Conversations with History library research

1
Conversations with History library research

• Presented by Richard Pears
• October 2009

2
Learning outcomes
?

• After this session you will be able to
• identify the range of secondary and published
  sources available
• select the most appropriate sources for your
  research subject
• search efficiently using catalogues and
  bibliographical databases

3
Conversations themes
?

• Inventing the Middle Ages
• Power and Peoples
• History and the Media The Myth of Elizabeth
• The Built Environment in Renaissance England
• Did Women have a Renaissance? Gendering early
  modern history
• History and Guilt
• A Usable Past? The Reinterpretation of US History
  in and since the 1960s

4
?
What information do you need?

• Define research area People, period, place
• Focus i.e. politics, society, religion,
  economics, etc
• Information facts, theories, historiography,
  data, images, artefacts, etc.

5
?
Break down the subject into searchable areas
Sample topic War and national identity in late
medieval Scotland
themes
time period
place
6
?
Where will you find information?

7
?
Some sources of information
Books Internet pages Journals Statistics Da
tabases Newspapers Theses Government
publications Manuscripts Contacts staff,
organisations Images / film
8
?
Start here! http//www.dur.ac.uk/library/history/
9
?
Books - catalogues

• Use the Library Catalogue http//library.dur.ac.u
  k/
• All material held in Durham University Libraries
• Author, title, keyword, subject searching
• Reserve, recall, renew items in Library
• Includes DVDs, theses, e-books
• Obtain items from store
• Export citations for your bibliography

10
E-books

• Early English Books Online (EEBO)
• Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)
• ACLS Humanities e-books
• Patrologia Latina
• Internet, e.g. Google Books - http//books.google.
  com/advanced_book_search

11
?
Locating other sources

• Use the references and bibliographies cited in
  other books
• Look for other works by cited authors
• Look for published collections, e.g. Surtees
  Society, Camden Miscellany, Calendar of State
  Papers
• Includes e-sources State Papers Online, Medieval
  Sources Online, ACLS Humanities e-books

12
?
Using bibliographic databases

• Search engines indexing thousands of journals,
  theses, working papers
• Often include book reviews
• Sometimes link to full text
• Download references to relevant sources, then
  search for these in the Library catalogue
• See list at http//www.dur.ac.uk/library/resources
  /online/subjects/?sHistory

13
?
Using journal databases - JSTOR
14
?
L
Using Historical Abstracts
15
?
Other sources COPAC
16
?
Other sources Google Books
17
?
Other sources Google Scholar
18
?
Images
19
?
Online exercise
Use the online resources available from the
Librarys History web pages to locate information
on your subject. Go to http//www.dur.ac.uk/libra
ry/history/
20
?
Getting help
Library web pages http//www.dur.ac.uk/library/h
istory/ Contact us richard.pears_at_durham.ac.uk
Speak to your tutors