LibGuides: Writing and Images (Walters): Home

Useful Files

Dear Photograph Facts
File containing thumbnails of images with links to facts.
Document Analysis Worksheet
Worksheet used in class to analyze documents.

Google Search

Google can be a wonderful tool just be careful how you use it. Try using Google Scholar an academic alternative to Google that returns materials such as journal articles and books. Google Books, as the name suggests will return book results, some of which provide excerpts to books or entire books online. Also used the advanced search in Google, it allows you to limit your results by domain such as .edu or .gov resources.

Happy and smart Googling!

Useful Library Resources

Centennial History of West Chester State College
Link to the library's catalog record of The Centennial History of West Chester State College. This book will be the most important resource for your assignment as it covers the history of WCU until 1971. It's available both online and in print.
Daily Local News
This is the newspaper for West Chester. Microfilm of this newspaper is available from 1918 to 2010.

WCU Information Trifecta

West Chester University's Course Catalogs
Most of our Course Catalogs have been digitized with a few exceptions. These catalogs usually include maps of campus and can help you narrow down locations of buildings and provide date ranges for buildings as well as an idea of building use.
Pathfinder/Serpentine Yearbook
The Pathfinder/Serpentine is WCU's yearbook. The first yearbook was created in 1911 and most are available online for you to page through. Depending on the year they tend to include photographs of buildings and sometimes brief descriptions of their use and history.
WCU Student Newspapers
These are the student newspaper titles at WCU:
The Amulet (1892-1920)
Greenstone (1924-1928)
The Quad Angles (1932-1975)
The Quad (1975-2011)

Student newspapers can provide excellent insight into campus and world events, student life, campus climate, etc. All issues from 1892-2011 are available and searchable online.

Local Resources

Below is a list of local resources you should utilize for the research portion of this assignment.

Chester County Historical Society
It's research library has collections on Chester County history from 1600 on. The library has over 25,000 books and 500,000 items including personal and family papers, the records of businesses, organizations, churches and schools throughout Chester County.
History of Riggtown
Course website for Dr. Jones' HIS 480 course. Provides oral histories of West Chester Locals as well as digitized West Chester materials and a great timeline.
Hagley Museum and Library
Links to the Hagley Museum's library page. Great resource for local businesses.
Brandywine River Museum
Contains mostly artwork but could be useful resource for postcards.
West Chester Boro Website
Website for the Boro of West Chester.

Subject Guide

Ron McColl

Subjects: Archives, Digital Archives