Al Harris Library

1. Al Harris Library Library Instruction for Historical Research Frederic Murray MLIS, University of British Columbia BA, Political Science, University of Iowa Instructional Services Librarian frederic.murray@swosu.edu

2. Center for History & New Media • Teaching & Learning • Providing free access to primary sources, building high-quality online teaching modules, and offering instruction on critical thinking skills.

3. “There are days when the result is so bad that no fewer than five revisions are required. In contrast, when I'm greatly inspired, only four revisions are needed."--John Kenneth Galbraith

4. WRITING is essentially REWRITING… Boyer, Paul S., and Stephen Nissenbaum. Salem Possessed; The Social Origins of Witchcraft. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1974.

5. Research Strategies Process Thesis Boolean Keyword Limiters Citation Tracking Works Cited Resources Catalogs Bibliographies Databases Scholarly Journals WWW Primary Sources Secondary Sources Tertiary Sources Today’s Class

6. Exercise I: Research Puzzle

7. The Research Process • GET A TOPIC • DEVELOP YOUR SEARCH STRATEGY • SEARCH AND READ • WRITE YOUR PAPER, SPEECH PRESENTATION ETC. • CITE YOUR SOURCES

8. Goal: write a paper that… • Asks a good historical question 2. Tells how its interpretation connects to previous work by other historians, and 3. Offers a well-organized and persuasive thesis of its own.

9. Thesis Statements Make an assertion Take a stand Explain what you’re going to write about Are narrow and specific Have one main point Think about questions your research might help you answer. State your topic as a question first, then revise it to be a statement. Create a Thesis Statement

10. Offering a well-organized and persuasive thesis • Think of your thesis as answering a question • Have your thesis answer a "how" or "why" question, rather than a "what" question • “what” leads to mere description • “how” & “why” leads to critical analysis

11. Strong Thesis Statement(Exercise II) • Is specific 2. Addresses a potential contradiction and is arguable 3. Provides a logical way to structure the argument

12. AND = Narrow OR = Expand Boolean • NOT = Exclude

13. Searching for Primary SourcesKEYWORDS - Correspondence - Sources - Diaries - Interviews - “Literary collections” - “Personal narratives” “ - “Pictorial works” - Posters - Songs/Music - Speeches, addresses, etc. - Treaties Tell the Catalog/Database what you seek: Specifically!

14. Keywords & Boolean Civil War and Diaries Civil War and Sources Civil War and Correspondence WORKS FOR CATALOG/DATABASES/WEB

15. Class Exercise III: Keywords Civil War and History Civil War and ? Civil War and ?

16. Al Harris Catalog • Remember* Catalog defaults to relevance search • Remember* Use a Keyword search and Boolean to help limit results • Remember* Use Limiters to narrow your search. • Remember* Use Subject links to focus on your topic.

17. Ebooks: Accessible through Library Catalog or Webpage • Ebrary • Net Library • Two separate platforms ( think Xbox & PS3). • Create Accounts: bookshelf, annotate, highlight.

18. Open World Cat • Meta search engine for online catalogs of libraries all over the world. Search for any book using a geographic location for the closest sources. • Over 9000 libraries combined. • If you find it in WorldCat, and it's not in our library, we can get it through ILL. • CREATE A USER ACCOUNT

19. Searching for Primary SourcesKEYWORDS - Correspondence - Sources - Diaries - Interviews - “Literary collections” - “Personal narratives” - “Pictorial works” - Posters - Songs/Music - Speeches, addresses, etc. - Treaties Tell the Catalog/Database what you seek: Specifically!

20. Keywords & Boolean Civil War and Diaries Civil War and Sources Civil War and Correspondence In Open WorldCat this is a Gold Mine!

21. Exercise IV: Catalog/WorldCat Topic: Russian Revolution Try to find a Primary Source

22. What types of sources will you use for your research? • Books/Bibliographies • Journal Articles • Primary Documents • Print documents and manuscripts • First person accounts in newspapers • Online digital collections • CITATIONS

23. Bibliographies, Indexes & Abstracts • Bibliographies • Annotated • National • Subject • Indexes • An open-end finding guide to the literature of an academic field or discipline. • Abstracts • A brief, objective representation of the essential content of a book, article, speech, report, dissertation. Traditional Reference Tools used to find sources.

24. Keywords & Boolean “Civil War” and Bibliographies “Civil War” and Indexes “Civil War” and Abstracts WORKS FOR CATALOG/DATABASES/WEB

25. Databases: Social Sciences • History Resource Center: United States • History Resource Center: World • New York Times, 1851–2004 • JSTOR Journal Archive • Oklahoma Historical Society • OSU Library Electronic Publishing Center Use Advanced Search: Boolean/ Keywords/Limiters

26. Title Author Source Date Abstract Full Text Subject/Keyword Databases can be searched using any combination of the field headings. Limiters: Database Field Headings

27. Ebsco Demonstration

28. Citations • We think of citation patterns as the flow of information," says Carl Bergstrom, a biologist at the University of Washington. "That's what a citation is — the trace that an idea flowed from one place to another."

29. Tracking Citations begins by finding the Journal

30. Tracking Citations Rosenzweig, Roy. "Can History Be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past." Journal of American History 93, no. 1 (June 2006): 117-146. Education Research Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed December 11, 2008).

