Download to read offline
Uploaded byTraciwm
Hist 2041
This document provides an overview of historiography and research strategies for historians. It discusses the current state of research, developing a research plan, and using scholarly and popular resources. It outlines a seven step research process and describes various sources like primary, secondary and tertiary sources. It also discusses evaluating different media formats and their storage densities and stability over time. Finally, it provides guidance on searching catalogs and databases, evaluating websites, and when to seek help from librarians.
More Related Content
Hist 2041
- 1. Historiography Dr. John Lomax ProfessorTraci Welch Moritz Public Services Librarian
- 2. Purpose for today •Current state of research for historians • Developing a research strategy for this course • Using scholarly resources • Using popular resources in scholarly research
- 3. How am Igoing to remember all this stuff?
- 4. Period of Transition •Information explosion • Problems with locating materials • Problems with storage and accessibility of materials • Unreliability of burgeoning body of literature
- 5. Period of transition •Legibility/Stability of media • Availability of equipment to read and reproduce • Availability of retrieval for software • Stability of content
- 6. Legibility/ Stability ofMedia • Availability of equipment to read and reproduce • Availability of retrieval software • Stability of content
- 7. Sources - Media Format:Clay tablet Storage Density: Really low Stability: Really high See: A History of Information Storage & Retrieval, Foster Stockwell
- 8. Sources - Media Format:Papyrus scroll Storage Density: Low Stability: Centuries
- 9. Sources - Media Format:Book (paper) Storage Density: Low Stability: Centuries
- 10. Sources - Media Format:Microfilm Storage Density: Medium Lifetime: Centuries
- 11. Sources - Media Format:Magnetic / optical / digital memory Storage density: high Stability: Low
- 12. Media - Sources Format:Internet Storage Density: High Stability: ?
- 13. Research Strategy Seven Stepsof the Research Process Amended with permission by the Librarians at the Olin and Uris Libraries of Cornell University STEP 1: IDENTIFY AND DEVELOP YOUR TOPIC STEP 2: FIND BACKGROUND INFORMATION STEP 3:USE DATABASES TO FIND PERIODICAL ARTICLES *STEP 4: FIND INTERNET RESOURCES STEP 5: EVALUATE WHAT YOU FIND STEP 6: PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER STEP 7: CITE WHAT YOU FIND
- 14. What do Ido first? Take a look at your topic and identify key search terms, Ask a question. Most databases now use an implied Boolean logic search scheme so a keyword search will get you started. Boolean logic is the use of AND, NOT, OR to narrow or expand your search See Research Guide WHO
- 15. Note: If working off campus please see the “Google scholar” tabat the Research Guide for HIST 2041 Google Scholar ONU buys Full-text database OhioLINK Permits Google to link to full-text ONU user sees licensed full-text articles Google asks to link to content Run Google Scholar Search
- 16. Annotated Bibliography • Allowsyou to see what is out there • Helps you narrow your topic and discard any irrelevant materials • Aids in developing the thesis • Makes you a better scholar
- 17.
- 18. Managing Information -RefWorks • Licensed state-wide, access free to Ohio students for the rest of your life! • See: http://0-www.refworks.com.polar.onu.edu/ • • • • Write n’ Cite interfaces with MS Word Excellent Tutorials Help available at Heterick Research Guide for instructions on how to get your free-for-a-life-time account
- 19. Tools for locatingresources • EDS • Catalogs – POLAR – OhioLINK – SearchOhio – WorldCat.org • Databases • Websites
- 20. Primary, Secondary andTertiary Sources
- 21. Primary, Secondary andTertiary Sources •Definitions depend on the department and subject matter being studied “In the humanities, a primary resource could be defined as something that was created either during the time period being studied or afterward by individuals reflecting on their involvement in the events of the time.” http://www.ala.org/rusa/sections/history/ resources/pubs/usingprimarysources Primary Sources: Definitions. Lafayette College Libraries & Academic Information Resources. <http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~library/guides/primarysources/definitions.html> Accessed August 8, 2013
- 22. Primary, Secondary andTertiary Sources • Primary sources = raw data = history’ • Reading and evaluating can be difficult • Opportunity to come into contact with the past • Enables histories to experience the past recreate it Thanks to the University of North Carolina at Pembroke
- 23. Primary, Secondary andTertiary Sources Evaluating primary sources: 1. Identifying type • • • • • • • Formal treatise Contemporary formal treatise Public Record Private Letters and Journals Literary source Nonverbal sources Oral history
- 24. Primary, Secondary andTertiary Sources Questions to ask yourself when reviewing a document 1. Is the source genuine? 2. What is the date of origin? 3. Who is the author? 4. Who is the audience?
- 25. Primary, Secondary andTertiary Sources •Suggestions for reading a primary source • Read through the entire document quickly to set a sense of the whole source. Does it show bias? Is the bias yours or the source? • Read the document a second time carefully noting authorship, time period, intended purpose and probably impact on the intended audience.
- 26. Primary, Secondary andTertiary Sources •Identify the following: • Time and place • Author • Audience • Personalities and roles of all people mentioned • Meaning and purpose • Content (colloquial terminology, language of the day, phrases and phrasing) • Allusions • Assumptions and/or bias
- 27. Primary, Secondary andTertiary Sources Additional questions to ask yourself 1. Do the contents seem reasonable? 2. Are there other primary documents for collaboration or are there contradictions? 3. Place the document in the larger historical context. Do secondary resources fit with your interpretation?
