Carmichael Library
How Do I
Welcome to the History 310 Historiography Guide
This guide is the starting point for identifying, locating, using, and evaluating materials relating to History in the Carmichael Library and on Internet. If you need additional assistance, please Ask a Librarian or contact Kathleen Lowe, Reference and Instruction Librarian, at lowek@montevallo.edu or 665-6109
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HIS310/ Dr. Hultquist
This guide is designed to assist you in your History 310 assignments
· Books
· Selected Reference Materials
Books
How to locate books
Books can be both primary and secondary sources. The Library Catalog contains records for primary sources such as diaries, letters, and speeches. All books are secondary sources in the sense that they describe an event from the viewpoint of an author in a particular time period.
The Library Catalog provides access to authors, titles, and subjects. Historical research often requires special knowledge of the Library of Congress Subject Headings.
Researchers and students of history should consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings for the appropriate subject headings and additional ‘see references’.
Generally, searching the Library catalog using keywords as you would on Yahoo! or Google is not the most efficient way to locate library material in the field of history. Using the Library of Congress Subject Headings retrieves the most accurate list of library materials.
Library of Congress classification provides a method to arrange books on the library shelves by subject using call numbers. These call numbers can be used as a guide for browsing the shelves for books in History.
- D: General History
- DA: British History
- DB: Austria-Hungary
- DC: French History
- DD: German History
- DE: Classical History [General]
- DF: Greece, Ancient and Modern
- DG: Rome and Italy
- DK: Russia
- DL: Scandinavia
- DP: Spain and Portugal
- DS: Asia
- DS35-254: Middle East
- DS500s: South East Asia
- DS700s: China
- DS800s: Japan
- DT: Africa
- E70s: Native North Americans
- E185s: African-Americans
- F100-999: U.S. States
- F 321-335 Alabama
- F1001-1121: Canada
- F1204-1386: Mexico
- F1434: Middle American Indians
- F2229: South American Indians
Check the complete listing of Library of Congress call numbers.
WorldCat
Contains
records of library materials
worldwide. If a book you’re looking for is not
available in our Library, consult WorldCat as
well as the guidelines for Interlibrary
Loan.
Peer Reviewed Sources
In addition to books, the following electronic and print sources provide access to authoritative and scholarly analysis of a topic in history.
America History and Life
America: History and Life is a complete bibliographic reference to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Published since 1964, the database comprises over 450,000 bibliographic entries, providing an incomparable research tool for students and researchers of US and Canadian history.
This extensive database covers over 2,000 journals published worldwide. In addition to covering all key English-language historical journals, America: History and Life coverage includes selected historical journals from major countries, state and local history journals, and a targeted selection of hundreds of journals in the social sciences and humanities. Over 90% of the articles included are published in English-language journals.
In addition to articles, each year America: History and Life includes approximately 6,000 citations of book and media reviews from a selection of over one hundred key journals in US and Canadian history and related fields. The database also includes citations to abstracts of dissertations published in these areas.
This database contains annotated references to books, articles, and dissertations on the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada, which are covered in America: History and Life).
Published since 1954, Historical Abstracts currently covers over 2,000 journals published throughout the world.
In addition to including the key historical journals from virtually every major country, Historical Abstracts includes a targeted selection of hundreds of journals in the social sciences and humanities that are of special interest to researchers and students of history.
Reference materials (e.g. encyclopedias, dictionaries, bibliographies, etc.) are a good place to begin your research.
- Reference materials provide background for your topic
- Provides the backbone for your research: Who, what, where, when, and why?
- Bibliographies at the end of an entry can be "mined" for additional sources
The
American Historical Association's Guide to
Historical Literature
Ref. D 9 .A55 1995
Provides a selected list, with
appropriate commentary, of books and articles in
every field of historical scholarship.
