Note:

Below you will find a few suggestions for searching this topic. These suggestions aren't the only way to find materials, but they may help to get you started.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

I. Find background information

  • The Encyclopedia of Medical and Behavioral Science includes an overview of the syndrome along with a discussion of psychological versus biological causes, but maybe not much historical background. Note: Don't use the search window at the top. Scroll down to Search Within this Reference Work to enter your search terms.
  • To find information on the historical background, search the History of Science Technology and Medicine database to find references to articles about the history of the disease.

Example of a reference found in the History of Science Technology and Medicine:

"History of chronic fatigue syndrome,"  Straus, S. E. IN: Reviews of infectious diseases Vol. 13, no. Suppl. 1 (Jan.-Feb. 1991) p. S2-S7

To find this article,

  1. Open the library catalog and search for the journal, Reviews of infectious disease.
  2. Open the record for the journal (in this case, it's online) and search for 1991, volume 13, Supplement 1.
  3. Follow this process for any reference of interest in the History of Science Technology and Medicine or other unlinked references you may find. Finding the full article, or book source, can be tricky. Don't hesitate to Ask!

II. Search the catalog for books.

  1. Open the library catalog
  2. Type in "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" (in quotation marks) and hit <enter>
  3. Scroll down under Limit your Search to open Subject, and more.
  4. Use the next arrows to page through the pages of subject heading/subheadings.

III. Find scholarly journal articles (secondary sources).

Recommended databases:

  • PsycInfo
    After getting a list of results, go to the left-hand menu to limit your results to Peer Reviewed or Academic journals.
  • Medline
    Finding the full text: Click the Get it Cornell link or, if necessary, follow the process outlined above (searching for the journal title, year, volume issue)

Note: The number and variety of articles may be overwhelming. Add terms to narrow your search, based on what you wish to focus on, e.g., 

  • chronic fatigue syndrome
  • AND history
  • AND etiology

*These are just examples. You may have some other terms you wish to use!

IV. Find "popular" (written for the general public rather than for specialists) magazine and newspaper articles.