Library Guides

Description The North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories database contains over 100,000 pages of information and material from over 300 known authors and 1,500 anonymous authors. The database provides a unique, close-up view of what it was like to immigrate to the U.S. and Canada between 1800 and 1950. Many valuable historical sources are found in the collection, including contemporaneous letters and diaries, Ellis Island oral histories, interviews, and personal narratives. This collection is useful to researchers and scholars in multiple disciplinary fields.

Access From the UWM Libraries home page, select "Find Articles," "Resources A-Z," and scroll down to North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories.

Search
Options Table of Contents: Select the “Table of Contents” to check whether an author, source, or date is included in the database. This is also the best way to examine what personal or historical events are covered in the database.

The “Table of Contents: Authors” lists the authors included in the database. Access the documents by clicking on "All Documents." For basic biographical information, when available, click on the author's name in the listing.

Select another choice (source, place, nationality, etc.) from "Table of Contents" menu to retrieve a listing of items within the available categories.
Find Sources: Select "FIND: Sources" to search for sources included in the database by specific criteria, including author, editor, title, publisher, year of publication, and subject term.
Find Authors: Select "FIND: Authors" to search by specific criteria, including author (last name first name), year or place of birth, year or place of death, nationality, and year of immigration.
Author:
Search Texts: Select either the "Simple" or "Advanced" search options to search for specific words or phrases within a text; both searches will search the full text of the database. Search results are documents, bibliographic citations, or a combination of the two.

SIMPLE Search Type in term(s) of choice in the text box; these terms can be limited by use of additional search text boxes for author, document type, year written, or additional subject terms from the controlled vocabulary provided. Click on the "SEARCH" button. Where available, clicking the FULL TEXT SEARCH button on the database bar will take the user to the SIMPLE Search screen.
ADVANCED Search Type in terms of choice in the text box; these terms can be limited by use of the additional search options for author (name, age, marital status, race, religion, occupation, etc.), year/month written, where written (geographic or setting), historic or personal event categories, or other additional subject terms, from the list of TERMS provided. Select word, phrase, or proximity searching. Click on the "SEARCH" button.

The results list can be sorted by Line by Line Display, Author, Source, or Year.
Showcase: This link features items of special interest from the collection.

Entry An entry gives the author and title of the section within the full document, basic bibliographic information for the full document, and links to view the text or view the full bibliographic details.

Search
Tips Characters to use in full-text searching:

* (asterisk) use to retrieve word variants (truncation); for example, *habit will retrieve habit, cohabit, and inhabit; cigar* will retrieve cigar, cigars, cigarette

. (period) use to retrieve words with variant single letters; for example, gentlem.n will retrieve gentleman or gentlemen

| (vertical line) use as the OR operator to search for results which include either synonymous term; for example, avarice|greed

(a blank space) use as the AND operator to search for results which include both terms
Other tips:

hyphenated words should be typed as two words

words with apostrophes should be typed with the apostrophe; for example, God's
Select the "TERMS" button at the end of search limits to see an alphabetical list of terms available for that limit, e.g., subject terms, author names, birthplace, historic or personal events.

Print To print the results, select the "Print" icon from the toolbar near the top of the page. Use “Print Preview” to verify that only the pages wanted will be printed.

Save To save the results, go to “File” at the top of the page and select “Save As.” In the “Save As” window, select the A drive, type in a file name, and click on “Save.”

Exit Select "Home" on the Web browser.

mjensen 12/04 mod 03/14/2007

UWM Libraries Home * PantherCat

UWM Libraries Staff
page contact: Linda Brothen

Description	The North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories database contains over 100,000 pages of information and material from over 300 known authors and 1,500 anonymous authors. The database provides a unique, close-up view of what it was like to immigrate to the U.S. and Canada between 1800 and 1950. Many valuable historical sources are found in the collection, including contemporaneous letters and diaries, Ellis Island oral histories, interviews, and personal narratives. This collection is useful to researchers and scholars in multiple disciplinary fields.

Access	From the UWM Libraries home page, select "Find Articles," "Resources A-Z," and scroll down to North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories.

Search Options	Table of Contents: Select the “Table of Contents” to check whether an author, source, or date is included in the database. This is also the best way to examine what personal or historical events are covered in the database. The “Table of Contents: Authors” lists the authors included in the database. Access the documents by clicking on "All Documents." For basic biographical information, when available, click on the author's name in the listing. Select another choice (source, place, nationality, etc.) from "Table of Contents" menu to retrieve a listing of items within the available categories. Find Sources: Select "FIND: Sources" to search for sources included in the database by specific criteria, including author, editor, title, publisher, year of publication, and subject term. Find Authors: Select "FIND: Authors" to search by specific criteria, including author (last name first name), year or place of birth, year or place of death, nationality, and year of immigration. Author: Search Texts: Select either the "Simple" or "Advanced" search options to search for specific words or phrases within a text; both searches will search the full text of the database. Search results are documents, bibliographic citations, or a combination of the two. SIMPLE Search Type in term(s) of choice in the text box; these terms can be limited by use of additional search text boxes for author, document type, year written, or additional subject terms from the controlled vocabulary provided. Click on the "SEARCH" button. Where available, clicking the FULL TEXT SEARCH button on the database bar will take the user to the SIMPLE Search screen. ADVANCED Search Type in terms of choice in the text box; these terms can be limited by use of the additional search options for author (name, age, marital status, race, religion, occupation, etc.), year/month written, where written (geographic or setting), historic or personal event categories, or other additional subject terms, from the list of TERMS provided. Select word, phrase, or proximity searching. Click on the "SEARCH" button. The results list can be sorted by Line by Line Display, Author, Source, or Year. Showcase: This link features items of special interest from the collection.
Entry	An entry gives the author and title of the section within the full document, basic bibliographic information for the full document, and links to view the text or view the full bibliographic details.
Search Tips	Characters to use in full-text searching: * (asterisk) use to retrieve word variants (truncation); for example, habit will retrieve habit, cohabit, and inhabit; cigar will retrieve cigar, cigars, cigarette . (period) use to retrieve words with variant single letters; for example, gentlem.n will retrieve gentleman or gentlemen \| (vertical line) use as the OR operator to search for results which include either synonymous term; for example, avarice\|greed (a blank space) use as the AND operator to search for results which include both terms Other tips: hyphenated words should be typed as two words words with apostrophes should be typed with the apostrophe; for example, God's Select the "TERMS" button at the end of search limits to see an alphabetical list of terms available for that limit, e.g., subject terms, author names, birthplace, historic or personal events.

Print	To print the results, select the "Print" icon from the toolbar near the top of the page. Use “Print Preview” to verify that only the pages wanted will be printed.

Save	To save the results, go to “File” at the top of the page and select “Save As.” In the “Save As” window, select the A drive, type in a file name, and click on “Save.”

Exit	Select "Home" on the Web browser.