History 103: Pre-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:
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Ref FC 23 .C36
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Canadian Encyclopedia
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Ref FC 23 .H67
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Horizon Canada (10 volumes)
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Ref FC 23 .O94
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Oxford Companion to Canadian History
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Ref FC 25 .D53
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Dictionary of Canadian Biography
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Ref E 77 .H25
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Handbook of North American Indians
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Ref E 76.2 .G74
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Encyclopedia of the First Peoples of North America
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Ref E 98 .E2 E52
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Encyclopedia of Native American Economic History
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Ref E 77 .G15
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Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes
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Ref D 25 .A2 I58
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International Encyclopedia of Military History
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Ref E 77 .P89
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Native Americans: an Encyclopedia of History, Cultures and Peoples
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Ref G 1116 .S1 H582
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Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples
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Step 2: Look for Books
Begin your research by checking for your topic in the library catalogue. Remember to click the item record to display the description 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:
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Canada - History - To 1763 (New France)
- Canada - History - War of 1812
- Canada - Social life and customs
- Fur trade - Canada - History
- Maritime Provinces - History - to 1867
If you don't find enough appropriate material on your topic in the CNC Library, contact the CNC reference librarian. If necessary the librarian can be contacted by phone or email. Additional services include the virtual reference AskAway which operates during the semesters. Students can contact AskAway 7 days a week including evenings and weekends for assistance.
Other local libraries like UNBC can also be utilized for research and books can be taken out, and the UNBC databases can be accessed on-site at UNBC for material. Material not found in Prince George can be requested through Interlibrary Loan service. Obtaining books via Interlibrary Loan can take up to two weeks, and journal articles up to a week, so do your research early. Some very useful bibliographies are:
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Ref FC 104 .E56
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Introducing Canada: an Annotated Bibliography of Canadian History
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Ref FC 500 .R4
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Reader's Guide to Canadian History, vol. 1
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If your topic is about the history of women in Canada, First Nations history, etc. some specialized bibliographies are:
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Ref HQ 1150 .C52
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Changing Women, Changing History
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Ref HQ 1453 .Z953
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True Daughters of the North
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Ref HQ 792 .C2 S97
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History of Canadian Childhood and Youth: a Bibliography
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Ref FC 3822 .J6
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B.C. Bibliography 1849-1899
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Ref F 591 .S64
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The American and Canadian West: a Bibliography
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Ref KE 8813 .A1 S62
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Canadian Criminal Justice History
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| Ref E 78 .B9 S728
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Native Indians in British Columbia
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Ref E 92 .S7
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Canadian Indian Policy
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Ref E 99 .A86 M33
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Indians of the Subarctic: a Critical Bibliography
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Ref FC 179 .C66
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A Scholar's Guide to Geographical Writing on the American and Canadian Past
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Other Reference Sources
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Ref FC 23 .G69
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Historical Dictionary of Canada
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Ref HQ 1416 .M395
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Women in Early America: Struggle, Survival and Freedom in a New World
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Ref FC 26 .W6 F67
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100 Canadian Heroines: Famous and Forgotten Faces
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Ref G 1106 .S12 H3
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America Discovered: a Historical Atlas of North American Exploration
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Ref FC 226 .C32
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Canada at War and Peace: a Millennium of Military Heritage
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Ref FC 24 .F58
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Fitzhenry & Whiteside Book of Canadian Facts and Dates
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Ref FC 24 .H55
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Canada 875-1973: a Chronology and Fact Book
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Ref FC 18 .R43
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A Source-book of Canadian History
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Ref FC 3212.1 .F73 H85
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Simon Fraser, the birth of modern British Columbia: Vancouver Sun special report series 2006
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Ref FC 36 .A7
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Origin and Meaning of Place Names in Canada
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Ref FC 226 .C32
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Canada at War and Peace
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Ref G 1116 .S1 T7
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Atlas of New France
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Ref G 1116 .S1 H58
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Historical Atlas of Canada: from the Beginning to 1800
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Ref G 1116 .S1 H582
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Concise Historical Atlas of Canada
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Ref F 851 .H38
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Historical Atlas of the Pacific Northwest
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Ref G 1174 .V3 H39
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Historical Atlas of Vancouver and the lower Fraser Valley
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Ref G 1116 .S1 H39
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Historical Atlas of Canada
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Ref G 2862 .N6 S12 H3
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Historical Atlas of the North Pacific Ocean
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Ref G 1122.51 .S1 H57
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Historical Atlas of the Maritime Provinces 1878
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Step 3: Use Periodical Articles
Periodicals offer excellent information. To locate articles in your subject area, use the online indexes - Canadian Reference Centre and Academic Search Complete. Once you have located article citations, if the article is not in fulltext online, click on the Request This Item button to request the material through Interlibrary Loan. Don't forget that you have access to the UNBC library for both catalogued books as well as their Library Databases (UNBC Databases must be used in the UNBC library to be properly accessed). Remember to order Interlibrary Loan items early!
Have fun! If you have comments or suggestions, email me at lovittj@cnc.bc.ca