Historical Research at Roesch Library

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Historical Research at Roesch Library

• History 301
• Research Methods Seminar
• January 2003

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Todays Topics

• Library of Congress subject headings
• Specialized dictionary or encyclopedia
• Historical atlas
• Biography collection
• Subject bibliography
• Index of scholarly periodicals
• Scholarly periodicals

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You want to research like this
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Publishing on the Internet

• On the Internet, no evaluation has been done
• Anyone can write a webpage, anyone can publish,
  anyone can access

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Library sources

• Materials in Roesch Library already reviewed
  before you ever see them

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Evaluation for books articles

• Publishers--decide if material is worthy of
  printing publication
• Other scholars--evaluate the quality of the
  material and may publish reviews
• Librarians professors--assess whether material
  supports the curriculum

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The better solutionlibrary.udayton.edu
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Research Aids
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Subject Headings

• Subject heading standardized description
• Given to materials from a list of agreed upon
  ways to describe material type and/or contents
• You will need to find the subject headings
  provided by the Library of Congress

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Locating Library of Congress subject headings

• Option 1
• Use the Library of Congress Subject Heading
  books
• Reference Z695 .L695 

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Locating Library of Congress subject headings

• Option 2
• Run a SUBJECT search in online catalog

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As it looks in a book record
Library of Congress subject headings
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• Subject search
• Crunches Library of Congress subject headings
• You use wrong words, you get nothing

• Keyword search
• Crunches words in subject headings, title,
  author, etc
• Better chance of finding something, but may not
  be relevant
• Similar to a Google search

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But what if a Subject Search yields nothing?Try
a Keyword Search instead
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Specialized Dictionary

• Short factual entries
• Briefly explains words which make up a subjects
  specialized jargon
• Can cover specific events, time periods, people
  or countries
• Does NOT mean Websters Dictionary

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Historical Encyclopedia

• Longer, more analytical entries
• Entries often written by scholars
• Bibliographies often included
• Provide good jump-start on topic
• World Book Encyclopedia does NOT count!

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Locating dictionaries or encyclopedias

• To find titles in the online catalog, do a WORD
  SEARCH
• Enter your topic and (dictionar or
  encyclopedia)
• Example vietnam war and (dictionar or
  encyclopedia)

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Catalog search help

• Asterisk is a command for word variationswill
  look for dictionary or dictionaries, etc
• Remember to include the words and or in the
  search string
• Use parentheses ( ) if using multiple ands ors

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Subject bibliography

• Bibliography a list of books and/or articles on
  a topic
• Can be short--at the end of articles, book
  chapters, encyclopedia entries, etc.
• May also be long enough to be a book itself
• For this assignment, need to find a book-length
  bibliography

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Locating subject bibliographies

• To locate items in the online catalog, do a
  SUBJECT SEARCH
• Use Library of Congress Subject Headings
• Look for the subheading bibliography   

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Historical Atlas

• Bound collection of maps
• May depict the evolution of conditions
• Worldwide or in a specific region
• Over an extended period of time
• Or may deal with a specific event
• Conditions may be geo-political, demographic,
  environmental

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Locating Atlas titles

• To locate items in the online catalog, do a WORD
  SEARCH
• Enter your topic and (atlas or maps)
• Example
• Brit and colon and (atlas or maps) 

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Biography Collection

• Short biographies of well-known persons
• Useful as a first step in identifying persons
  central to topic
• May require some creative thinking and/or
  consultation with Benjamins A Students Guide to
  History
• No biography collection on the origins of the
  theory of evolution?
• Try a biography collection of men women in
  science

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Locating Biography collections

• To locate items in the online catalog, do a WORD
  SEARCH
• Enter your topic and biograph and (dictionar or
  encycloped)
• Example
• Science and biograph and (dictionar or
  encycloped) 

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Caveat
Lack of resources at UD is no excuse for an
incomplete assignment. OhioLINK resources arrive
early enough for you to finish work by the due
date. Research early often!
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Periodical Index

• May list books, book chapters, dissertations,
  conference proceedings, plus articles
• Created for researchers
• Less likely to contain material of general
  interest
• Scholarly in nature

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Locating Periodical Indexes library.udayton.edu/
research/article/subject_guides
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Dont forget the Info screens
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Why the fuss about scholarly?

• You are practicing/working at being scholars
• Journal articles are written by scholars for
  other scholars to comment upon
• Magazine newspaper articles tend to be written
  for general readers, not researchersnot you, the
  scholar

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Scholarly ARTICLES will

• Provide evidence of research
• Footnotes or list of works cited
• Be frequently refereed
• Judged suitable for publication by other scholars

• Contribute additional knowledge to the field
• Analyze comment about events, do not merely
  report events

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Scholarly PERIODICALS are

• Usually published by academic publishers or by
  professional societies
• Fairly plain in format
• Few photographs, illustrations, advertisements
• Mostly charts or graphs

• Focused in purpose
• Purpose often to report on original research

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Locating scholarly periodical titles

• STEP 1 Find scholarly articles first, then look
  at the periodical source
• Scholarly articles found in scholarly periodical,
  usually
• STEP 2 Verify periodicals academic standing in
  Magazines for Libraries or Ulrichs Periodicals
  Directory

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Locating scholarly articles--hints

• Use an appropriate database to perform a WORD
  search
• Databases may not use LoC subject headings, may
  be using own system instead
• Limit your options
• Language
• Article Type
• Time Period
• Year (of article publication)

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Ulrichs Periodicals Directory

• Reference Z 6941 .U45
• Use v. 5, Refereed section

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Magazines for Libraries

• Reference, Z6941 .M23
• Nicely annotated
• Use the History section
• Look for "Aud Ac" (academic) or "Refereed" in
  the description to make sure title is scholarly

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Other databases EJC

• Full text
• Scholarly periodicals
• 1994 present
• Book reviews
• More sources for sciences, business, engineering
• No subject headings

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Other databases JSTOR

• Full text
• Scholarly periodicals
• History periodicals
• Issue dates vary
• Begin with v. 1, no. 1
• No subject headings

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Need help?Library.udayton.edu/chat.php
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Questions, individual help?

• Call 229-4259
• Email heidi.gauder_at_notes.udayton.edu