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HIST 300 - Introduction to Historical Thinking
Library Research Guide
Secondary Sources: Finding Books and Journal Articles
Use secondary sources, like books and academic journal articles, to place your artifact in historical context.
Books
Use Search It to locate books about Kansas or your artifact owned by K-State Libraries. Use keywords that describe:
- a social group of which your artifact may have been associated: Kanza, Kaw Nation, settlers, exodusters, boy scouts, etc.
- the physical location with which your artifact may be associated: Clay Center, Green, Kansas, Great Plains, etc.
- an event or activity with which your artifact may be associated: German migration, education, Bloody Kansas, farming
Research Companions
Research companions (or guides) are academic encyclopedias. They provide overviews of historical periods or events and cite other books and journal articles with more information. Locate research companions in Search It in a couple of ways:
1. Locate titles by searching for:
2. Search for your topic and the terms like: companion, guide, daily life. You may need to broaden the search from your topic to a time period or concept, like: sports AND daily life
Some relevant titles for your research include:
American Decades Series by
American Decades documents and analyzes periods of contemporary American social history. Each volume begins with an overview and chronology covering the entire decade. Subject chapters follow, each including an explanatory background overview; subject-specific timeline; and alphabetically arranged entries discussing the people, events and ideas important to that subject during the period.
Call Number: ebooksISBN: 9780787650766Publication Date: 2000
Advances and Innovations in American Daily Life, 1600s-1930s by
Throughout its history, America has seen incremental improvements in the domestic and social lives of its citizens. This reference book is divided into these sections: Agriculture, Art and music, Business and finance, Clothing, Communications, Education, Energy, Entertainment, Food and drink, Health, Labor, Law, Manufacturing, Public service, Religion, Science, Shelter and domestic furnishing, Social welfare, Sports, and Transportation. This work describes the beginnings of many aspects of daily life in America, covering most innovations through approximately the 1930s.
Call Number: E161 .G76 2002ISBN: 9780786412488Publication Date: 2002
Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1939 by
Centering its attention on the broad masses of the population, this reference resource emphasizes the wide variety of experiences of people living through The Roaring Twenties and The Great Depression in America in the 1920s and 1930s.
ebook version
Call Number: E169 .K985 2002ISBN: 9780313006920Publication Date: 2002
Journals About Kansas
Kansas History is the main scholarly journal about Kansas history. Until 1978 is was known as Kansas Historical Quarterly. Follow the links below to locate print issues in K-State Libraries or search for articles online.
- Kansas History : A Journal of the Central Plains.Published by the Kansas Historical Foundation and K-State's Department of History. Articles prior to last year are also available online through the Kansas State Historical Society.
- Kansas Historical QuarterlyPublished by the Kansas Historical Society from 1931-1977. Also available online through the Kansas Historical Society.
Databases
Search these databases for scholarly articles related to history and cultural objects. Kansas History and Kansas Historical Quarterly can both be searched in America: History and Life.
- America: History & Life
Publication Dates Covered: 1964 - present Simultaneous users: 6 Paid for by K-State Libraries
Indexes and abstracts for approximately 1,800 journals in the field of United States and Canadian history. Full-text coverage for more than 280 journals and more than 80 books. Contains citations and links to book and media reviews. Can search by time period. - JSTOR
Paid for by K-State Libraries
A full-text collection of journals ranging from history to business to literature to science and mathematics. Coverage begins with the first issue of a title, but the most recent three to five years of each title are usually not available. The full article text is searchable. Images are available for searching as well. - ProQuest Research Library
Publication Dates Covered: 1971 - present Paid for by K-State Libraries
This is a good starting point for finding journal articles on almost any topic. Over 150 academic subject areas are covered, and most articles are full-text. Searches can be limited to scholarly, peer-reviewed journals.
Primary Sources: Kansas and U.S. History Collections Online
These free sites are good starting points for locating primary source materials about Kansas and Kansans.
- Kansas Historical SocietyAccording to Dr. Morgan, this is a key starting point. It includes Kansas newspapers, genealogy indexes, and the Kansas Memory digital collections.
- The Kansas CollectionDr. Morgan recommends this as another essential site. It includes, "Cutler's History of Kansas." You can also find issues of Kansas Historical Quarterly, memoirs, photographs, postcards, and more.
- Chronicling America: Historic American NewspapersIncludes newspapers published 1836-1922.
