America: History and Life provides records consisting of citations and abstracts for journal articles, dissertations and book reviews published since 1964. The database indexes over 2,000 journals covering United States and Canadian history from prehistory to the present.

Getting Started
From the UMass Amherst Digital Library, www.library.umass.edu, click Database Locator, then Display all titles, and select America: History and Life from the list. If prompted, enter your OIT username and password.

Searching
Simple Search
In the box labeled Keyword, enter a word(s) or phrase to retrieve records where the keyword(s) occurs anywhere in the title, author, abstract or subject terms. In the optional second box, you can enter another word and use the drop-down menu to specify that it should be part of the subject, author, or other section of the record.

Use and between terms to find records where both terms appear; use or to find records where either term appears.

Truncate to find words with a common root by using an asterisk (*).
Example: Subject Terms:
communis*
retrieves Communism, Communist Party, etc.

Clio Notes
Click on this icon below the search form for a chronology of events, and a basic overview of selected topics with links to relevant subject headings.

Advanced Search
For more complex searches, click on the button below the simple search form to go to the Advanced Search form. Click the magnifying glass icon to the right of any line to see and search specific terms used there. Fill in one or more lines on the form, then click on Search, to the right of the form.

Subject Search
In the Subject Terms field, enter word(s) you wish to find in a subject term or in a subject term phrase. Omit punctuation.

Author/Editor Search
To locate records authored by a particular individual, enter surname first. Omit punctuation. Verify spelling by clicking once on the Author/Editor magnifying glass icon.

Time Period Searching
To narrow your search to a particular century or decade, type a round-number date followed by the letter H (for hundreds/centuries) or D (for decades).
Examples:
Time Period: 1800H or 1900H
Time Period: 1890D and 1900H

Viewing Search Results
Search results are displayed as citation records in short entry format including document type, author, title, and citation-source information. Click once on Display Full Entry button at the top of each record to display full citation record and abstract. Some citations link directly to articles through UMass online subscriptions: under the citation, click on Link to Full Text, or linked journal title, if available.

Finding Cited References in Library
Search the Library Catalog for the cited journal. If the search is successful, note the call number and whether the library has the cited issue of the journal. Consult the Library Directory for information about locations. Help is available from Reference Librarians, or, for material not held at UMass, from Interlibrary Loan (current UMass affiliates only.)

Marking Records to Email, Print, or Save to Disk
As you browse citation records, select records by clicking the box labeled Tagged. When you are finished browsing, click the Output Options button at the top of the page, left-hand column. Select your choice of Entry Format (Short or Full), select Tagged Entries, and:

To Email
Select Output Type E-Mail. Click the Submit button.

To Print
Select Output Type ASCII for reformatting. Click the Submit button, and click Print button at the top of your browser window. Note: Printing from library PCs requires a UCard and costs 5¢ per page. Follow the instructions at the printing stations.

To Save to Floppy
Select Output Type ASCII for reformatting and click the Submit button. Insert a disk into the a: drive. Use the browser's File: Save As sequence: select the a: drive from the Save In pull-down menu, name the file with a .txt extension, and click Save.

To Save to U Drive on Library PCs (OIT account holders only)
Leave America: History and Life open while you click the OIT U Drive shortcut on the library PC desktop and enter your OIT username and password to open your account. Back in America: History and Life, select Output Type ASCII for reformatting and click the Submit button. Click the browser Print button to redisplay. Use the browser File: Save As sequence: select the Udrive.oit.umass.edu from the Save In pull-down menu, name the file with a .txt extension, and click Save.

Note: For security, be sure to disconnect from your Udrive account after logging out of America: History and Life.

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