The following sampler of online resources offers graduate students in history and public history at the University of South Carolina some starting points and leads for locating research materials. This list is by no means comprehensive, and students are encouraged also to consult Dennis A. Trinkle and Scott A. Merriman, eds., The History Highway 3.0, (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2002) for suggestions on additional online resources.

GENEALOGICAL:

Ancestry.com
http://www.ancestry.com

A commercial website for completing genealogical research, it nevertheless offers countless links to free genealogical data, full-text search on newspapers and slave narratives, as well as helpful hints on how to conduct genealogical research. A good companion site to be used in conjunction with Family Search, this portal allows state-by-state genealogical searches.

Related genealogical sites:

http://searches.rootsweb.com

Family Search, from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons)

http://www.familysearch.org

An absolutely indispensable site for those conducting genealogical research, this resource provides direct access to the world's largest database of family history data, including the US 1880 Census and links to the European genealogical database. If you are just starting a genealogy project or doing genealogical work for the first time, this is the place to start.

The USGenWeb Project

http://www.usgenweb.com

A gateway site of sorts for genealogical research, this site provides links to data at the state and county levels, as well as archives of public domain records available online. Operated by volunteers, the site allows genealogical records browsing that can be hit and miss, but this is still a very worthwhile site to check out.

DIGITAL MANUSCRIPT RESOURCES:

The Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov
Gateway site to a dizzying array of digitized historical materials, including the following resources:

American Memory: Access to Historical Collections for the National Digital Library, including US Congressional documents, various Presidential papers, documents on slavery and the law, slave narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 19th century periodicals and books, photographic collections, Civil War manuscripts and images (including maps), early advertising, and early baseball card images. Other subsections include massive collections on Agriculture, Education, Performing Arts, Religion, and Political Science, among others.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/collections/finder.html

Global Gateway: The cyber on-ramp to library collections throughout the world, including access to international cybercasts, digital collections, and online exhibits.

Thomas: Direct access to full-text versions of congressional legislation and treaties within the last 30 years or so.
Exhibitions: Access to dozens of online versions of Library of Congress exhibitions.

The Digital Library of Georgia

http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu

Web portal to various online digitized books, manuscripts, and photographs related to Georgia's history, including various family papers and diaries, access to historic Georgia newspapers, government documents for certain Georgia cities, Native American documents, and Jimmy Carter's daily diary from 1971-81.

Documenting the American South (UNC-Chapel Hill)

http://docsouth.unc.edu

An essential website for Americanists, this site offers full-text and digitized versions of important primary source materials, including the North American slave narratives, various Southern literature, Civil War documents and accounts, and other first-person accounts of life in the American South. Users may browse the materials in the collection by subject.

Making of America (Cornell University)

http://moa.cit.cornell.edu/moa

The first of two "Making of America" gateways, this important website offers full-text and digitized images of numerous primary source journals and books from the antebellum period through Reconstruction. This site has a special emphasis on New England publications and includes access to Harper's New Monthly Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, both Scribner's publications, and Scientific American, among others. It also includes the complete text of The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.

Making of America (University of Michigan)

http://moa.umdl.umich.edu

The second of two "Making of America" gateways, this important website offers full-text and digitized images of numerous primary source journals and books from the antebellum period through Reconstruction. This site has a special emphasis on Southern journals and includes access to Debow's, Southern Literary Messenger, Princeton Review, and Southern Quarterly Review.

Legal Information Institute at Cornell University

http://supct.law.cornell.edu:8080/supct

This site offers access to a huge database of summary and full-text decisions of recent and historical US Supreme Court cases, as well as some other federal court decisions. This is an excellent resource for anyone working in constitutional or legal history.

HarpWeek: Explore History

http://www.harpweek.com

This site offers free access to select articles and images from Harper's Weekly. In addition, some public and institutional libraries (including USC) offer full-text access to the complete database of articles. See the electronic resources page for the USC Libraries for access (requires proxy configuration).

This site includes Toward Racial Equality, a collection of selected Harper's Weekly articles printed between 1857 and 1874, all related to the Black experience in America.

http://blackhistory.harpweek.com

DPLS On-Line Data Archive: Slave Movement During the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

http://dpls.dacc.wisc.edu/slavedata/index.html

This site offers access to "raw data and documentation" on slave movement in the Atlantic World. This is an excellent resource for those studying slavery. Free registration required for access to some materials.

The Slave Trade Archives Project

http://webworld.unesco.org/slave_quest/en/links.html

A UNESCO-sponsored site, this gateway offers access to dozens of online archives documenting the world slave trade.

Race and Slavery Petitions Project

http://history.uncg.edu/slaverypetitions/transcriptions/11683834.htm

Sponsored by UNC-Greensboro, this project attempts to collect and publish all surviving legislative and court slavery petitions. The site is designed to allow for searching the petitions in the database.

