The Information Literate Historian: A Research Primer for Students
Purpose:
Undergraduate history students need to become more sophisticated
about their research methods as well as the ways in which they select and
use their primary sources and present their final research.
Overview:
As a reference librarian who serves both undergraduate and graduate
students in an environment that is increasingly more electronic, there is a
need for an increased understanding among students for the breadth and
variety of historical information. In the past it was sufficient to have a solid
knowledge of bibliography because the sources were primarily in paper and
either available in print or on microform or at a library. Today the internet
and the information explosion complicates the retrieval of information and
heightens students expectations. Many of the guides have been written by
history faculty, while knowledgeable about traditional methods of
scholarship, have not yet merged the traditional with the newer electronic.
Younger faculty are beginning to ask more creative applications of historical
research by their students. This book and companion website hopes to
bridge the gap, staying a bit conservative, while advancing slowly for into
the electronic world for the novice.
Audience:
Undergraduate students who will undertake a major research paper, or
senior thesis, primarily in the discipline of history. However students in
certain other disciplines which would be doing a research project or thesis
with a significant historical bent, would find this guide useful. It could also
be useful for beginning master’s students who may not have had a strong
undergraduate research program in history. The book can easily be used as a
text for a class or as a guide for an individual.
Market and Competition:
The market is primarily academic, college and university level.
Advanced Placement high school classes may find it useful, but the length
would probably prohibitive for their use. A small, cloth market for libraries
would also exist. However, the largest would be as an either a required or
supplemental text, probably in paperback, for upper level undergraduate
students.
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Several books do exist that might present some competition to this
proposed volume. Almost universally lacking in all of the texts below are
concrete methodologies for searching for, selecting and evaluating primary
sources. Some sources mention atlas’ but do not include the uses of
Geographic Information Systems. None discuss how and when to use the
Internet. Few provide clear, substantial evaluation criteria for source
selection. Information Literacy is essential for students awash in
information. Several are written from a History professors view, who is
also compelled to discuss how to research (take notes) and construct a paper.
My text assumes that those tasks are the talent of the faculty and that as a
librarian I can offer insights on search strategies in terms a beginning
researcher will find beneficial.
Some titles which might be competition:
 History: Illustrated Search Strategy and Sources. Elizabeth Frick.
2nd edition. Library Research Guide Series No. 13 Ann Arbor,
Michigan: Pierian Press, 1995, 197pp. Frick, then professor at
Dalhousie University and leader in the library field in bibliographic
instruction couples her unique style of teaching critical thinking with
research technique. Her text concentrates entirely in looking for
secondary sources, using online catalogs and indexes. She does
explore topic selection, reference resources and government
documents. She does not explore primary sources in any way, nor
does she suggest many evaluative skills when selecting secondary
sources.
 Student’s Guide to History. Eighth edition. Jules R. Benjamin.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s 2001. Longstanding text for history
students aimed at the construction of a research paper. Selecting a
topic, how to read a secondary source, and how to write a research
paper. He does spend a chapter discussing basic reference sources
and research techniques. My text would expand upon this and divide
his topics into many chapters. His text also has web component. at:
www.bedforstmartins.com/history/benjamin
 Writing History: A Guide for Students. William Kelleher Storey.
New York:; Oxford University Press, 1999. 118pp. Discusses how to
use research to construct the research paper. How to make inferences
from your research and how to check facts. Lacks specific search
strategies and directions to kinds of resources.
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 Historical Research: A Guide. W. H McDowell. London:
Longman, 2002. 273pp. Geared to a British audience, the text lacks
specific resources, but does discuss research strategy. Concentrates
heavily on the construction of the research paper. Very text heavy.
 In Defense of History. Evans
 The Craft of History. Booth
Author Biography:
Jenny Presnell is an Information Services Librarian at Miami
University in Ohio. She teaches a course to undergraduate History majors
using the ideas contained in this proposal. She has contributed to many
encyclopedias, reviewed books for Library Journal, written biographical
articles in the American National Biography and is currently one of the
assistant editors for the History volume for the forthcoming set of Best
Books.
Presentation:
The volume will be about 250 pages. Each chapter will contain an
introduction, search strategy and a list of resources as well as how to use
those resources. The chapters will attempt to strike a balance between text
and graphics, providing examples that are universal enough to not be limited
to a specific location, such as an index that could used different software
interfaces, or examples that will likely change. With each chapter will be an
online counterpart that can be updated to reflect such changes. Perhaps
access to some fee based databases can be arranged with an access fee to the
textbook. Certain chapters would have extensive bibliographies. Some
chapters would have to accommodate maps and images. I will do the bulk
of the writing summer of 2003, with a rough draft anticipated at the end of
September 2003.
Chapters
Chapter I
Introduction: The Nature of Historical Discourse, or How Historians
Communicate.
In general students do not understand how scholars communicate. A short
discussion here about how materials get into print, including a very brief,
simple look at the editorial process. Also a short discussion on how
historians can take the same evidence and come to different conclusions.