Works are chosen for inclusion on the
basis of several factors: (1) reliable synthesis
or reference works; (2) works that set the
standard of excellence in various fields of
history; (3) major alternative interpretations
represented in scholarly debate.
Alabama
History: An Annotated Bibliography
Ref. F 326 .A43 1998
The most current comprehensive
bibliography of Alabama history. Indispensable
for researchers. Complies the best and most
usable books, articles, dissertations, theses,
and reference works published through December
1996.
Encyclopedia
of Historians and Historical Writing
Ref. D 14 .E53 1999
Provides a guide to influential
historians and historical debates including the
western historical canon and beyond to include
writers from other cultures and traditions.
Harvard
Guide to American History
Ref. E 175.7 .H37 1974
The basic reference bibliography for
American history. A selective listing
covering the whole range of American history
including citations to both books and
periodical materials.
Writings
on American History
Ref. E 172 .A60
An excellent annual bibliography and
index to books and articles published on the
history of the U.S. or Europe with some coverage
of Latin America and the Pacific Islands.
No bibliographies issued for 1904-9105,
1941-1947 due to war.
Magazine Articles
Popular magazines can provide primary and secondary evidence of the social and political history of an era. Print and electronic indexes to magazine articles of interest to historians are arranged chronically.
20th Century - Current
Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature
The print version covers 1890-present.
Contains comprehensive indexing and
abstracting of the most popular general interest
periodicals published in the United States.
Alternative
Press Index
Comprehensive guide to alternative sources of
information from over 300
alternative,
radical and left periodicals, newspapers and
magazines.
Academic
Search Premier
Academic Search Premier provides
full text aces to 4,600 journals including more
than 3,600 peer reviewed publications.
19th Century
Poole's index to periodical literature
Few works of scholarship can match the significance of William Frederick Poole's index to periodical literature, which remains a core resource for researching nineteenth--century topics.
How to Look For Newspapers
New
York Times
The Library provides a microfilm copy of
the New York Times from 1856-present.
Use the New York Times Index to find a
particular topic/event by the year in which it
occurred.
ProQuest
Newspapers
On-line full text access to the New York Times
from about 1985 present is available on this
database.
Lexis Nexis
Offers full text to current information from
newspapers around the world, transcripts from
leading newswire and television services and
transcripts of many US government announcements.
Birmingham News
The Library has a microfilm copy of the
Birmingham News from 1955-present. Primary
source information from the Civil Rights era is
of particular interest.
Shelby
County Reporter
The Library has a microfilm copy of the
Shelby County Reporter from 1927-present.
For additional newspaper access, check the Catalog to see if the Library owns a particular newspaper.
To locate newspapers of historical interest in Alabama, you may want to consult the following guide:
ADAH
Alabama Department of Archives and History:
Newspapers on Microfilm
Researchers can search a list of Alabama
newspapers by county
For access to a particular newspaper, check with
a Reference Librarian.
Book Reviews
Book reviews can serve many functions. Reviews are important ways to establish the credibility and authority of a book. Reading several reviews of the same book is valuable. A single review represents a single opinion and will often mirror the editorial policy of the publication in which it appears. Scholarly reviews often appear as much as four or five years after the publication of the book.
Electronic Sources
Reviews are indexed in many of the
periodical indexes such as:
America:
History and Life
Covers the history of the United States
and Canada, America: History and Life
indexes book reviews from around 140 journals.
From the Advanced search screen, there is
the option to limit a search by document type.
Next to the document type search box, click on
the magnifying glass icon. Select the book
review option.
Historical Abstracts
Covers the history
of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding
the Unite States and Canada, which are
covered in America history and life).
From the Advanced search screen, there is
the option to limit a search by document type.
Next to the document type search box, click on
the magnifying glass icon. Select the book
review option.
