Library Guides: Constitution Day: Finding Secondary Sources

Secondary Sources: Books

Use OneSearch to find books in the L. Mendel Rivers Library.

Subject headings help to make your search more precise.

For example, enter the search term "united states constitution" or "constitutional convention" and choose to limit the search to Subject.

You can also browse selected books in the catalog.

Secondary Sources: Journals & Articles

The L. Mendel Rivers Library subscribes to databases that provide access to published articles and electronic documents. Here some databases that you can search for information on the U.S. Constitution, the time period in which it was written, and its implications:

HathiTrust
This database contains a growing digital repository of millions of public domain & copyright-protected volumes. Items that are in the public domain are freely available for viewing and downloading. Many older government documents are accessible in this collection.

HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive legal research database containing more than 2,500 scholarly journals, U.S. statutory materials, U.S. Congressional Documents, the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, all of the world's constitutions, all U.S. treaties, classic legal treatises, and presidential documents. Special collections are listed on the HeinOnline welcome page, and include Religion and the Law, Slavery in America and the World, Gun Regulation and Legislation in America, Women and the Law (Peggy), John F. Kennedy Assassination Collection, and more. Fastcase Premium provides enhanced searching of case law and includes the Negative Treatment Indicator.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Provides access to more than 12 million academic journal articles, books, and primary sources in 75 disciplines. One of the largest and oldest archives of digitized scholarly journals.

WorldCat
This database is very useful for locating historic government documents, and many records include SuDoc numbers, the call numbers used for government publications at the library. Note the SuDoc number in the catalog record & visit the Government Documents department for help locating specific items.