LibGuides: FTS: For the Love of Books!: Historical and Cultural Context

Overview

Use the information on this page to determine how to best research your book's historical and cultural context. In addition to these sources, consult library research guides related to your topic, as they will also list recommended databases and reference books. The History guide, for example, contains a number of recommended reference books, as does our guide to American Cultures.

Historical Popular Magazines

Browse through this list of historical popular magazines. This list is organized by date ranges to help you find the periodicals that would have been active when your book was published. These magazines can give you a glimpse into the top news and pop culture trends from that time period.

Encyclopedias

American Decades Series by Vincent Tompkins (Editor); Victor Bondi (Editor); Judith Baughman
Call Number: Ref. E169.12 .A419 1994
ISBN: 9780787650766
Publication Date: 2000-12-01
Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World Part 1 Media, Industry, Society by Dave Laing (Editor); Paul Oliver (Editor); Peter Wicke (Editor); John Shepherd (Editor); David Horn (Editor)
ISBN: 0826463215
Publication Date: 2003-01-30
The Greenwood Guide to American Popular Culture by Dennis R. Hall
Call Number: Ref. E169.1 .H2643 2002
ISBN: 0313308780
Publication Date: 2002-11-30
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture by Gale Editor (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. E169.1 .J3 2013
ISBN: 9781558628472
Publication Date: 2013-05-07
Working Americans, 1880-2018 by Laura Mars (Editor)
ISBN: 1682177149
Publication Date: 2019-02-28
Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life by Gale Cengage Learning Staff (Editor)
ISBN: 9781410338969
Publication Date: 2016-12-22

Articles

Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
A good place to start research on most any subject. This multi-disciplinary database indexes nearly 8,050 publications and provides full text for nearly 4,600, including more than 3,900 peer-reviewed journals. Access is provided by eLibraryMN (ELM).
Access World News (Newsbank) This link opens in a new window
Provides the full text of global, regional and local news sources. Coverage ranges from over 40 Minnesota sources to international sources from over 200 countries.
America: History and Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Covers the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Includes hundreds of full-text journals.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is a digital library of journals, academic eBooks, images, and primary sources. JSTOR provides book and journal content from the date of initial publication up to a "moving wall" of 3 to 5 years before the present year.
New York Times Historical This link opens in a new window
The full text of the New York Times from 1851 to 4 years ago -- covering the entire publishing history of the newspaper back to the first issue. The newspaper text is fully indexed and searchable and the database also contains full-page images, including graphics.