Frequently
Asked Historical Research Questions
What's the best way to go about doing historical research?
For all library research, not just historical research, the Cornell Library recommends as a start:
Guide to Library Research at Cornell
In essence, the strategy outlined in the Guide recommends starting broad with background sources like scholarly encyclopedias which provide lots of context and perspective with little investment of time and energy, then narrowing the focus of the topic and the kind of material by finding books, then finally finding articles in scholarly journals.
Although this process seems linear, in fact, depending on the depth of your project, it's a circular process in which steps are repeated when new sub-topics are encountered and the focus of the project evolves:
Highly recommended is:
A
pocket guide to writing in history. Mary Lynn Rampolla. 3rd ed. Boston
: Bedford/St. Martin’s, c2001. (Uris Library D13 .R295x 2001)
The classic on the research process is:
The
modern researcher. Jacques Barzun, Henry F. Graff. 5th ed. Fort Worth
[Tex.] : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers ; c1992. Olin Library
Reference D13 .B29 1992)
There are a number of worthwhile books on term paper writing as well as theses and dissertations:
How to write a thesis : a guide to the research paper. Harry Teitelbaum. New York, NY, USA : Macmillan, c1994. (Mann Library Reference LB2369 .T36x 1994).
Term paper resource guide to twentieth-century United States history. Robert Muccigrosso, Ron Blazek, and Teri Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1999. (Uris Library E741 .M83x 1999)
Getting the most out of your U.S. history course : the history student's vade mecum. Neil R. Stout. Lexington, Mass. : D.C. Heath, c1996. (Uris Library E175.8 .S874x 1996)
Writing your dissertation: how to plan, prepare and present your work successfully. Derek Swetnam. (online and Olin PE1479.D47 S94 1997eb)
Writing
for social scientists : how to start and finish your thesis, book, or article.
Howard S. Becker, with a
chapter by Pamela Richards. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1986. (Olin
Library H91 .B39)
Completing your doctoral dissertation or master's thesis in two semesters or less. Evelyn Hunt Ogden.Lancaster, Pa. : Technomic Pub. Co., c1993. (Mann Library LB2369 .O33x 1993)
How to complete and survive a doctoral dissertation. David Sternberg. New York : St. Martin's Press, c1981. (Olin Library LB2386 .S83)
However reading about researching and writing your paper or thesis is no substitute for actually doing it, so don't get carried away researching how to research!
How can I manage all the information I discover while I research?
A little bit of organization can go a long way.
Use a small notebook to keep a running list of search terminology, titles, call numbers, authors, thoughts.
Keep all bibliographic printouts from catalogs, databases, the web, emails from professors, etc. whether you think they're of value or not. If you don't have time to file them in a file, throw them in a pile in a box in the corner.
Although index cards for bibliography is an old favorite, many people find the method cumbersome. Citation management software is the electronic equivalent. It will allow you to download citations from databases, then incorporate them, properly formatted, directly into your paper or thesis.
How can I find primary sources?
There are lots of possibilities and strategies.
Bibliographies, edited collections of primary sources, and guides can help. To find them, begin by using the CU online catalog's guided keyword search. Try terms associated with your topic (preferably subject terms) in combination with terms (as subjects) such as--
sources
catalogs
bibliography
archiv? (the question mark signifies truncation of a word in the CU
catalog--in this case, archiv? = archive, archival, or archives)
handbooks
Also terms (as subjects) associated with particular genres of primary sources will work:
personal
narratives
letters
diaries
papers
maps
micro? (for
microtexts such as microfiche or microfilm)
description and travel
(for travel
literature; check the original date of publication)
Early works to 1800
(for material written before 1800)
Electronic full text collections can be browsed:
Early encounters in North America [electronic resource] : peoples, cultures, and the environment. (Library Gateway's Find Databases) This database, assembled from hundreds of primary sources, documents the relationships among peoples and with the environment in North America from 1534 to 1850.
Making of America: the Cornell University Library MOA collection (Library Gateway's Find Databases) A digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction.
American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library (Library Gateway's Find Databases)
Evans digital edition (Library Gateway's Find Databases) American works from the 17th and 18th century American life.
Eighteenth century collections online (ECCO) (Library Gateway's Find Databases) Every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom, along with thousands of important works from the Americas, between 1701 and 1800.
Early
English books online (EEBO) (Library Gateway's Find Databases)
Covers
Books printed in English from 1475 to 1700.
RLG Cultural Materials (Library Gateway's Find Databases) A multimedia collection of digital versions of manuscripts, photos, art, historical documents and memorabilia, and more, brought together from around the world.
