Library Research Guides: HIST A300 Murder in America: Case File Research

Searching advice

Expand your search beyond the names of individuals to find secondary sources with a broader context.
- Geography: "Los Angeles", "New York City", suburbs, highways, etc.
- Broader themes: crime, policing, "serial murder", "true crime", trials, "popular culture", etc.
- More specific topics: "Satanic panic", "capital punishment", "neighborhood watch", etc.
Search strategically in primary source databases.
- Limit by geography and date range to exclude irrelevant sources.
- Think about the terminology used (and information known) at the time.
  - Search for names of victims or neighborhoods to find sources before arrests or trials.
  - Look to popular and/or secondary sources for contemporaneous terminology, nicknames used in the press, etc.
Don't lose track of potential sources, even if you aren't committed to using them.
- It can be difficult to retrace your steps to relocate a source when your search terms may change, new sources are added to databases, and sources have similar titles.
- Download PDFs somewhere that you can find them later, sign in to IUCAT to save them in a folder, or just open up a Google Doc to copy and paste citations and links.
If you don't find what you expect to find, troubleshoot and consult your resources.
- Make sure you haven't applied too many filters or made a typo (many databases don't have auto-correct).
- Try your search in another database or two.
- Send me an email (galasso@iu.edu) with any questions, big or small.

Secondary sources

IUCAT This link opens in a new window
IUCAT, the online catalog for all titles available through IU Libraries, is the often the best place to start a search for books and ebooks, and also includes government documents, videos, and sound recordings.
- Use broad search terms to give IUCAT the best chance of finding relevant titles.
- Remember that you can read and cite individual chapters as sources.
- Use the red Request This button to have print materials delivered to the most convenient library for pick-up.
- When you find one title that looks promising, use the hyperlinked Subject headings to locate additional titles.
- If the title you want isn't available to check out, search for and request it in WorldCat.
- Watch this brief video tutorial on searching and accessing books and ebooks in IUCAT.
IUCAT, Indiana University's online library catalog, provides comprehensive access to millions of items held by the IU Libraries statewide, including books, recordings, US government publications, periodicals, and other types of material. Users can access IUCAT from any Internet-connected computer or device, whether in the libraries, on campus, or off campus.
JSTOR
This database is the classic starting point for locating scholarly journal articles in the humanities. If you find a book review in JSTOR, search for the book title in IUCAT to use that as your source instead.
JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization established with the assistance of The Mellon Foundation, provides complete runs of hundreds of important journal titles in more than 30 arts, humanities, and social science disciplines. These scholarly journals can be browsed online and searched, and the page images can be printed for those available in full-text. The IUB Libraries subscribe to current content for only some titles available through JSTOR. Includes access to the following collections: Arts & Sciences, Business, Hebrew Journals, Ireland Collection, Lives of Literature, Public Health Collection, Security Studies Collection, Sustainability Collection.

All journals in JSTOR start with the first volume. Many include content up to a "moving wall" of 3-5 years ago, although some journals have a fixed ending date for their content in JSTOR. Please check individual journals for exact dates of coverage.

For information about access to this resource for IU alumni, contact the Indiana University Alumni Association.
OneSearch@IU
This tool brings together much of IU Libraries' content, allowing you to search for a wide variety of sources in one search box.
- To locate scholarly sources, be sure to select the Peer Reviewed box.
- Select All filters to narrow your results by Publication Date, Source Type, and Subject.

IUCAT This link opens in a new window
IUCAT is also a great resource for primary sources, including government documents (like trial records and FBI files), memoirs, and interviews.
IUCAT, Indiana University's online library catalog, provides comprehensive access to millions of items held by the IU Libraries statewide, including books, recordings, US government publications, periodicals, and other types of material. Users can access IUCAT from any Internet-connected computer or device, whether in the libraries, on campus, or off campus.
Newspapers.com World Collection
Search for stories from regional, state, and local newspapers.
Includes access to newspapers from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom & Ireland, Australia, and Panama.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Use Advanced Search and the filters to locate articles from a wide range of historical newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and more.
MasterFILE Complete
Search for your topic in a broad range of magazines from the twentieth century, including Newsweek, People, New York, and Variety.
Designed specifically for public libraries this resource provides full-text for periodicals covering a broad range of disciplines including general reference, business, education, health. It also provides indexing and abstracts for all of the publications in the collection. Includes full text from over 1,600 magazines and journals, and nearly 450 full-text reference books, in addition to more than 73,000 primary source documents, and an image collection of photos, maps, and flags. It offers PDF backfiles beginning in 1917 for key publications including, American Libraries and History Today.
Readers' Guide Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson)
A good companion to MasterFILE Complete, this database also searches across and includes articles from many popular periodicals.
Abstracts, articles and images from over 480 publications. Subject coverage is wide-ranging, including news and entertainment, book and movie reviews, health, sports, politics, and consumer information.
HathiTrust Digital Library
Best for topics before the twentieth century, HathiTrust provides access to a wealth of primary sources.
HathiTrust makes the digitized collections of some of the nation’s great research libraries available for all. HathiTrust was initially conceived as a collaboration of the thirteen universities of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the University of California system, and the University of Virginia to establish a repository for those universities to archive and share their digitized collections. HathiTrust will quickly expand to include additional partners and to provide those partners with an easy means to archive their digital content.

