Day by Day... Decade by Decade

Library Catalog - Find Books, Media and Pamphlets

PCC's online catalog is a database of books, media, pamphlets and course reserves located in the library's collection. To find resources in the library by subject, you will need a call number which is based on the Dewey Decimal Classification System and leads you to the specific item on the shelf. To find the call number, use the library's online catalog.

Basic Search

Use the Basic Search to look for an item using its exact subject heading, title or author's name (last, first). Select the type in the words.

To find information about a person, use Basic Search by subject.
To find information on a topic, use Basic Search by subject.

To search by subject, select 'Subject Search', then type in the subject heading.

Examples of subject headings:

  • United States - Civilization - 1945-
  • History, Modern - 20th century - Chronology
  • Asia - History - Chronology

Check related subjects too:

  • Renaissance
  • China - History - 1949- -Chronology

To search by title, select 'Title', then type in the first few words of the title. Skip the first word of the title if it is an article, e.g. 'a', 'an' or 'the'.

To search by author, select 'Author', then type in the author's last name, then first name, e.g. 'Hemingway, Ernest'.

Advanced Search

If Basic Search is unsuccessful use Advanced Search to combine topics.

  • Examples: UNITED STATES HISTORY (phrase, subject) AND INDIANS (all, keyword) STAMP ACT (phrase,keyword)

Use the KEYWORD Search to look for an item using part of the title or to combine topics:
To search by keyword, type in the words you want to search for then select from the menu whether you want to search for ALL THE WORDS, ANY OF THE WORDS (e.g., RNA or ribonucleic acid), or the WORDS AS A PHRASE (e.g., chemical elements). You can also use the KEYWORD search to combine topics.

Examples of combined searches:

Search for: Africa[any of these words], Search in: [ Subject]
AND
Search for: Chronology Chronologies [any of these words], Search in: [Keyword Anywhere]

Search for: United States [as a phrase], Search in: [Keyword Anywhere]
AND
Search for: History [all of these], Search in: [Subject]
AND
Search for:Chronology [all of these], Search in: [Subject]

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2. Reference Books

Basically, there are two kinds of reference books: general resources, which are broad in scope and deal with all fields; and specialized resources, which deal with specific disciplines such as World History or United States History.  The titles cited below are only a representative sample of many specialized reference books that are available in the library.

Chronologies and Series

  • REF 917.3 A 30  America in the 20th Century.  Various Authors.
    New York: Marshall Cavandish, 1995.
    An encyclopedia and chronology of events to 1994 in 10 volumes and an index.

  • REF 973.92 A 2  American Decades.  Edited by Richard Layman.
    Detroit: Gale Research, 1994-
    In 10 volumes covering 1900-1999. Each volume covers a decade and is arranged by broad category with a chronology by year.

  • REF 902.82 C 2, 1999  20th Century day by day.
    New York: DK Publishing, 1999.
    International scope.  Highlights key dates and events by month.

  • REF 902 W 1, 1994 Chronology of the Modern World: 1763-1992. By Neville Williams and Philip Waller.  2nd ed.   Presents two chronologies of international events: one by year, month and day on the left side and one by broad category on the right side.

  • REF 902.824 L 1  Day by Day: The Forties  (c1977).  Day by Day: The Fifties (c1979).  Day by Day: The Sixties (c1983).  Day by Day: The Seventies (c1988).  Day by Day: The Eighties (c1995).  Day by Day: The Nineties (c2004)   New York: Facts on File.  Various Authors.
    A "day by day" chronology by category with some photographs.

  • REF 902 G 1, 2005  Timetables of History: A Historical Linkage of People and Events.
    By Bernard Grun.  4th ed.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 2005.

  • REF 973 O 3-  Our American Century.  by the editors of Time-Life Books, Alexandria, VA: Time Life, 1998-2000.

Encyclopedias and Almanacs

  • REF 973.2 C 1-5, 1997  Encyclopedia of American Facts and Dates. By Gorton Carruth.

    10th ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1997. 
    Covers American events by year and day through 1996.

  • REF 902 C 2 Encyclopedia of World Facts and Dates. Edited by Gorton Carruth.

    1st ed.  New York: HarperCollins, 1993.
    Arranged by year and by category on facing pages, prehistory to 1992.

  • REF 394.26 H 9, 1999  Holidays and Anniversaries of the World: A Comprehensive Catalogue Containing Detailed Information on Every Month and Day of the Year. Beth A. Baker, ed. 
    3rd ed.  Detroit: Gale Research, 1999.
  • REF 310 W 1  World Almanac and Book of Facts.  The Library has volumes for most years  1932 - present.  NOTE: Events of the year are summarized in the Almanac of the following year.  Use the index to find the “chronology” section.
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3. Databases and Indexes - Find Articles

  • Use Newspapers on Microfilm to find news for a particular day or about an event in history.
    The microfilm cabinets are located on the 1st floor (downstairs) of the library.  Please ask the student assistant for help loading and viewing the microfilm.


    Los Angeles Times 1972- present           New York Times  1940- present

  • To locate magazine or newspaper articles by subject use a database (Proquest Direct or SIRS) for articles from the early to mid 80s through the current day.

  • You may also locate articles by using a print index, such as the Readers' Guide.  This index includes articles from 1900 through the current year.

    REF 016.05 R 1-2 (2nd floor/main level)  Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature.

  • From the Shatford Library Web page choose Periodical Title List (under Find Articles) to see which magazines are available for a particular date.  The Library has these popular magazines and many others.


    Newsweek 1933- present                       Time 1923- present

  • Daily Life Through History & World Cultures Today  This database is browsable by topic and timeline.

  • Discovering Collection  Try the "Timeline Search".
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5. Resources on the World Wide Web

Use a Web Subject Directory.  Select a category such as "U.S. History"  Or use a Web Search Engine to search by key words for a particular event or time period (eg. "Fifties")

The Librarians' Internet Index  www.lii.org  

Google Directory:   Follow the links in this order: Society, History, By Time Period      

Altavista:  Follow the links in this order:  Arts & Humanities, History, By Region, Subject or Time Period.

Or try these specific resources:

20th Century History By the Decades From the Chico High School Library

History Explorer: a timeline of stories from our exhibits, collections and programs.  From the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
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last updated: 04/10/2008 by p. johnson revision #2