Was the human cost of the French Revolution worth it?
Search Guide
Use these tips as you begin to search for materials:Call Numbers:
- 944.04 (French Revolution)
- 944.05 (18th Century France)
Subject Headings:
The Uni Library and other UIUC libraries have a variety of resources about the French Revolution. In our library, it's easiest just to browse the shelves. Search for books in the UIUC catalog by doing a SUBJECT HEADING search with the term France History Revolution, 1789-1799. Under just that main heading, there are 988 books! From there, browse through the alphabetical list of possible subheadings. You'll see a whopping 68 books under the heading France History Revolution, 1789-1799 Historiography.
Very Important: Before requesting books, make sure they are published in English!Databases
JSTOR
Older, full text articles from more than 100 journals in the social sciences and humanities. Most include full texts of complete journals from their inception up to a “moving wall,” which is a fixed period of time ranging, in most cases, from 2 to 5 years, that defines the gap between the most recently published issue and the date of the most recent issues available in JSTOR.
Search tips: Use the advanced search and limit your search to “articles.” Experiment with the fields you search. For example, try searching for “French Revolution” in the title of an article and “historiography” in the full text.
Project Muse searches full-text in over 150 journals supplied by 10 university presses. Click on the search button to start your search. Muse works well for more recent periodical issues, while JSTOR (see above) reproduces older volumes.
Search tips: Click on Search, then click on Advanced Search. Limit your search to “articles.” Experiment with the fields you search. For example, try searching for “French Revolution” in the title of an article and “historiography” in the full text.
Historical Abstracts
Identifies international articles, books, dissertations, and reviews on history since 1450, excluding the U.S. and Canada. Includes topics from the Renaissance to Tiananmen Square. Does NOT include full text -- once you find a promising citation, click on the link that will take you to a search in the online catalog or to full text that might be available through another database. You can also try a search for the journal title in the Online Research Resources page. Be aware that this database isn't particularly user friendly, so don't hesitate to ask for help.
Web Sites
General search tips:- When doing Google searches, type names in quotations marks
- Keep in mind that many names are spelled in alternate ways
- Look for credible sources
- Look for sites that offer bibliographies of sources
Britannica
A good place to find basic facts on a wide variety of subjects. Use this link to be prompted for the user name and password.
The Librarians' Internet Index
A good catch-all web directory with librarian-reviewed sites on diverse topics.
Try Google Scholar, which searches “open-to-the-free-web” peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts, and articles from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations.
Open Directory Project (French Revolution search results)
The Open Directory Project is a wiki-like web directory. Web users contribute sites and organize them by topic.
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution
Detail-rich site that includes topical essays, hundreds of images and documents, song recordings (including "La Marseillaise"), maps, a timeline, and a glossary. Covers the storming of the Bastille, Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte, and the fall of the monarchy. A project of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University and the American Social History Project at City University of New York. (annotation from Librarians' Internet Index).