1. Historians and the research process : getting started
How scholarly information is communicated
What historians do and how they do it
Practicing history in the electronic age : tips for the information-literate historian
Beginning your research
Where do viable and interesting topics come from?
Developing a question and formulating an argument
Preliminary organization : the blueprint
Taking notes
Format for documenting sources
The changing nature of historical research and what remains the same
For further reading
2. Reference resources
What are reference resources and when are they useful?
How to find reference resources
Types of reference resources
Encyclopedias
Bibliographies
Multivolume general histories
Biographical resources
Chronologies
Dictionaries, etymologies, and word origins
Statistical resources
Book reviews
Directories
Using the Internet as a reference resource
Case study : using reference resources to understand Herodotus.
3. Finding monographs and using catalogs
What is a book? : The changing nature of monographs
When are books the right choice for information?
How to use a book artfully
Finding monographs and using catalogs
Keyword vs. subject searching
Keyword searching
Subject searching
How to read an online catalog record
Finding monographs and using catalogs outside your school
Sources for catalogs
Where else can i find monographs?
Case study : finding and using monographs : the spread of Islam in Western Africa
4. Finding journals, magazines, and newspapers : using indexes
Using a journal article artfully
What are periodicals (or journals or magazines)?
Journals cs. magazines
Commentary periodicals
The role of newspapers in secondary historical research
How to find articles : designing a search and using an index
Using an online database : Historical Abstracts and America : History and Life
Entering a keyword search in Historical Abstracts
What you will get : looking at your results
Other ways to use an online index
Selecting other indexes
E-journals and electronic collections of journals
Case study : searching for periodical articles : Canton Trade System
Selected historical indexes
Selected periodical indexes of use to historians
5. Evaluating your sources
Why evaluate your sources?
Basic evaluation criteria
Perspective and bias : historians and interpretation
Scholarship or propaganda?
Case study : evaluating sources : Holocaust historians.
6. The thrill of discovery : primary sources
Definitions
Nature and categories of primary sources
Planning your project with primary sources
Locating primary sources
Published sources for mass consumption
Books as primary sources
magazines and journals as primary sources
Newspapers as primary sources
How to read a bibliographic entry in a printed newspaper index
Unpublished sources and manuscripts
Catalogs, bibliographies, directories, and indexes for manuscripts
Directories to archive repositories
Documents from government and other official bodies
Indexes and bibliographies of government documents
Directories/bibliographies for governments/guides to government publications
Public records and genealogical sources
Guides to public records
Business records
Oral history
Guides to oral history repositories
Media and audiovisual
History before 1400 : ancient and medieval cultures and those with substantial oral and material culture traditions
Ancient history
Medieval European history
Using bibliographies to locate primary resources
Bibliographies containing references to primary sources
Evaluation
Case study : finding primary sources ; tobacco through the ages
Bibliography of advanced indexes to published primary sources.
7. History and the Internet
The Internet and research
When is the Internet appropriate for historical research?
Using the Internet : the basics
How do I access websites on the Internet
Search directories
Search engines
Meta-search engines
What am I missing? The deep web or the invisible web
Special search techniques : finding primary sources on the Internet
Searching for primary sources
Historians communicating : using H-Net for information
Evaluation of websites
General websites
Evaluating sites concerned with primary sources
Case study : using the Internet : Japanese Americans and internment camps
8. Maps : from simple to geographic information systems
Maps as representations of our world
A short history of maps and cartography
Maps for navigation and commercial use
Maps as political tools
Maps as propaganda
Maps marking territory
maps in war
Components on modern maps
Finding maps
Map resources
Gazetteers.
9. Beyond the written word : finding, evaluating, and using images, motion pictures, and audio
The role of media in historical research : media as historical evidence
Images throughout history
Photography : real life captured?
Art as visual media : painting and drawing
Motion pictures and television
Searching for visual media
Collections of historic images
Search engines and meta-search engines for images and indexes to image collections
Images on the Internet : some cautions
Scanning and downloading still images
Common image files
Downloading images
Scanning images
Image types
Organizing still images on your website
Digital video and audio files
Digital video : using moving images
Searching on the Web
Audio, music, and speech resources
Questions to ask about speeches
Searching for audio materials
Copyright
10. Presenting your research : traditional research paper, PowerPoint, or website?
Creating a research paper
Writing style
Oral presentations and PowerPoint
Websites for historical research
Historical and scholarly websites : a developing frontier
Website design : how to begin
Preplanning : the major considerations
Navigation
What every good website must have
Writing for the web
Common mistakes to avoid on websites
Case study : a student-constructed website : Freedmen's Bureau
Index.
ISBN
9780195176513 (pbk. : alk. paper)
0195176510 (pbk. : alk. paper)
9780195176520 (alk. paper)
0195176529 (alk. paper)
LCCN
2006040129
OCLC
64511082
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