Case study : using reference resources to understand Herodotus -- Introduction : What it means to be a historian -- 2. 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 -- 5. Case study : evaluating sources : Holocaust historians -- 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 Bibliography of advanced indexes to published 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 -- Directories -- 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 -- For further reading -- Bibliography of advanced indexes to published primary sources -- A Gazetteers -- 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 -- For further reading -- 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 -- 10. The Index. 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 -- For further reading -- 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 -- For further reading -- Index.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.