Sources for History research

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Sources for History research

• Presented by Richard Pears
• June 2008

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Learning outcomes
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• After this session you will be able to
• identify the range of secondary and published
  sources available
• select the most appropriate sources for your
  research subject
• search efficiently using catalogues and
  bibliographical databases

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Conversations themes
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• The Annales historians and the Middle Ages
• Power and Ethnicity in Western Europe,
  c.500-c.1500
• Studying the Built Environment in Renaissance
  England
• Women's, gender and feminist history
• A Usable Past? The Reinterpretation of US History
  in and since the 1960s
• History and Guilt the impact of the Holocaust
  and other modern crises on postwar European
  historiography.

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What information do you need?

• Define research area People, period, place
• Focus i.e. politics, society, religion,
  economics, etc
• Information facts, theories, historiography,
  data, images, artefacts, etc.

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Break down the subject into searchable areas
Sample topic War and national identity in late
medieval Scotland
themes
time period
place
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Where will you find information?

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Some sources of information
Books Internet pages Journals Statistics Da
tabases Newspapers Theses Government
publications Manuscripts Contacts staff,
organisations Images
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Start here! http//www.dur.ac.uk/library/history/
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How to find information Books

• Use the Library Catalogue http//library.dur.ac.u
  k/
• All material held in Durham University Libraries
• Author, title, keyword, subject searching
• Reserve, recall, renew items in Library
• Obtain items from store
• Export citations for your bibliography

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Using the Library catalogue
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Locating other sources

• Use the references and bibliographies cited in
  other books
• Look for other works by cited authors
• Look for published collections, e.g. Surtees
  Society, Camden Miscellany, Calendar of State
  Papers

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Using bibliographic databases

• Search engines indexing thousands of journals,
  theses, working papers
• Often include book reviews
• Sometimes link to full text
• Download references to relevant sources, then
  search for these in the Library catalogue
• See list at http//www.dur.ac.uk/library/resources
  /online/subjects/?sHistory

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Using Historical Abstracts
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Using journal databases - RHS
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Using journal databases web of knowledge
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Using journal databases - JSTOR
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Images
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Online exercise
Use the online resources available from the
Librarys History web pages to locate information
on your subject. Go to http//www.dur.ac.uk/libra
ry/history/
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Recap
What sources will you need for your
research? How will you find this information?
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Getting help
Library web pages http//www.dur.ac.uk/library/h
istory/ Contact us richard.pears_at_durham.ac.uk
Speak to your tutors
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Good luck!