YouTube
YouTube can be a great source for finding clips of old news broadcasts, interviews, and more primary sources. Take an extra few minutes to verify the authenticity of the video before using it as a source.
Expand your search: US History Primary Sources
This page of the History Research Guides provides a more comprehensive, chronological listing of relevant databases and digitized collections available through the IU Libraries.

Time Magazine Archive
Full text issues of Time Magazine, 1923-2000. Intended to be read in under an hour, each issue of Time contains reports of national and international current events, politics, sports, and entertainment. First published in 1923, Time attempts to collect the relevant news for a given week.
New Yorker Digital Archive
Digital access to The New Yorker magazine. Includes commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry.
New York Times Online
Access to nytimes.com and via apps. Additional access options for the New York Times are available.

IUB Affiliates: To register for access, go to http://go.iu.edu/registerNYT. Students will be prompted to provide their anticipated graduation date in order to complete the registration process. Once activated, you can access all content at NYTimes.com from a Web browser, as well as via NYTimes.com smartphone and tablet apps, from any location. Students will need to renew the IUB Group Pass annually. Faculty will need to renew every 4 years.

See more for complete activation and renewal instructions, access for unaffiliated users, and additional access options.
Account use and renewal:
Smartphone and tablet apps can be downloaded for free by visiting the New York Times News App site. Please note e-reader apps are excluded from our Academic Group Pass.
New IUB Affiliated Users
To activate your NYTimes.com IUB Group Pass:
1. Go to http://go.iu.edu/registerNYT
2. Create a NYTimes.com account using your iu.edu email address.
  1. If you already have a NYTimes.com account using your IU email address, you may log in with those credentials)
3. When you see START YOUR ACCESS, the expiration time and date of your pass will appear
4. Go to NYTimes.com and enjoy your full access from any location
Returning IUB Affiliated Users
Once you have activated your IUB Group Pass account, it should allow you full access until your expiration date with no further action on your part. However, if for any reason while on NYTimes.com you are served the message that you are reaching the limit of free articles on the site, please do the following: Make sure you are logged in to the NYTimes.com account with which you activated your Group Pass. If you log out of your account or visit NYTimes.com on a device where you are not logged in, you can simply log in to your account to continue enjoying access.
If your Group Pass has expired, visit http://go.iu.edu/registerNYT to activate a new pass. Make sure you are logged in to the NYTimes.com account with which you activated your IUB Group Pass.
Unaffiliated users
Users who are not affiliated with IU Bloomington may access a limited number of free articles (including blog posts, slide shows and other multimedia features) each month on NYTimes.com by setting up a free account on the New York Times website.
One Mail instructions:
If you setup your New York Times account using your @indiana.edu email address, you will need to update the address to your iu.edu email address before December 31, 2025. Please use the following instructions to update your account:
1. To ensure that your Group Pass is still active, visit http://go.iu.edu/registerNYT and log in with your current NYT account credentials. You will either receive confirmation that your account is still active, or your group pass will be reactivated.
2. From a web browser, visit your New York Times account page by logging in to your existing NYT account.
3. Under Account Information, choose the Update link for you email address
4. Enter your iu.edu email address and your existing NYT password and press the Save button.
Additional access options:
- Access to the New York Times from 2008 to the present (with a lag time of about three months)
  - Digitized microfilm of the NYT with a 3-month embargo. Note: The IUB Library holds the physical microfilm for the NYT as well. The microfilm copy is especially important given that some articles are not available in the ProQuest resource because of the Supreme Court's Tasini ruling concerning the copyright rights of independent journalists and writers. ProQuest entries carry a note referring one to the microfilm copy.
- Access to the New York Times from 1851 - 2013 (plus access to the Times Index from 1851 - 1993)
Washington Post Online
Online access to the Washington Post, one of America's leading daily newspapers. Includes access to reporting and analysis from Washington and around the world, including award-winning investigative coverage and editorial commentary. Also includes live-streaming of Washington Post Live events. For off campus access and access via apps, users must create a personal Washington Post account with their official iu.edu Bloomington email. For instructions, see the Washington Post Online section of the Resources with Special Account Creation Instructions document.
One Mail instructions:
If you setup your Washington Post account using your @indiana.edu email address, you will need to update the address to your @iu.edu email address before December 31, 2025. Please see the Washington Post Online - Onemail section of the Resources with Special Account Creation Instructions document for instructions.