Skip to Main Content

HIS 270 Cold War: Internet

This research guide is for Point Loma Nazarene University students in Dr. Bill Wood's HIS 270 class fall semester of 2016.

Advanced Internet Searching

Google Advanced Search - provides more options for your search strategy.
Google Advanced Scholar Search - Search for scholarly articles.
Google Advanced Book Search - Search for books on your topic.
Google Alert - Create an alert on any topic of interest.  Put the internet to work for you.

Evaluate Websites

Authorship

  • Does the Web site or document have an author? You may need to do some clicking and scrolling to find the author’s name. If you have landed directly on an internal page of a site, for example, you may need to navigate to the home page or find an “about this site” link to learn the name of the author.
  • If there is an author, can you tell whether he or she is knowledgeable and credible? When the author’s qualifications aren’t listed on the site itself, look for links to the author’s home page, which may provide evidence of his or her interests and expertise.

 Sponsorship

  • Who, if anyone, sponsors the site? The sponsor of a site is often named and described on the home page.
  • What does the URL tell you? The domain name extension often indicates the type of group hosting the site: commercial (.com), educational (.edu), nonprofit (.org), governmental (.gov), military (.mil), or network (.net). URLs may also indicate a country of origin: .uk (United Kingdom) or .jp (Japan), for instance.

Purpose and audience

  • Why was the site created: To argue a position? To sell a product? To inform readers?
  • Who is the site’s intended audience?

Currency

  • How current is the site? Check for the date of publication or the latest update, often located at the bottom of the home page or at the beginning or end of an internal page.
  • How current are the site’s links? If many of the links no longer work, the site may be too dated for your purposes.

Other Internet sites

1. Cold War International History Project

This site and the links off it is a gold mine! Tons of material.

2. National Security Archive

This website provides access to declassified National Security documents through George Washington University. Much more than just Cold War topics here.

3. Foreign Relations of the United States

OR

http://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/FRUS

On-line access to the published volumes of the famous FRUS series from the State Department.  Ongoing project, richest for material that has passed the 50 year classified mark. This is the  basic source for U.S. diplomatic activity in all eras, and is completely SEARCHABLE!.

4. National Archives

Select materials available through the National Archives of the United States. Follow the links from this page to specialized research as well.

5. Parallel History Project

This European project appears to have gone somewhat dormant in the last few years but has many resources for NATO-Warsaw Pact relations and other European focused topics. (Many are only available in German)

6. Cold War Roadshow video in full from PBS

For 12 days in September 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev traveled the United States from coast to coast, creating a media circus as hundreds of reporters followed his every move.  Americans were fascinated by the communist leader and the trip served to ease Cold War tensions -- if only for a short time.  

Woman in bomb shelter which is stocked with food and other supplies; bunk bed in corner

Woman in bomb shelter which is stocked with food and other supplies; bunk bed in corner.

 Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA  http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2015647175/