Starting Point
History 104: Post-Confederation Canadian History

This guide will provide you with a starting point for research in your subject area.

Step 1: Define Your Topic

To help you in this process, use specialized encyclopedias and handbooks located in the reference collection, or chapters from a current textbook to give you a short overview of your research subject. These articles are written by experts on the topic and they often include other references listed at the end of the article. You can be assured that the references listed there are authoritative sources and well worth obtaining for your paper. Some reference books that may be useful:

	Ref FC 23 .C36	Canadian Encyclopedia - online version
	Ref FC 23 .H67	Horizon Canada (10 volumes)
	Ref FC 23 .O94	Oxford Companion to Canadian History
	Ref FC 25 .D53	Dictionary of Canadian Biography - online version
	Ref FC 3804 .E52	Encyclopedia of British Columbia
	Ref FC 2154 .E52	Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador
	Ref FC 3504 .E53	Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan
	Ref FC 24 .F58	Fitzhenry and Whiteside Book of Canadian Facts and Dates
	Ref HN 103.5 .R42	Recent Social Trends in Canada, 1960-2000
	Ref HV 12 .E497	Encyclopedia of Social Welfare History in North America
	Ref E 77 .H25	Handbook of North American Indians
	Ref E 76.2 .G74	Encyclopedia of the First Peoples of North America
	Ref E 98 .E2 E52	Encyclopedia of Native American Economic History
	Ref E 77 .G15	Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes
	Ref E 77 .P89	Native Americans: an Encyclopedia of History, Cultures and Peoples
	Ref G 1116 .S1 H582	Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples

Step 2: Look for Books

Begin your research by checking for your topic in the library catalogue. Remember to click the VIEW button to display the long record for an item and then examine the Subject terms at the bottom of the record. Click on appropriate relevant Subject terms to see if there are any other items available on your topic. Some useful Canadian history Subject Terms include:

British Columbia - Politics and government
Canada - History - Confederation, 1867-
Canada - Politics and government
Canada - Social conditions
Canada - Social life and customs
Crime - Canada - History
Native Peoples - Canada - History
Riel Rebellion
Women - Canada - History

If you don't find enough appropriate material on your topic in the CNC Library, check bibliographies to find references to other works that have been published on your topic. Then once again check the CNC Library catalogue, other local libraries or order the items from out of town libraries via the Interlibrary Loan service. Obtaining books or journals via Interlibrary Loan can take up to two weeks, so do your research early. Some very useful bibliographies are:

	Ref FC 104 .E56	Introducing Canada: an Annotated Bibliography of Canadian History
	Ref FC 500 .R4	Reader's Guide to Canadian History, vol. 2

If your topic is about the history of women in Canada, First Nations history, etc. some specialized bibliographies are:

	Ref HQ 1150 .C52	Changing Women, Changing History
	Ref HQ 1453 .Z953	True Daughters of the North
	Ref HQ 792 .C2 S97	History of Canadian Childhood and Youth: a Bibliography
	Ref FC 3822 .J6	B.C. Bibliography 1849-1899
	Ref F 591 .S64	The American and Canadian West: a Bibliography
	Ref KE 8813 .A1 S62	Canadian Criminal Justice History
	Ref E 78 .B9 S728	Native Indians in British Columbia
	Ref E 92 .S7	Canadian Indian Policy

Other Reference Sources

	Ref FC 23 .G69	Historical Dictionary of Canada
	Ref HQ 1416 .M395	Women in Early America: Struggle, Survival and Freedom in a New World
	Ref FC 26 .W6 F67	100 Canadian Heroines: Famous and Forgotten Faces
	Ref FC 226 .C32	Canada at War and Peace: a Millennium of Military Heritage
	Ref FC 18 .R43	A Source-book of Canadian History
	Ref FC 36 .A7	Origin and Meaning of Place Names in Canada
	Ref FC 226 .C32	Canada at War and Peace
	Ref G 1116 .S1 H58	Historical Atlas of Canada: from the Beginning to 1800
	Ref G 1116 .S1 H582	Concise Historical Atlas of Canada
	Ref F 851 .H38	Historical Atlas of the Pacific Northwest
	Ref G 1174 .V3 H39	Historical Atlas of Vancouver and the lower Fraser Valley
	Ref G 1116 .S1 H39	Historical Atlas of Canada
	Ref G 2862 .N6 S12 H3	Historical Atlas of the North Pacific Ocean
	Ref G 1122.51 .S1 H57	Historical Atlas of the Maritime Provinces 1878

Step 3: Use Periodical Articles

Periodicals offer excellent information. To locate articles in your subject area, use the online indexes - Canadian Reference Centre and Canadian Business and Current Affairs Index for articles published after 1982 - and the paperbound Canadian Periodical Index for articles published before 1982. Once you have located article citations, if the article is not in fulltext online, click on the Where can I get this? button to see if the journal is available in either the CNC or UNBC libraries. If the article is not available locally, get it from another B.C. library by clicking on the Check other library catalogues button to request the item online via Interlibrary Loan. Remember to order items early!

Step 4: Check Canadian History Websites

From the Library page click on Web Subject Sites - History to find a list of recommended Canadian history websites.

Have fun! If you have comments or suggestions, email me at chulka@cnc.bc.ca