The Voice of the Shuttle covers all periods of history. Digitized video collections were recently added.
Tips for finding primary sources from the University of Washington
Tips for finding medieval primary sources at Cornell
What is a primary source?
Talk to your professor! For very basic, simplistic definitions, try: What is a primary source?
How can I tell whether Cornell has issues of the London-based The Spectator from 1756?
This is a tough one. You
might want to consult with Olin Reference staff. To try it yourself, try appropriate
online fulltext collections such as Eighteenth
century collections online (ECCO) A search in ECCO results in no hits for
1756. Next, use the online catalog for a basic search by journal title. In the
results screen, dates to the left refer to the dates the periodical began to
exist or existed in that particular form (print, microfilm or online fulltext).
In this case, none of the possible results cover 1756. This means either that
Cornell doesn't have the issues from 1756 or that The Spectator itself
didn't exist in the mid-18th century. To check the first possibility, go to
the database Worldcat and perform the search again (using limits such as serial
publication and using the keyword "London" as a publication location
and searching by Spectator as an exact title.) This results in the same list
of results (including many duplicate records) that the online catalog gave which
means that you'll want to check possibility two, that The Spectator
didn't exist for that period. Print bibliographies and guides to periodicals
are best for this. In this case, check Bibliography of British newspapers
(Olin Library Reference Z6956.G6 B58) and some of the other guides and bibliographies
to British/English periodicals and newspapers right next to it on the shelf.
Typically bibliographies give you an overview of a periodical's history.
I want to look through Irish periodicals from the 1880s. How can I go about doing this?
Finding older and/or obscure periodicals can be challenging, but often the articles they contain (which typically are not indexed by print periodical indexes or online databases) will be well worth the search. Before you embark on a search, try the online databases that do provide citations (and sometimes the actual articles) to 18th and 19th century periodicals such as:
Eighteenth
century collections online (ECCO)
Periodical Contents Index (PCI) Covers
1770-1993. Index to thousands of periodicals in the humanities and social sciences,
covering each periodical from its first issue. The scope is international.
APS
online. Covering more than 150 years of American magazine journalism 1741-1900.
Making of America
Historical Newspapers Online.
The Official index to the [London] Times, Palmer's index to the Times, and the
Historical index to the New York times in electronic form.
Paper of record
Included are newspapers from Australia, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom and United
States of America. Many of these titles date from the early 1800s to the mid
1900s.
Poole's Plus: Indices to Nineteenth-Century
Newspapers, Periodicals, Books and Government Documents
For periodicals not covered in the convenient online collections above, in this case, a bibliography of Irish periodicals that covers the period will help you identify specific titles. (You'll need specific titles to determine whether Cornell has the periodical and/or for the interlibrary loan request.) Use the CU catalog's guided keyword search and use ireland as a subject in search box 1, periodicals newspapers as subjects in search box 2 and choose "any of these", then in search box three type bibliography as subject in search box 3.
That'll pull up such items as:
The Waterloo directory of Irish newspapers and periodicals, 1800-1900 / John S. North. Waterloo, Ont. : North Waterloo Academic Press, 1986. (Olin Library Reference (Non-Circulating) Z6956.I6 N85)
Irish literary magazines : an outline history and descriptive bibliography / Tom Clyde. Dublin ; Portland, Or. : Irish Academic Press, 2003. (Olin Library Oversize PR8711 .C58x 2003+)
Northern Ireland newspapers, 1737-1987 : a checklist with locations. Belfast : Library Association (Northern Ireland Branch) : Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Working Party on Resources for Local Studies, 1987. (Library Annex + Z6956.G7 N87 1987).
For even more bibliography, take the same search into Worldcat. (Items you turn up there might need to be interlibrary loaned.)
A bibliography provides you the all important title. Once you have titles do a search in the CU online catalog, then Worldcat and/or RLIN and/or CRL (particularly strong holdings of newspapers on microfilm).
You could also use the database Worldcat. In this case, limit to serial publications, then choose publisher location Ireland or better yet Dublin (national capital and most likely place for publication). Be prepared to get lots of duplicates in your hit list. You might want to limit (under subtype limits near the bottom of the search screen) under format to microfilm since it's more likely that you can borrow microfilm through interlibrary loan than fragile print issues which are most likely in Ireland.
Updated March 21, 2006
Questions?
Suggestions? Contact Virginia Cole
Created
by Virginia Cole, Ph.D.
Olin Uris Reference Services
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