Search all U.S. newspapers (or just Kansas Newspapers).
- Newspapers.comDigitized Kansas newspapers made available by the Kansas State Historical Society to those with a Kansas driver's license. You may also use it onsite at state historical society. Coverage is primarily pre-1950, but more recent articles can be found.
While not as comprehensive as the Kansas Historical Society or The Kansas Collection, these sites offer unique primary resources about the history of Kansas and Kansans.
- Kansas Agricultural and Rural Life Publications, 1869-1988Digitized edition of Grass and Grain, KS Farmer, KS Union Farmer, and more. Scroll down page and click on collection title (Kansas Agricultural and Rural Life Publications, 1869-1988) to view publications.
- Kansas Heritage GroupThis site contains numerous links to web resources to expand your research. Also includes photos, such as the One Room School House photo album.
- Kansas MemoryThis site is related to the Kansas Historical Society site. You can search it for county plat books plus photos, letters, diaries, and more.
- Territorial Kansas Online: 1854-1861Sources related to Kansas during its territorial years, including coverage of "Bleeding Kansas." Search by county or topic.
- Wichita State University Libraries Special Collections & University ArchivesThis site includes digitized maps and photographs.
Non-scholarly site
- Legends of KansasNote that, according to Dr. Morgan, this is not a scholarly source, so verify information found here in other sources.
Library Databases
K-State Libraries subscribes to these databases comprised of primary sources.
- African American Newspapers Series 1, 1827-1998Publication Dates Covered: 1827-1998 Paid for by K-State Libraries
Covers African American experiences before the Civil War through the Civil Rights Movement, and up to the end of the 20th century. Includes more than 270 newspapers (published by or for African Americans) from 35 states, including many rare and historically significant 19th century titles, and provides access to both full-text and images. - American PeriodicalsPublication Dates Covered: 1740-1940 Paid for by K-State Libraries
Contains periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals. Includes graphic elements and article layouts. - March of TimePublication Dates Covered: 1935-1967 Paid for by K-State Libraries
Collection of restored newsreels originally shown in theaters between 1935 and 1967, including scenes of science, social movements, war, entertainment, and more. Browse by subject, event, or keyword. Transcriptions provided. - New York Times, Historical
Publication Dates Covered: 1851-2021 Paid for by K-State Libraries
Digitized version of The New York Times since its first issue in 1851. Search the full text of articles to find articles on a wide variety of topics. Full name of the database is ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times with Index. - Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers
Publication Dates Covered: 1800-1899 Paid for by K-State Libraries
Search complete issues of more than 500 U.S. newspapers published during the 19th century. Search by keyword to find images and text from rural and urban papers from different geographical areas of the country.
Researching Critically
Placing your Kansan in historical context requires that you critically evaluate your sources and how you search for information.
Evaluate your sources
Read or examine multiple sources. Multiple sources explore a topic from different perspectives.
Fact check your sources. Do other sources independently confirm the information? Why might sources disagree? If there is only one source for your information, ask why.
Follow the references. Does your source cite references or otherwise indicate where they got their information? If not, why not? If yes, read some of those sources so that you can evaluate their information.
Note: Sources may disagree with each other. This is okay, that disagreement helps us understand history. Be concerned when a source is discredited, particularly when the facts presented are disproved or the research process is questioned.
Evaluate your search method
If your search is not finding a of information, evaluate and revise your search by considering the following:
Your search reflects what you know about a topic. The keywords you search for will change as you learn more about a topic. Your first search may be simple:
- a person's name (Corinthian Clay Nutter)
- occupation (teacher)
- social role (civil rights activist)
After studying your first results, your next keywords may look at a theme: educators and segregated schools
Change your search method to change your search results. Increase your search results by:
- searching in several databases
- following the citation trail -- what works did the author cite; what works cite this article
- searching for different formats: books, journal articles, films, photos, manuscripts
Identify the scholarly conversation(s). The sources you locate are part of a conversation among researchers and scholars in an effort to better understand our history. Identifying a conversation helps determine what has already been written about a topic and if there are known gaps in our knowledge. The conversation may entail:
- interpreting an historical event/person/trend
- research methods
- theoretical approaches
Look at how your topic is discussed by other researchers, what language they use to describe it, what experts they reference, what topics they consider related to your topic. Try new searches using these concepts.
