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Background and Overview

ENCYCLOPEDIAS

Encyclopedia of the Korean War: A Political, Social, and Military History.
Reference DS 918 .E53 2000
3 volumes. Volume 3 includes primary source documents, maps, chronology, glossary, bibliography, and index.

Conflict in Korea: An Encyclopedia. Reference DS 916 .H62 1999

Historical Dictionary of the Korean War. Reference DS918 .H536 1991

The Korean War: An Encyclopedia. Reference DS918 .K5645 1995

The Korean War: A Historical Dictionary. Reference DS918 .E363 2003

Korean War Almanac.
Reference DS 918 .S86 1990

Korean War Filmography: 91 English Language Features through 2000.
Reference DS918.16 .L46 2003
Rates films on historical accuracy and patriotic propaganda levels.

Also of possible interest:
Congress and the Nation, 1945-1964. Reference JK1021 .C64 v. 1
Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Korea. Reference DS909 .N34 1993

BIBLIOGRAPHIES
The Korean War: An Annotated Bibliography. Reference DS918 .M263 1986
The Inchon Landing, Korea, 1950: An Annotated Bibliography. Reference DS918.2 I5 E38 1994
The Pusan Perimeter, Korea, 1950: An Annotated Bibliography. Reference DS919 .E38 1993

American Foreign Relations Since 1600: A Guide to the Literature. Reference E183.7 .A43 2003 and online. Chapter 20 is on the Korean War and its consequences.

ATLASES
Atlas of the Arab-Israeli Wars, the Chinese Civil War and the Korean War. Ref Atlas G3201 .S6 A8 1986

Atlas of American Military History. Ref Atlas E181 .A85 2003

Finding Books and More

Randall Library Online Catalog: (Click on Search Catalog)

For access to materials in Randall Library: includes sophisticated search capabilities like limiting by language and format or combining subject headings. Also allows users to send search results to their email addresses.

WorldCat : From the Library Home Page, choose the "Database& Article Searching" link, then choose the "WorldCat" link.

WorldCat is the union catalog of books, web resources, and other material located worldwide cataloged by OCLC member libraries (approximately 26,000 libraries.) Books in the catalog are generally available via Interlibrary Loan, and many of the websites are freely available.

Search Tips:

• Case does not matter. Punctuation marks are not needed.
• Keyword searches will likely retrieve something on your subject. This type of search looks in practically all parts of the catalog record, and is the only way to access the data in the Contents Notes field of records. However, if you are not using the terms catalogers use to identify a subject, keyword searches may actually retrieve fewer items than a subject search.
• Subject searches use a controlled vocabulary, bring more consistency to searches and organizing records by subtopics. Library of Congress Subject Headings are used in both the local catalog and in WorldCat. The Library of Congress Subject Headings for the Korean War include:
  
  Korean War, 1950-1953 (many subdivisions provide specifics)
  
  Narrower terms are:
  Chipyong-ni, Battle of, Chipyong-ni, Korea, 1951
  Imjin River, Battle of the, Korea, 1951
  Inchon Landing, Inchon, Korea, 1950
  Kochang Incident, Korea, 1951
  Naktong Bulge, Battle of the, 1950
  Operation Big Switch, 1953
  Operation Little Switch, 1953
  Tabu-dong, Battle of, Korea, 1951
  
  These related terms may also yield relevant sources:
  Korean Demilitarized Zone (Korea)
  Korean reunification question, 1945-
  
  United States -- History --1945-1953
  United States -- Foreign relations -- 1945-1953
  United States -- Politics and government -- 1945-1953
  
  War poetry, Korean
  War stories, Korean
  
• Primary Source Subheadings: There are several subject subheadings used to identify books or other resources that are compilations of primary source material. Look for:

correspondence* diaries* interviews* literary collections personal narratives pictorial works

posters songs and music sources speeches, addresses, etc.* treaties

*These subheadings are typically used under Subject Headings for individuals, e.g., Acheson, Dean or terms describing groups of people, e.g., Soldiers.

How to Identify Primary Sources in the Online Catalog:
Step 1: Subject search for Korean War, 1950-1953
Step 2: At the top of the results page click on Limit/Sort
Step 3: Click on arrow next to Words in the Author and change it to Words in the Subject
Step 4: Type in (choose one): Sources
Personal narratives
Pictorial works
Posters
Treaties
Literary collections
Songs and music

Step 5: Click on Limit/Sort items retrieved using above data, button

Identify key participants and publications associated with your topic:
When looking at reference sources, pick out names of people, organizations, and governmental agencies that were participants, and any publications such as reports, newsletters, magazines, pamphlets, etc. that they produced in conjunction with the events or developments you are researching.

