Start Your Research
Fuzzy on the details? Lacking inspiration for a topic?
Read up on cold war topics by consulting background sources like encyclopedias and dictionaries.
Encyclopedia of Cold War Politics by Call Number: Reference E840 .T57 2000ISBN: 0816035741Publication Date: 2000-08-01"Encyclopedia of Cold War Politics is a concise yet comprehensive A-to-Z reference on the period from World War II to the demise of the Soviet Union. Its 700 entriesThe Cold War Encyclopedia by
Call Number: Reference D840 .P28 1996ISBN: 0805027785Publication Date: 1996-01-01
Encyclopedia of the Cold War by Call Number: Request from ARS - D843 .A668 1994ISBN: 0816019754Publication Date: 1994-06-01This work offers A to Z information on the political struggle that has dominated East-West relations since 1945 and which, until the last few years, has seemed irrevocable. The rivalry between the superpowers is delineated, particularly in terms of the potential effects of thermonuclear weapons.
Search for Articles
Use these library databases to search for scholarly information. They give you more control over your search than Google Scholar.
- America: History and Life with Full Text This link opens in a new windowThis database provides articles, books, book reviews, and dissertations on the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistoric times to the present, and publication dates go from the late 19th century to the present.
- Historical Abstracts with full-text This link opens in a new windowContains articles, books, book reviews, and dissertations on the history of the world (except United States and Canada) from the 15th century to the present, and publication dates go from the 19th century to the present.
- Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective This link opens in a new windowThis database tells where to find scholarly journal articles related to the humanities and social sciences, published from 1907 to 1984. It also covers articles published in many important scientific journals from 1907 through the 1950s.
- Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new windowThis database provides brief summaries of, and information on where to find, English-language articles in the most important journals in the humanities, published from 1984 to the present.
Search for Books
Use OSCAR, the Library's catalog, to search for books SCU Library owns or subscribes to.
You can also use OneSearch to search for books, and then narrow it to Library Catalog in the result screen.
- OneSearchA search engine that lets you simultaneously search across a range of library research tools.
- Interlibrary LoanFind out more about requesting books and articles from other libraries.
Primary Sources
Primary source collections on the open web
- Wilson Center Digitial ArchivesConstructed and maintained by the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program, the Digital Archive contains declassified historical materials from archives around the world, much of it in English translation. The historical documents presented in the ever-expanding Digital Archive provide unique insights into recent international history, and serve to deepen and enrich international scholarship, history education, and public policy debate on important global issues and challenges.
- National ArchivesThe National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation's record keeper. Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1%-3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept by us forever.
Those valuable records are preserved and are available to you, whether you want to see if they contain clues about your family’s history, need to prove a veteran’s military service, or are researching a historical topic that interests you. - Hoover Institution Cold War DocumentsThe Hoover Institution at Stanford University is dedicated to the study of war for the purpose of making peace. It contains more than six thousand archival collections.
- Cold War International History ProjectA digital collection of documents, many from the Soviet Union. Includes a section on the collapse of the Soviet Union, and also on the "Soviet Union and the Olympics)
- Cold War Dispatches: Service Stories from 1947-1991From the Library of Congress, this collection features narratives from a dozen veterans that served during the cold war period.
- Political Cartoons by Herblock and Others About the Cold WarFrom the Library of Congress, this collection contains important responses to world affairs. Few American editorial cartoonists favored the Soviet government during the Cold War, but they had divergent responses to the fear of nuclear warfare.
Primary source collections available through SCU Library
- Literaturnaia Gazeta Digital Archive This link opens in a new windowContains full text scans of this important newspaper from the Soviet Union, all issues from 1921 to 2014.
- Socialism on Film This link opens in a new windowDocumentaries, newsreels, and other features that examines the themes of Socialist war and revolution, news, current affairs, culture and society as fjilmed by Soviet, Chinese, VIetnamese, East European, Brtish and Latin American filmmakers. Early twentieth century to the 1980s.
- Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new windowThe Times of London newspaper archive presents coverage from 1785 to November 29, 2014, covering global events as well as cultural interests from the humanities, business, political science, and philosophy.
On the Front Lines of the Cold War: Documents on the intelligence war in Berlin, 1946 to 1961 by Call Number: Folio DD881 .O55 1999ISBN: 1929667019Publication Date: 1999-11-01
The Cold War: A History Through Documents by Call Number: D839.3 .C57 1999ISBN: 0137612893Publication Date: 1998-06-02This comprehensive collection of more than 100 edited documents (speeches, treaties, statements, and articles) traces the Cold War - from its roots at Yalta and Potsdam in 1945 through the collapse of the Soviet state in 1991 - making the great events of the era come alive through the words of those who were involved
