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.

2. Finding resources for your History dissertation Richard Pears & Laura Jeffrey

3. 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 aren’t many books in the library that look relevant. How can I find out what else has been published?

5. Wider printed resources • Other catalogues • COPAC • Public and University libraries • Bibliographies • Printed • Online e.g. Royal Historical Bibliography • Document Delivery Service

6. I’ve found lots of books on the catalogue but haven’t time to read them until the summer. Have I wasted my time searching for them?

7. Library catalogue • Catalogue can export records: Email/Save • Reading history on your record • Don’t 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 on Level 1

8. I’ve got an idea what I’d like to do my dissertation on but can only find 2 things on the catalogue. How can I find out if I’m missing relevant titles?

9. 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

10. 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

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

12. How did the increase in media affect the popular view of colonialism in Sudan? Sudan Africa Khartoum OR OR AND media broadcast* news** AND imperial* colonial* govern* Also use AND NOT

13. I’ve found some interesting book titles but need to know what else has been published on this subject. Where should I start?

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

15. I’m fed up finding interesting journal articles that we don’t subscribe to. Where can I get hold of full-text articles?

16. Full-text databases • JStor - general • Patrologia Latina - mediaeval • Mass Observation - late modern • Blackwell reference • Dictionary of national Biography • Primary resources

17. Can’t I just use Google Scholar? I know I can get whole books and articles there.

18. 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

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 All my results are out of date – the most recent are from the early 1990s.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

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

21. I’ve 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?

22. Archives • Check the ASC catalogue • Access to Archives (A2A) • Film, image and sound archives • Maps e.g. Historic Digimap • Collections e.g. Nineteenth Century House of Commons Papers • Microform e.g. State Papers

23. I’d like to analyse media representations of an historical event. Do I have to go to each newspaper’s website to view their archive?

24. News sources • Times Online Digital Archive 1785-1985 • Historical New York Times 1851-2003 • 19th century British Library newspapers • Infotrac – all major broadsheets from mid 80s and 90s • Nexis UK - recent news from global and local sources • Microform for historic local papers

25. 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?

26. Rare books • Early English Books Online (EEBO) 1475-1700 • Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) • Contemporary journals e.g. Internet Library of Early Journals

27. I’d like to research the local history of Manchester over the summer. How will that work when I’m writing up here in Durham?

28. 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

29. How will I remember where to go to get access to all these resources?

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

31. I haven’t started my research yet. What happens when I’ve forgotten all this in six months time?

32. 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@durham.ac.uk 0191 3342970 • Laura Jeffrey • l.k.s.jeffrey@durham.ac.uk 0191 3342975