Author searches for the key participants (individuals, organizations, agencies or other groups) will retrieve records for materials that were written or produced by them either at the time of the event or later will, in most cases, be primary sources.

Don't miss these documentary collections:

Digital National Security Archive DNSA offers the most powerful research and teaching tool available in the area of U.S. foreign policy, intelligence and security issues since 1945. Over 55,000 of the most important, declassified primary documents – totaling more than 420,000 pages – are included in the database.

Documentary History of the Truman Presidency. General Collection E813 .D56

Foreign relations of the United States. US Documents S1.1 and online at http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/FRUS
Volumes VII and XV cover the Korean War.

Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Harry S. Truman.
General Collection J82 .D7

Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower.
General Collection J82 .D8

United Nations Year Book. Reference JX 1977 .A37 .T4 (See year books for 1950-1953)


More on Subject Searching:

• Catalogers use the most precise subject heading to describe a publication.
• Just because an item's subject heading does not include "History" as a subdivision does not mean it has no history in it. In particular, look at the publication date. It may be a source contemporary to the period, i. e., a primary source.
• After finding some sources through searching the online catalog, be sure to browse the shelves near these times. The call numbers are devised to place materials on the same subject together on the shelf. In the catalog, the call number is presented as a link, so you can even browse the shelves when searching the catalog.
• You may also wish to browse the Reference Collection to see what special sources are available. A basic outline of the Library of Congress Classification scheme is at http://www.loc.gov/catdir.cosi.lcco.html

Journal Databases & Indexes

Use these specialized databases and journal indexes to search for articles in journals and magazines. (Note: Databases offered by EbscoHost may be searched simultaneously.)

• America: History and Life  Indexes and summarizes articles and reviews published since 1954 in over 2,000 history journals. (EbscoHost)
• Historical Abstracts Indexes and summarizes article and reviews about world history since 1450 published since 1954 in over 1, 700 journals. (EbscoHost)
• Humanities International Index Indexes journals and books in the humanities, published 1975-present. (EbscoHost)
• JSTOR Full-text searching of an archive of over 40 history and 25 political science journals. Typically excludes the latest 3-5 years of publication.
• Public Affairs Information Services (PAIS) International (1972-present) and PAIS Archive (1915-1976) contain references to monographs, periodical articles, notes and announcements, and analytics.
• Academic Search Premier is a general full-text and indexing periodicals database. (EbscoHost)

FOR NEWSPAPERS & PERIODICALS PUBLISHED DURING THE PERIOD

• International Index to Periodical Literature (1907-1965) INDEX AI3 .R5
• New York Times Archive Full image online access to the NYT from 1851-2001.
• Readers' Guide Retrospective indexes over 200 popular U.S. magazines, 1890-1982.
• The Times (London). The newspaper is available on microfilm. The Official Index to the Times is in INDEX AI21 .T46.
• Essay and General Literature Index INDEX AI3 .E752 Indexes essays from books.

USEFUL FREE WEB SITES

Eisenhower Presidential Library: Primary Sources: Korea
Truman Presidential Library: Korea+50: No Longer Forgotten
Both sites have selected primary source documents. The Truman Library site also has online exhibits, conference papers, photos, subject guides and a timeline.

National Archives and Records Administration -- Korean War Records
Provides selected digitized records and a catalog of others held at National Archives repositories.

Each branch of the U.S. military maintains a branch dedicated to preserving and understanding past armed conflicts. The following webpages are official U.S. government or U.S. military sites.

Department of Defense Korean War anniversary site
U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency
U.S. Air Force, Korean War
U.S. Army, Center of Military History, Korean War
U.S. Marine Corps History and Museums Division
U.S. Merchant Marine, Korean War
U.S. Naval Historical Center, Korean Conflict

These free websites are from independent scholars, veterans groups, and organizations.

Korean History: A Bibliography
The section on the Korean War is an update for The Korean War: An Annotated Bibliography (listed above.)

The Korean War
Short articles on each nations' involvement. Bibliography of books available at Amazon (which may be available at Randall Library or through Interlibrary Loan.)

The Korean War, 1950-1953
A list of Korean War websites compiled by Korea Web Weekly, an independent, non-partisan organization. Among the links are a website of eyewitness recollections, declassified Korean War documents and other primary source material.

The Korean War Project
Sponsored by donations, this site has an area for recollections by U.S. Korean War veterans.

Korean War National Museum and Library
Website for a planned museum and library, much of this website is still under construction.

Last Update: January 8, 2008

Page maintained by Sue Cody codys@uncw.edu