The Virginia Runaways Project

http://www.wise.virginia.edu/history/runaways

This site offers a digital database of print media advertisements and announcements regarding slave runaways in Virginia between 1736 and 1790. The site also offers links to other helpful resources on the study of American slavery.

African American History Digital Library

http://www.academicinfo.net/africanamlibrary.html

This site serves as a gateway to a large collection of online resources on the African American experience, containing many of the familiar cites mentioned elsewhere in this guide, plus a few new ones.

The Freedmen's Bureau Online

http://www.freedmensbureau.com

This gateway site offers access to selected records associated with the Freedmen's Bureau, as well as links to other related useful sites.

Accessible Archives Inc.

http://www.accessible.com

Gateway site for access to Godey's Lady's Book, The Pennsylvania Gazette, certain African-American newspapers, and various American county histories. Requires subscription for a fee.

NATIONAL, STATE, REGIONAL, AND LOCAL LIBRARIES & SOCIETIES

National Archives Records Administration, Southeast Region

http://www.archives.gov/facilities/ga/atlanta/holdings.html

This site offers access to the archival holdings records of NARA's Southeast Region, and it's searchable by subject or records group number. Through this site, one can determine the archival holdings related to countless governmental offices and agencies, indicating appropriate microfilm information where appropriate. This is the starting point for anyone planning to use NARA records relating to this region. Through some site navigation, you can gain access to the other regional NARA offices and make searches there as well.

Main page for the National Archives:
http://www.archives.gov/index.html

South Carolina Department of Archives and History

http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/homepage.htm

Although digitized versions of records are not available through this site, this link will provide you with basic information about the state archives facility and allows for an email request service for limited searches within the collection. Generally speaking, researchers should plan to visit the archives to conduct any relevant research.

The South Carolina Historical Society

http://www.schistory.org

Online home of the state historical society, located in Charleston, this site offers an online catalog of genealogical, manuscript, and other published materials at the society, as well as online exhibits on plantations in the state and the state's role in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.

Auburn University Special Collections and Archives

http://www.lib.auburn.edu/sca

Offers an "Alabama History Resources" page, with links to Alabama history websites, as well as information about the manuscript collections at Auburn, including large collections focused on southern architecture, the Civil War, Alabama politics, and agricultural and rural life in Alabama.

Southern Historical Collection and General and Literary Manuscripts (UNC Chapel Hill)

http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/shcgl.html

Offers searchable access to the manuscript collections at UNC Chapel Hill, with a special emphasis on antebellum South, Civil War, and Reconstruction South materials.

Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University

http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/specoll/

Offers searchable access to the manuscript and archival collections at Duke University, as well as access to numerous digitized collections, including early American advertising, American sheet music, the writings of various African-American and Civil War women, and images from ancient Egyptian papyri.

South Caroliniana Library at the University of South Carolina

http://www.sc.edu/library/socar/index.html

It might seem a no-brainer to list this here, but this is an important gateway for many history students at Carolina. Containing general information about the South Caroliniana Library, as well as access to descriptions of some of the larger Manuscript and Modern Political collections (including finding aids) and numerous links to other online resources, the Carolina grad student in American history should start any search for research materials here.

Deep South Regional Humanities Center

http://deepsouth.tulane.edu

This is the home site of Tulane's effort to establish a clearinghouse of resources for the study of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The site offers links to state, regional, and national organizations and resources.

Records of Antebellum Southern Plantations From the Revolution through the Civil War

http://www.lexisnexis.com/academic/2upa/ash/antebellumsouthernplantations.htm

A detailed listing of available microfilm series from University Publications of America, this website is useful to those looking to order microfilm reels for personal use (as an alternative to paying high copying fees at research institutions or waiting for delivery of reels through interlibrary loan). Proxy configuration may be required.

Repositories of Primary Sources (University of Idaho)

http://www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html

A gateway to over 5000 websites offering primary source material on various aspects of American, Canadian, Latin American, European, Asian, and African History, this site puts you in touch with countless college and university libraries, historical sites, research centers, and archival collections.

ENCYCLOPEDIC RESOURCES

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp

This is a database of all individuals who have served in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, including complete biographical entries on each. This is an incredibly useful site for those doing any sort of US political history work.

The Political Graveyard

http://politicalgraveyard.com/index.html

Subtitled "The Internet's Most Comprehensive Source of U.S. Political Biography, or, The Web Site That Tells Where the Dead Politicians are Buried," this strange little site offers brief biographies on "107,137 Politicians, Judges, Diplomats," which can be very useful when obscure or unfamiliar names pop up in manuscript sources. And you can visit their gravesites during summer break!

Virtual American Biographies, Book I: Continental Discovery to 1899

http://www.famousamericans.net

Used with some caution, this site is a cheap alternative to the subscription-based American National Biography Online ($89 per year at http://www.anb.org), offering fairly comprehensive entries based--apparently--on Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887-1889 (with ongoing editing by volunteer teachers and students).