- 28. Primary, Secondary andTertiary Sources •As you are following the steps above, be sure to note anything you need to come back to and look these up in reliable reference works. .
- 29. Primary, Secondary andTertiary Sources •“Tertiary sources provide overviews of topics by synthesizing information gathered from other resources. Tertiary resources often provide data in a convenient form or provide information with context by which to interpret it.” ~ Virginia Tech Oxford Reference Libraries, Accessed 08/14/2013 • Encyclopedias • Dictionaries • Handbooks
- 30. Primary, Secondary andTertiary Sources •Secondary Sources analyze or interpret an historical event or artistic work. •Secondary sources often base their theories and arguments on the direct evidence found in primary sources. • A secondary work for a subject is one that discusses the subject but is written after the time contemporary with it.
- 31.
- 32. What is included? •POLAR •Article-levelsearching for all EBSCO databases •Article-level searching for a variety of other databases: JSTOR, Hoover’s, AccessPharmacy, etc. •Title-level searching for most other databases: IEEE, CIAO, Proquest Nursing & Allied Health •OhioLink central catalog
- 33. Results: Full Text,Polar
- 34.
- 35. Results: Find It@ ONU
- 36.
- 37. Facets: Limit YourResults
- 38. Things to Remember •Facetsare your Friend: After you search, limit your results to what you really want •A tool not a solution: This is not the solution to everything •Ask the librarians for help •There will still be some small changes coming
- 39. Catalog -- POLAR •Public Online Library Access & Retrieval • Covers holdings of both Heterick & the law library • Access from library home page • Includes items in all formats – including online material
- 40. Catalogs -- OhioLINK+ SearchOhio • Includes holdings of all Ohio colleges & universities (SearchOhio links to the catalogs of 23 of the largest public library systems in Ohio • Connected to POLAR • Students can request materials from other libraries – IF they are not available from ONU • Most items requested arrive 5 working days
- 41. CATALOGS - WorldCAT •Includes holdings of libraries world wide • Covers all types of libraries & increasingly non-library organizations • Materials can be in all formats • Unlike OhioLINK - Does not allow students to request materials directly • Available via www.worldcat.org
- 42. What about theweb? • Greater access to primary source materials than ever before • Documents, letters, maps, photographs of ancient artifacts and other primary material are available online in different formats from free websites • With the proliferation of electronic resources from a wide variety of web site producers, evaluation is more important than ever before
- 43. Critically analyzing web sources • • • • What?is the page/site about Who? created and maintains this site Where? Is the information coming from Why? Is the information presented on the web • When? Was the page created or last updated • How? Accurate or credible is the page From the University of Wisconsin Library, worksheet for evaluating web sites
- 44. Databases • • • • • • America History andLife American Periodical Series Historical Abstracts JSTOR Digital; Dissertations History of Science and Medicine • HarpWeek • ITER • Sanborn Maps
- 45. Content • Full-text Resource –War of the Rebellion (TIF files) http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/moa_browse.html • Full-text Resource – New York Times (PDF file) • Full-text Resource – Gentle Measures in the Training of the Young… (ASCII file, text)
- 46. Locating Tools -Metasites • OAIster (Open Archives Initiative (now a part of Worldcat) • Repository of Primary Sources • Text Encoding Initiative consortium
- 47. Websites -- Types • • • • ProfessionalOrganizations Topical/ Thematic Sites Text/ Graphic Collections Museums and Other Learned Bodies
- 48. Websites -- Professional Am.Assoc. for State and Local History http://www.aaslh.org American Historical Association http://www.historians.org Ohio Historical Society http://www.ohiohistory.org Organization of American Historians http://www.oah.org Scholarly Societies Project http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/society/overview.html
- 49. Websites -- Text •Railroad Maps http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/rrhtml/rrhome.html • Duke Papyrus Archive http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus • Documenting the American South http://docsouth.unc.edu • Internet Library of Early Journals http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/ilej/ • Eurodocs http://library.byu.edu/~rdh/eurodocs
- 50. Websites -- Topical •Aquae Urbis Romae http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/waters/ • Ctr. For the Hist. Of Information Technol. http://www.cbi.umn.edu • Ancient Metallurgy Research Group http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/archsci/depart/resgrp/amrg/amrginfo.htm • Bill Douglas Ctr. For the Hist. Of Cinema http://www.ex.ac.uk/bill.douglas/menu.html
- 51. Websites -- Museums,Libraries, Archives • U. Of Memphis Inst. Of Egyptian Art http://www.memphis.edu/egypt/main.html • J. Paul Getty Museum http://www.getty.edu/museum • Sistine Chapel http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sistine/0-Tour.html • National Palace Museum – Taipei http://www.npm.gov.tw/english/index-e.htm
- 52. FURTHER HELP • ReferenceDesk (see library hours) • Phone to Ref. Desk – 2185 • E-mail help on database help pages • Professor Traci Welch Moritz • T-moritz@onu.edu • Ext. 2473