Print Sources for Book Reviews
Book Review Index
Main Floor Index Z 1035 .A1 B6
Book Review Digest
Main Floor Index Z 1219 .C95
I
Biographical
Information
Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical
Research
Ref. D 14 .E53 1999
Useful for biographical information or for
locating a leading historian in a particular
field of history. Biographical entries on
leading historians generally provide lists of
journal articles and books written by the
historian.
Biography and Genealogy Master File Index
Library database to access citations to
biographical information.
Contemporary Authors
Library database to access
biographical information
Dictionary of Literary Biography
Library database to access
biographical information
Directory of American
Scholars
Ref. LA 2311 C32
History Journals
Check the CATALOG > Journal Title to locate the exact volume and year.
Alabama Heritage
Alabama Review
American Historical Review
Civil War History
Civilization
English Historical Review
French Historical Studies
Journal of British studies
Journal of Negro History
Journal of Southern History
Past & Present
Sixteenth Century Journal
Speculum
William and Mary Quarterly
Primary Sources
Primary
sources provide an eyewitness account of an
event.
Primary sources include manuscripts,
archives, letters, diaries, and speeches.
The CATALOG provides access to letters, diaries, speeches and personal narratives in the collection. Include the keywords or phrases below in your search to locate primary sources:
· Personal narratives
· Diaries
· Correspondence
· Sources
· Records
· Letters
Examples of a keyword search in the CATALOG might be:
· Civil War and personal narratives
· Women pioneers and diaries
· Witchcraft and sources
In addition, the Library has some unique primary source materials on microfilm located on the Main Level in the Reference area. Included are colonial American newspapers from South Carolina and Virginia dating back to 1732.
Wikepedia Assignment
Choose
a topic from the following list for your
assignment.
Critical analysis of the Wikepedia entry and the
additional source is similar to
analysis of a book or journal article.
TOPICS come in pairs!
Topic 1 Pair 1
Children's Crusade (1212)
a. Wikepdia entry
Children's Crusade
b. Pringle, Denys. "Children's Crusade
(1212)." The Crusades: an
Encyclopedia. 2006.
Ref. D 155 .C78 2006 (Main Floor Reference
Collection)
Topic 2 Pair 2
King Philip's War (1675)
a. Wikipedia entry
King Philip's War
b. Jennings, Matthew. "King Philip's
War." Colonial America: an Encyclopedia
of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic
History. 2006.
Ref. E 162 .C68 2006
Topic 3 Pair 3
Black Power
a. Wikipedia entry
Black Power
b. Van Deburg, William L. "Black Power
Movement." Encyclopia of
African-American Culture and History. 2nd
ed. 2006.
Ref. E 185 .E54 2005
Topic 4 Pair 4
Attack on Charles Sumner (May 22, 1856)
a. Wikipedia entry
Charles Sumner- Service in the Senate-
Antebellum career and attack by Preston Brooks
b. Abbott, Richard H. "Sumner, Caning
Of." Encyclopedia of the
Confederacy 1993.
Ref. E 487 .E55 1993
Topic 5 Pair 5
The Great Plague of London (1665)
a. Wikipedia entry
Great Plague of London
b. Harvard University Library Open Collections
Program
The Great Plague of London, 1665
Topic 6 Pair 6
Tropical Diseases and the Panama Canal
Construction
a. Wikipedia entry
Health Measures during the construction of the
Panama Canal
b. Harvard University Library Open
Collections Program
Tropical Diseases and the Construction of the
Panama Canal
Further Readings on the Wikipedia Controversy
Wikipedia Watch
DIGITAL MAOISM:
The Hazards of the New Online Collectivism
[5.30.06]
By Jaron Lanier
Wikipedia Survey
Joint venture of The Wikipedia Foundation and
the Collaborative Community Group at UNU-MERIT
REMEMBER!
TO FIND BOOKS USE THE:
TO FIND AN ARTICLE or to locate a Book Review search
the Library Databases:
TO OBTAIN MATERIAL NOT in CARMICHAEL LIBRARY
HELP!
Kathleen Lowe's e-mail