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, PUBLICATIONS, AND RESOURCES

It's difficult to be a financially strapped graduate student and also pay for all these memberships, but keep in mind that many offer student rates, and the savings from some of them--through association discounts on car, health, renter's, and life insurance, for example--sometimes pay for the annual dues many times over. And most include a free subscription to the associated journal of the organization.

Public History Resource Center Online

http://www.publichistory.org

Designed as an online publication, this website offers a variety of public history resources, including links to annotated publications, reviews of public history websites, information about public history programs, and general career information about the public history field.

History News Network

http://www.historynewsnetwork.org/

This is the forum/blog clearinghouse for academic and independent historians--if it's a controversial topic in the field, they're probably talking about it here. The site covers a number of issues relevant to the profession, the historian's craft, and history in general.

The History Cooperative

http://www.historycooperative.org

Join the AHA and the OAH, and you can read your journals online! This site also offers a search function for a half dozen other history journals in addition to the AHR and the JAH, but subscription is required to access these current issues through this site.

American Historical Association

http://www.theaha.org
This is the home of the American Historical Review and Perspectives.
AHA Resources for History Graduate Students:
http://www.theaha.org/grads
List of Affiliated Historical Groups and contact information:
http://www.theaha.org/affiliates

Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture

http://www.wm.edu/oieahc/index.html
This is the home of William and Mary Quarterly.

HNET: Humanities and Social Sciences Online

http://www2.h-net.msu.edu

This is a gateway site for dozens of listserv discussion groups on aspects of study of the humanities and social sciences, including book reviews, calls for papers, job lists, fellowship and grant announcements, and general discussion. Users can subscribe selectively to specific listserv groups.

Southern Historical Association

http://www.uga.edu/~sha
This is the home of the Journal of Southern History.

National Council on Public History

http://ncph.org
This is the home of The Public Historian and Public History News.

Organization of American Historians

http://www.oah.org
This is the home of the Journal of American History.

Cornell University's Fellowship Database

http://cuinfo.cornell.edu/Student/GRFN

A gift from the gods for graduate students, this database offers browsing of hundreds of fellowships and grants. Generally speaking, in this context "history" is considered a member of the "Humanities" family, though it's worth checking some of the other categories, "Social Sciences" in particular.

PRINT RESOURCES

The following reference items are helpful resources for historians. All should be available at the Thomas Cooper Library at USC.

The Combined Retrospective Index Set to Journals in History, 1838-1974. Location: Ref Z6205.C18
Note: Since America: History and Life and Historical Abstracts only start in the 1960s or so, this is one way to find older items in historical journals.

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections. Location: Ref Z6620.U5 N3
Note: This is not the place to start a search, since many institutions now have an online public access catalog, but it may be a way to find stuff that falls through the cracks. NUCM[u]C (as it is often called) is also available online now at http://lcweb.loc.gov/coll/nucmc.

Norton, Mary Beth, ed. The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature. 2 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Location: Ref Z6201.A55 1995
Note: This is an annotated bibliography of major works in historiography for all areas of history. Covers books only.

Vance, Lucile E., and others. Illustration Index. Multiple volumes.
Location: Ref N7525. V3
Note: For people trying to find images of certain things (like, say, a filing cabinet), this publication indexes images found in magazines through the ages (most recent volume came out in 1998).

Dictionary of American Biography. Comprehensive Index: Complete through Supplement Ten. New York: Scribner's, 1996. Location: Ref E176.D563 Index 1996
Note: Source for biographical information on famous Americans.

American National Biography. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Location: Ref CT213.A68 1999 Note: Same. These entries generally have good bibliographies. This resource is also available online by subscription at http://www.anb.org.

Index to the National Cyclopedia of American Biography. Revised and updated ed. Clifton, N. J.: J. T. White, 1984. Location: Ref E176. N285 1984
Note: Same, but this is a much older and larger project than the other two.

Moore, John Hammond. South Carolina Newspapers. Columbia, S. C.: University of South Carolina Press, 1988. Location: Ready Ref Z6952.S7 M66 1988.
Note: Comprehensive listing of South Carolina Newspapers and where the major holdings are located.

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

All of the following are available on the campus network through the electronic indexes page of Thomas Cooper Library (http://www.sc.edu/library/ei.html), and most are available from home through the appropriate proxy configuration of your computer. See the Thomas Cooper Library staff for details.

America: History and Life
This is for American History.

Historical Abstracts
This is for the rest of the world, but only after 1450.

Humanities Abstracts
This has some of the same coverage as the two above, but also is a place to get articles that cover history prior to 1450.

WorldCat
This is the public face of OCLC, a union catalog for libraries across the globe.

Arts and Humanities Citation Index/Social Science Citation Index
History journals are included in both, but you can search both at the same time, so that's OK.

JSTOR
This index offers full-text articles and a fully searchable article database for just over a dozen history journals, in addition to scholarly journals in other fields. Articles may be printed from this site.

Dissertation Abstracts
Coverage of dissertations and some MA theses from 1861 to the present.