Coloured cards

1
Coloured cards

• If you find a coloured card on your seat please
  hold onto it.
• We will be asking you to read out the question
  written on the card.
• If you do not feel comfortable reading it aloud,
  please pass the card to another member of the
  group.

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Finding resources for your History dissertation

• Richard Pears Suzie Kitchin

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Outcomes

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

4

• There arent many books in the library that look
  relevant.
• How can I find out what else has been published?

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Wider printed resources

• Other catalogues
• COPAC
• Public and University libraries
• Bibliographies
• Printed
• Online e.g. Historical Abstracts , Royal
  Historical Bibliography
• Document Delivery Service

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Ive found lots of books on the catalogue but
havent time to read them until the summer. Have
I wasted my time searching for them?
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Library catalogue

• Catalogue can export records Email/Save
• Reading history on your record
• Dont forget reserves and recalls apply over the
  vacation
• Not all material on open shelves or on level 4 of
  Main Library e.g. store, local collection,
  pamphlets in store

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Ive got an idea what Id like to do my
dissertation on but can only find 2 things on the
catalogue. How can I find out if Im missing
relevant titles?
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Effective searches (1)

• Keywords and synonyms garden architecture,
  ornament, landscape
• Truncation soci will find social, society,
  societal
• Wildcards behavio?r will find British and US
  English spellings
• Adjacency and Proximity New Economic Policy
  WITHIN 5 Bukharin

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Effective searches (2)

• Subject headings Habsburg, House of Courts and
  courtiers -- Austria Vienna (Austria) -- Social
  life and customs Austria -- Politics and
  government -- 16th century
• Classmarks and browse shelves 943.603

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Scope of research

• Define research area people, period, place
• Focus politics, society, religion, economics
• Information facts, theories, historiography,
  data, images, artefacts

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How did the increase in media affect the popular
view of colonialism in Sudan?
Sudan
Africa
Khartoum
OR
OR
AND
media
broadcast
news
AND
colonial
imperial
govern
Also use AND NOT
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Ive found some interesting book titles but need
to know what else has been published on this
subject. Where should I start?
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Bibliographic Databases

• Historical Abstracts
• International Bibliography of Social Sciences
  (IBSS)
• First Search
• Web of Knowledge
• Check for access

15

• Im fed up finding interesting journal articles
  that we dont subscribe to. Where can I get hold
  of full-text articles?

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Full-text databases

• JStor - general
• Patrologia Latina - mediaeval
• Mass Observation - late modern
• Blackwell reference
• Dictionary of national Biography
• Primary resources

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Cant I just use Google Scholar? I know I can get
whole books and articles there.
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Internet

• Need to be critical
• Use gateways for pre-evaluated web resources e.g.
  Intute
• Tutorials e.g. Internet for Historians
• Specific resources Papers of the American
  Presidency Bibliotheque Nationale

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All my results are out of date the most recent
are from the early 1990s. How can I keep
up-to-date?
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Current awareness

• Table of contents alerts
• Zetoc
• RSS
• Conferences
• Theses
• Save searches on databases to re-run at later date

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Ive found some documents in an archive in York
but can I get hold of primary material online to
carry on my research while in Durham?

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Archives

• Check the ASC catalogue
• Access to Archives (A2A)
• Maps e.g. Historic Digimap
• Collections e.g. Nineteenth Century House of
  Commons Papers
• Microform e.g. State Papers

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Id like to analyse media representations of an
historical event. Do I have to go to each
newspapers website to view their archive?
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News sources

• Times Online Digital Archive 1785-1985
• British newspapers 1600-1900
• Infotrac all major broadsheets from mid 80s and
  90s
• Nexis UK - recent news from global and local
  sources
• Microform for historical local papers

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I know Durham has got a lot of rare books but not
all that I need. Do I have to travel to get
access to such unique resources?
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Rare books

• Early English Books Online (EEBO) 1475-1700
• Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)
• British Periodicals 160 titles from 17th-20thC
• Contemporary journals e.g. Internet Library of
  Early Journals

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Id like to research the local history of
Manchester over the summer. How will that work
when Im writing up here in Durham?

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Access

• Off site access always go via the Library web
  pages
• Visiting other libraries and archives
• check before you go
• ID
• SCONUL Access
• Document Delivery Service

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How will I remember where to go to get access to
all these resources?
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Subject pages

• http//www.dur.ac.uk/library/history/
• Links to resources
• Contact details
• Training material

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• I havent started my research yet. What happens
  when Ive forgotten all this in six months time?

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Assistance

• Enquiries Desk at Main Library and service point
  and ASC at Palace Green
• Online enquiry service
• http//www.dur.ac.uk/library/use/enquiries.htm
• Academic Support Team
• Richard Pears
• richard.pears_at_durham.ac.uk 0191 3342970
• Suzie Kitchin
• suzie.kitchin_at_durham.ac.uk 0191 3342975

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Thanks!

• Any questions?
• Please fill in feedback form before you leave