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History is not quite the facts that students often think it is. They need to read
their secondary sources critically.
Basic Types of Resources
Chapter II
Historians and Sources.
This chapter will briefly discuss the differences between primary and
secondary sources and how historians build their research, using primary
sources to look for trends not as anecdotes. A more lengthy definition of
primary sources will be undertaken in Chapter IV on primary sources.
Laying the Foundations: Secondary Sources
Chapter III
Reference Sources: Every student should have a basic familiarity with both
print and online resources for historical research. Using guides,
encyclopedias, association web sites, biographical information, book
reviews, maps, statistics, historical surveys, chronologies etc. Each type of
source will be described and major examples provided.
Chapter IV
Finding Books and Using Catalogs: While most libraries are online today,
using the electronic catalog effectively can be as complicated as
manipulating the card catalogs of the past. Students will be taught basic
search strategies. Included will be a discussion of the differences between
keyword and subject searching and how to make each effective. As software
varies between schools, it will be difficult to give concrete visual examples.
Also discussed will be the differences between books and journals in terms
of currency and breadth of topic and what this means for the searcher.
Chapter V
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Finding Journal Articles and Using Indexes: Students need to understand
how journals and magazines differ from each other and how they differ from
what can be found on the Internet. The referee process will be discussed.
This chapter will explore what a periodical index is, how to locate one that is
appropriate for your subject, and how to perform an effective search.
Included will be search strategies, that is how to think out your topic. A
bibliography will indicate the major indexes as well as the available formats
(print and electronic).
Chapter VI
Evaluation of Materials
Information Literate historians must be able to select and integrate primary
and secondary materials effectively. Evaluation includes selecting the best
sources to reflect the issues students wish to highlight and to prove their
thesis. Evaluation includes knowing the source of the information, the
credibility of the author, the accuracy of the text. A list of criteria will be
presented. Included will be a discussion of bias and propaganda and the
purposes and intentions of both.
Finding and Using the Evidence: Primary Sources
Chapter VII
The Thrill of Discovery: Primary Sources
This chapter will be begin with a through discussion of what primary sources
are, how to identify them and where to go looking for them. Primary Sources
also present challenges to the modern student because they ask that student to
think in historic terminology. Infused throughout the sections below will be
strategies for students to help identify the producers of primary materials.
Section headings:
Sources Published for Mass Consumption (Books, Journals, Magazine
Articles)
Unpublished Sources and Manuscripts
Business and Corporate Records
Oral Testimony
Government and Other Official Bodies Documents
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Public Records and Genealogical Resources
Media | Audiovisual
Artifacts
Special Dilemma: Ancient, Medieval, and Artifacts
Historians, The Internet and Non-Traditional Projects
The Internet and its ability to deliver and present information differently
have begun to reshape the way historians present their research. Aside from
the more traditional paths of research described above, many advanced
student researchers may begin to explore historical research in different
ways. The chapters below begin to hint at ways that computers and the
Internet have challenged traditional research and will suggest simple ways in
which students can use these new methods.
Chapter VIII
Historians and the Internet
With the inception of the American Memory Project from the Library of
Congress and the organization History and the New Media, a new era of
using the Internet for the delivery of primary and secondary information for
historical instruction and research was initiated. This chapter will teach
students when the Internet is an appropriate tool for research for both
secondary and primary sources. Students will learn to search for and
evaluate Internet sites, why scholarly journals are seldom freely available on
the internet, what constitutes a good online collection and how to determine
the missing pieces of a collection, what might the be bias in the presentation,
etc. Students will also examine websites whose purpose is to deceive. The
“deep web” and hidden information will be discussed. Communication
among historians, such as h-net and its value to research will also be
discussed.
Chapter IX
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Maps: From the Simple to the Complex: Using Geographical Information
Systems in Historical Research
There are simple ways for students to use maps to enhance historical
research. Using atlas’s and historical maps will be explored as well as
simple ways to create custom maps. Suggestions for software and ways
Geographical Information Systems or GIS can be used in creating a visual,
interactive look at a region or phenomenon.
Chapter X
The Web Page or the Traditional Research Paper ?
This chapter will suggest how to design a web page, instead of the
traditional research paper, commonly called, “information architecture”.
Reproducing a research paper and not using the technologies available in an
online environment is not really using the Internet. Actual html or xhtml
encoding or software packages will not be discussed in detail.
Recommendations in a bibliography will be provided. Issues of copyright
will be discussed.
Chapter XI
Incorporating Images, Audio and Moving Pictures into your Research
The visual as well as audio is very much part of historical research. With
new technologies, historians are no longer limited to textual descriptions of
an audiovisual medium. This chapter will suggest ways to find and
incorporate multimedia into a web research project. Software suggestions as
well as editing pitfalls will be included. A bibliography will suggest texts
that will help the student enhance his or her skills. It is not intended to be an
editing manual
Chapter XII
Conclusion
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