31. The Citation Video

32. Exercise V & VI: Periodical/Database Topic: Soviet Labor Camps

33. POPULAR MAGAZINES COME IN MANY FORMATS, BUT USUALLY SOMEWHAT SLICK AND ATTRACTIVE IN APPEARANCE RARELY CITE SOURCES. INFO. IS USUALLY SECONDARY, REPORTED FROM SOURCE ARTICLES SHORT, WRITTEN IN SIMPLE LANGUAGE AND FOR A MINIMAL EDUCATION LEVEL USUALLY LOT OF ADVERTISING AND PICTURES PAGINATION RESTARTS IN EVERY ISSUE SCHOLARLY JOURNALS HAVE A SOBER, SERIOUS LOOK ALWAYS CITE THEIR SOURCES IN FOOTNOTES/BIBLIOGRAPHIES ARTICLES WRITTEN BY A SCHOLAR OR RESEARCHER “HORSE’S MOUTH” PEER-REVIEWED BY SCHOLARS LANGUAGE OF JOURNAL ASSUMES SOME SCHOLARLY BACKGROUND ON THE PART OF READER ADVERTISING IS SPECIALIZED TO THAT DISCIPLINE PAGINATION IS CUMULATIVE Peer-Reviewed Articles

34. Ulrichsweb: Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory • Global source for periodicals since 1932. • Bibliographic database providing authoritative information on serials published throughout the world. Exercise VII: What Makes a Journal Scholarly?

35. Primary sources are original records created at the time historical events occurred or well after events in the form of memoirs and oral histories. Print documents and manuscripts First person accounts in newspapers Online digital collections National Archives & Records Administration Primary Sources

36. PRIMARY SECONDARY TERTIARY

37. Works Cited Page • TWO PARTS • Primary • Secondary • Be sure to divide your sources into primary and secondary.

38. Finding Primary Sources: WWW • Library of CongressAn outstanding and invaluable site for American history and general studies. Contains primary and secondary documents, exhibits, map collections, prints and photographs, sound recordings, and motion pictures. The LOC's American Memory Historical Collections, a must-see, contain the bulk of digitalized materials, but the Exhibitions Gallery is enticing and informative as well. • National Archives and Records AdministrationThe NARA offers federal archives, exhibits, classroom resources, census records, Hot Topics, and more. The Online Exhibit Hall has features on the New Deal, WWII, and photographs from 1864 to 1921.

39. Finding Primary Sources: WWW • American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library • Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy • Making of America: 19th c. books and magazines

40. Finding Primary Sources on the Web II • The Internet History Sourcebooks • The Internet History Sourcebooks are collections of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts. The Sourcebooks include an Ancient History Sourcebook, a Medieval Sourcebook, and a Modern History Sourcebook, as well as assorted other Sourcebooks on topics such as Women's history, Islamic history, and East Asian history.

41. Oklahoma History and Culture • Chronicles of Oklahoma • The first 40 volumes of the Oklahoma Historical Society's journal, digitized by Oklahoma State University. • Eastern Oklahoma County Regional History Center • This project of Rose State College was established to preserve the unique history of the communities of Eastern Oklahoma County, including Tinker Air Force Base, and to promote the understanding of the importance of the region to the State of Oklahoma, the southwestern region of states, and the United States. Collections include oral histories and historic photographs of Tinker Air Force Base. • Oklahoma Crossroads • Oklahoma Crossroads: Documents and Images consists of selected digital collections of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries spanning more than 100 years of rich, vibrant history. These collections include documents, photographs, newspapers, reports, pamphlets, posters, maps, and an author database ranging in date from the late 1800s to present. • Western History Digital Collections • The Western History Collection is a special collection within the University of Oklahoma Libraries system. Its purpose is to enhance the University Libraries general collection on the history of the American West; to support the research and teaching programs of the University of Oklahoma; and to provide opportunities for research through the acquisition, preservation, and access of materials relating to the development of the Trans-Mississippi West and Native American cultures. • OSU Library Electronic Publishing Center

42. Searching for Primary SourcesKEYWORDS - Correspondence - Sources - Diaries - Interviews - “Literary collections” - “Personal narratives” - “Pictorial works” - Posters - Songs/Music - Speeches, addresses, etc. - Treaties Tell the Webpage what you seek: Specifically!

43. Google Scholar • Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. Search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations.

44. Google Scholar • Works best for citations • Restrictions to Content • Fee-based • Often your Library already owns material • We’re working on improving access

45. Wikipedia Wiki: A Web application that allows users to add content to a collaborative hypertext Web resource (coauthoring), as in an Internet forum, and permits others to edit that content (open editing).

46. Wikipedia • Jimmy Wales January 15, 2001 • No Original Research • NPOV (Neutral point of view) • No owners, multiple anonymous authors • Anyone with Internet access can create or edit an entry…Anyone

47. Wikipedia • Participation maps popular, not academic concerns • It is a working community…but is it a good historical resource? • Lack of Critical Analysis • Problematic as a sole source of information • Like all encyclopedias…ok to start, terrible place to stop. • Benefits are to its active participants, not its readers. • Anyone can edit a page…..Anyone

48. wikirage • A site listing pages in Wikipedia which are receiving the most edits per unique editor over various periods of time. • Wikipedia is a disruptive tertiary information source.

49. PRIMARY SECONDARY TERTIARY

50. KEY Elements for Your Paper • Works Cited Page • Divide into Primary/Secondary ! • NO ENCYCLOPEDIAS ! • 20% of your grade is based on critiquing your fellow classmates