HIST 300: Print and Web Resources

1. HIST 300: Print and Web Resources April Duncan, Reference Librarian Langsdale Library aduncan@ubalt.edu 410-837-4269 Slides borrowed from Tami Smith, Reference Librarian

2. Plan for Today • Review: Search Strategy • Review: Popular v. Scholarly • Review: Primary v. Secondary • Print Resources • Web Resources • Wrap-up

3. Search Assignment Just remember its due Monday, Oct 6th 

4. Review: Search Strategy • If your topic is too broad, add another concept (AND) • If your topic is too narrow, add synonyms and related terms (OR) • Different databases = different results (try more than one)

5. Getting to the Full Text Do we own it? • Find It button • Journal Finder If we don’t own it, use ILL

6. Scholarly vs. Popular

7. Scholarly vs. Popular Scholarly • Quarterly, bi-monthly, semi-annual • Empirical studies/research articles • Longer articles • Written by scholars or researchers • Signed (contact info included) • Writing style is academic & technical (jargon) • Includes references/bibliography/footnotes

8. Scholarly vs. Popular Popular • Monthly, bi-weekly, weekly, daily • News & current events on a topic • Shorter articles • Written by journalists or freelance writers • May not be signed • Writing at high-school level or lower • Rarely includes references or notes

9. Scholarly vs. Popular • For college and professional research, scholarly preferred (or required) • Scholarly sources good for research, case studies, and reviews of works (books, articles, etc.) in a particular field • Popular sources good for cultural references, current events, and interviews

10. Type of Article (cont.) • Not sure what type of article it is? Use Ulrich’s Periodical Directory to get more information about the journal in which the article appears

11. Primary vs. Secondary Sources

12. Primary vs. Secondary Primary Sources Original accounts or records of historical events • Diaries, journals, speeches, interviews, letters • Memoirs and autobiographies • Original documents (e.g. family Bible records) • Photographs, documentaries, sound recordings • Newspaper, magazine and journal articles and books written at the time about a particular event

13. Primary vs. Secondary Secondary Sources Written later and/or provide historical analysis • Textbooks • Reference sources • Other books and articles

14. Primary vs. Secondary • Photos, letters, and other original documents are considered primary even if they are reproduced in a book or other source (they are still artifacts) • When in doubt, ask professor or librarian

15. Primary or Secondary? Dr. Nix witnesses a fire and gives an interview about it in the Baltimore Sun Primary (fire) Reporter writes a book about Baltimore fires that mentions Dr. Nix Secondary (fire, Dr. Nix) Dr. Nix writes a book about Baltimore fires Primary (Dr. Nix’s writings) or Secondary (fire, Baltimore)

16. Finding Primary and Secondary Sources: Web Resources

17. Search Engines • Google isn’t the only search engine in town! • Alta Vista • Ask.com • Exalead • GigaBlast • MSN Live Search • Yahoo

18. Metasearch Engines • Search multiple search engines at once (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.) • Clusty • Dogpile

19. Invisible Web • Google, Yahoo & Co.: “surface web” • Invisible Web = Deep Web • 500 times larger than surface web • Images & other non-text files • Local content (page not generated until you make a request) • Fee-based sites (e.g., library databases) • Most information is free

20. Invisible Web Search Engines • CompletePlanet: http://www.completeplanet.com • Internet Archive:http://www.archive.org/ • Librarian’s Index to the Internet:http://lii.org • Turbo10: http://turbo10.com

21. Academic Search Engines • Search invisible Web • Focus on academic sites • Colleges • Universities • Other scholarly institutions

22. Academic Search Engines • Directory of Open Access Journalshttp://www.doaj.org/ • Infominehttp://infomine.ucr.edu/ • OAIster (pronounced “oyster”)http://oaister.umdl.umich.edu/o/oaister/

23. Evaluating Web Resources • The 5 W’s of Evaluation • Who is the author of the web site? • What are their credentials (expertise)? • When was the information published or written? • Where was the information published? • Why was the page created? • These tips work for print, too

24. Evaluating Web Resources • Langsdale Tutorial: Web Evaluation • Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask • The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Evaluating Criteria

25. Keeping Track of Web Resources • del.icio.us

26. Finding Primary and Secondary Sources: Print Resources

27. Finding Primary Resources • Library catalog (USMAI, Pratt, WorldCat) • Memoirs, personal narrative, autobiography, diaries, correspondence • Archives and Special Collections (Langsdale, Maryland Historical Society, Pratt, etc.) • Personal papers, photographs, organizational records, sound recordings, interviews

28. Secondary Resources • Historical analysis of an event, person, place, etc. • Usually written well after the fact

29. Secondary Resources • Reference sources (encyclopedias, indexes, directories, etc.) • Textbooks • Biographies and other books • Newspaper, magazine, journal articles that analyze an event

30. Finding Secondary Resources • Library catalog (USMAI, Pratt, WorldCat) • Biography, reference sources, history, interpretation • Library databases • Journal articles, reference sources • Thinks “parts of the whole” • Chapter(s) or paragraphs in a book • Part of a journal article

31. Getting Books and Articles • Use the Button • Check the library catalog (USMAI, not just UB) • Consider using these subject terms: • Depressions -- 1929 -- United States • New Deal, 1933-1939 • United States -- History -- 1919-1933 • United States -- History -- 1933-1945.

32. ILL • Can’t find it in USMAI? Use ILL Express! • It’s free! • 7-10 business days for articles, 2-3 weeks for books (may take less time) • Questions? ill@ubalt.edu or 410-837-4283

33. Questions?

34. Wrap-Up • Scholarly vs. Popular: Depends on purpose of research, but scholarly usually preferred/required • Primary vs. Secondary: Some sources can be both • Using Web and Print Resources • When in doubt, ask professor or librarian

35. Questions?

36. Thank You! Reference Help: Phone: 410-837-4274 E-mail: langref@ubalt.edu IM: ublangsdale HIST 300 Course Page: http://langsdale.ubalt.edu/howto/course_websites/fa08/hist300_nix.htm