a Boise State University ID, you will not be able to access these databases off-campus. However, you can come to campus with a parent (with photo ID such as a driver's license) and obtain a login and password to use one of the four guest computers on the 1st floor of the Albertsons Library.
- New York Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Offers a digital reproduction of full-page images and article images from the New York Times dating back to 1851. It provides genealogists, researchers, and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.
- Los Angeles Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
A digital reproduction of the Los Angeles Times newspaper.
- America: History and Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Research database covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present, including hundreds of full-text history journals and books.
- Historical Abstracts with Full Text This link opens in a new window
A full-text database covering world history (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present including, world history, military history, women's history, history of education, and more.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Browse scholarly journals, books, and primary sources in the humanities, social sciences, and basic sciences from the earliest issues to within a few years of current publication. JSTOR now includes Artstor, collections of high-quality images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences disciplines, curated from leading museums and archives around the world.
Find It Button in Albertsons Library Databases
You will see the FIND IT button in many of the Albertson Library's article databases. If you do not see a link to the full text article, such as HTML or PDF full text, select the FIND IT button to possibly link to the article in another database or on a publisher's site.