How to Find Sources through America: History & Life

America: History and Life is a database that allows you to search listings of scholarly journal articles, books, and other sources, including many in full text. It covers North American history from the earliest times to the present. In other words, in spite of its title, America: History and Life contains material on both U.S. AND Canadian history topics.

Search Terms

At the main search page, enter combinations of your search terms at the top. In this example, I've indicated that I want to find sources that mention the words "Canada" "housing" and "race."

Search Limiters

At the bottom of the same page, you can add limits to your search in advance, like specifying the historical period you're studying or the language of publication. Click "Search," then review the list of results that come up. If your search has produced too many results, try adding further limits using the options to refine your results in the column on the left side of the page.

If your search hasn't brought up the results you were hoping for, try changing the search terms you're using. This can produce results that you might not otherwise come across.

Selecting a Source

Once you've found a source that seems promising, click on its title to get further information and, if available, to access the full text. Before accessing and reading the whole source, review details such as the abstract to determine if the source is going to be useful. An abstract is a short description. The official subject terms listed in the record are particularly useful. If you see one that's relevant, click on it to see if there are other sources classified in the same way.

Links on the left side of the page will indicate if the full text of the source is available in the database. If the source isn't available in full text in the database itself, click on the "Get it at Guelph" link to check if full text is available through another one of our databases. Don't forget to try a variety of different searches using different combinations of terms to achieve different results.

And if you have any further questions, just ask us.

Need Help? Get help via chat or email via the Library website, phone us at 519-824-4120 ext 53617 or visit the AskUs Desk