Al Harris Library
American Foreign Policy Research Paper:
Scholarly Resources
Frederic Murray
Assistant Professor
MLIS, University of British Columbia
BA, Political Science, University of Iowa
Instructional Services Librarian
Al Harris Library
frederic.murray@swosu.edu
The Management of Savagery
Abu Bakr Naji
(pseudonym)
The Management of Savagery
• A jihadi guide written by al-Qaida operative
Abu Bakr Naji
• Translated by Dr. William McCants 2006
(faculty member at West Point’s Combating
Terrorism Center)
• Widely viewed as foundational text
(blueprint) for ISIS
• Example of Primary Source
Questions to Ask Your Primary Source
• What is it?
• When was it collected?
• Where could you find more
background information on this?
• Who is saying/writing this
story/document/picture?
• Why is this important?
Today’s Class
• Research Strategies
– Process, Thesis
• Resources
– Catalogs, Databases, Scholarly Journals
• Citation Tracking
Today’s Class
• Review Specific Resources for
American Foreign Policy
• General Resources for American
Foreign Policy
Writing a Good Paper
What provides the discipline of History
with its authority?
What are the possibilities & limitations of
witness testimony in historical research?
Research Process
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GET A TOPIC
DEVELOP YOUR SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH AND READ
WRITE YOUR PAPER
CITE YOUR SOURCES
Library Resource
Create a Thesis Statement
• Thesis Statements
• Think about
questions your
– Make an assertion
research might help
– Take a stand
you answer.
– Explain what
• State your topic as
you’re going to
a question first,
write about
then revise it to be
– Are narrow and
a statement.
specific
– Have one main
point
Strong Thesis Statement
1. Is specific
2. Addresses a potential contradiction
and is arguable
3. Provides a logical way to structure the
argument
Offering a well-organized
and persuasive thesis
• Think of your thesis as answering a
question
• Have your thesis answer a "how" or
"why" question, rather than a "what"
question
• “what” leads to mere description
• “how” & “why” leads to critical analysis
CHOOSE THE BEST RESEARCH
THESIS STATEMENT
• Is ISIS using social media in a
calculated manner?
• ISIS is using social media.
• ISIS is using social media in a highly
strategic and tactical manner based on
the works of Abu Bakr Naji.
Tools of Scholarship
Content
• Books
• Articles
• Journals
• Citations
• WWW
Tools
• Catalogs
• Databases
• Lists
• Indexes
• Search Engines
Searching for Sources
KEYWORDS
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Correspondence
Sources
Diaries
Interviews
Literary collections
Personal narratives
Pictorial works
Posters
Songs/Music
Speeches, addresses, etc.
Treaties
Tell the
Catalog/Database/SE
what you seek:
Specifically!
Keywords & Boolean
Iraq War and Diaries
Iraq War and Sources
Iraq War and Correspondence
WORKS FOR CATALOG/DATABASES/SE
Keyword Exercise
ISIL
ISIL
Oil
Syria
ISIS
Funding
Violence
Theft
Iran
Islamic
State
Open World Cat
• Meta search engine for online catalogs
of libraries all over the world. Search
for any book using a geographic
location for the closest sources.
• Over 9000 libraries combined.
• If you find it in WorldCat, and it's not
in our library, we can get it through
ILL.
• CREATE A USER ACCOUNT
E-Books: Ebrary/Netbook
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24/7
Full Text Searching*
Highlight Markup
Note Taking
Changeable Font Size
Multiplicity of Use
• CREATE A BOOKSHELF
Al Harris Catalog
• Remember* Catalog defaults to relevance search
• Remember* Use a Keyword search and Boolean
to help limit results
• Remember* Use Limiters to narrow your search.
• Remember* Use Subject links to focus on your
topic.
Databases: Social Sciences
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JSTOR
Historical Abstracts w/Full Text *
America: History and Life w/Full Text *
Military & Government Collection*
Social Sciences Citation Index
New York Times 1851-2009
*EBSCO Database
Ebsco Demonstration
(finding New Books)
Class Exercise
• Read & research this Article
(700 words)
• Find one book review & five articles,
peer-reviewed, full text and archive
them in an EBSCO folder
• Find Five Digital Books in Ebrary or
eBooks and archive them on the digital
bookshelf or folder
Can you Read and Find
Citations?
Handout:
Reading citations
A citation is a short, multi-part description of a specific information source. It provides
the information that is needed to find a particular source. Journal citations contain such
basic information as:
Tracking Citations
Tracking Citations
Sides, John, and Kimberly Gross.
"Stereotypes Of Muslims And Support
For The War On Terror." Journal Of
Politics 75.3 (2013): 583-598.
America: History and Life with Full
Text. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.
The Citation Video
Citation Worksheet
Label the citations as either:
I. B=Book or a P=Periodical (magazine or journal article)
II. If it is a book search the following catalogs until it is located:
a. Open WorldCat
b. Ebrary
c. Al Harris Catalog
d. Identify Source - write it down
III. If it is a magazine or journal article search:
a. Periodicals List
b. Identify:
i. Name of the database – write it down
ii. Do you have access to the full text – Yes/No
Web Resources:
National Security Archive
An independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The
George Washington University, the Archive collects and publishes declassified
documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The Archive also
serves as a repository of government records on a wide range of topics pertaining
to the national security, foreign, intelligence, and economic policies of the United
States.
Office of the Historian
Historical documents and reports on countries and milestones
Foreign Relations of the United States- Office of the Historian
Online books going back to 1945 digitized by State Department
Frontline Diplomacy
Transcripts of oral histories of U.S. diplomats
Questions?
• Contact me:
• Frederic Murray
• 774-7113
• frederic.murray@swosu.edu
Thanks!