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HIST 586 - Advanced Seminar in History
Library Research Guide
Secondary Sources
Secondary sources interpret historical events within a social or historical context. They rely both on primary sources (to represent the historical event under question) and other secondary sources (to place the event within the context existing research and theories.)
Researchers writing secondary sources may disagree with each other or focus on different aspects of an historical event. Researchers approach historical events through the lens of:
- the time period in which they are written
- theories or attitudes like manifest destiny, feminism, critical race theory, colonialism
A more complete understanding is gained when multiple sources are consulted.
Historiographies, Companions, Guides, and Encyclopedias
These resources provide introductions and overviews to historical topics, prominent historians, pivotal works, and key people, events, and locations.
Historiography is the study of historians' research methods and how they arrive at their theories and conclusion. A historiography typically surveys the significant research about a specific historical topic and then offers insight into the how historians' study of a topic have evolved over time including the areas of agreement, points of contention, and emerging theories.
Historiographies can be very dense, referencing many publications and ideas.
Finding historiographies:
Search the History: Secondary Sources databases such as JSTOR, America: History and Life, Diversity Database Suite, and Project Muse for terms describing your historical topic plus the terms: historiography, historiographies, "review essay"
Example: "Bleeding Kansas" AND "review essay"
Pro-tip -- use the asterisk * at the end of a root word to tell a database to search for words with different endings: historiograph* will search both historiography and historiographies.
Example: "Berlin Wall" AND historiograph*
Companions, Guides, and Encyclopedias are books that cover a broad historical topic (American Revolution, African History) and include entries on specific terms, people, events, and locations. Entries will reference key publications and researchers.
Use the search boxes on the Libraries' home page to search for Books & E-Books, using terms that broadly describe your historical topic plus the terms: companion, guide, encyclopedia
Example: "Civil War" AND encyclopedia
The publishers Blackwell, Routledge, Cambridge, and Oxford are well-respected distributors of scholarly companions and encyclopedias. You can also search using the publisher name combined with the era or historical event you are researching.
Example: "Civil War" AND Routledge
Below are some examples of encyclopedias or companions.
A Companion to American Immigration by Call Number: ebookISBN: 9781444391657Publication Date: 2011-03-21A Companion to American Immigration is an authoritative collection of original essays by leading scholars on the major topics and themes underlying American immigration history. Focuses on the two most important periods in American Immigration history: the Industrial Revolution (1820-1930) and the Globalizing Era (Cold War to the present) Provides an in-depth treatment of central themes, including economic circumstances, acculturation, social mobility, and assimilation Includes an introductory essay by the volume editor.
A Companion to Gender History by Call Number: ebookISBN: 0470692820Publication Date: 2004A Companion to Gender History surveys the history of women around the world, studies their interaction with men in gendered societies, and looks at the role of gender in shaping human behavior over thousands of years. An extensive survey of the history of women around the world, their interaction with men, and the role of gender in shaping human behavior over thousands of years. Discusses family history, the history of the body and sexuality, and cultural history alongside women's history and gender history. Considers the importance of class, region, ethnicity, race and religion to the formation of gendered societies. Contains both thematic essays and chronological-geographic essays. Gives due weight to pre-history and the pre-modern era as well as to the modern era. Written by scholars from across the English-speaking world and scholars for whom English is not their first language.
The Encyclopedia of Civil War Medicine by Call Number: E621 .S347 2008ISBN: 0765621304Publication Date: 2008The American Civil War is the most read about era in our history, and among its most compelling aspects is the story of Civil War medicine - the staggering challenge of treating wounds and disease on both sides of the conflict. Written for general readers and scholars alike, this first-of-its kind encyclopedia will help all Civil War enthusiasts to better understand this amazing medical saga. Clearly organized, authoritative, and readable, "The Encyclopedia of Civil War Medicine" covers both traditional historical subjects and medical details. It offers clear explanations of unfamiliar medical terms, diseases, wounds, and treatments. The encyclopedia depicts notable medical personalities, generals with notorious wounds, soldiers' aid societies, medical department structure, and hospital design and function. It highlights the battles with the greatest medical significance, women's medical roles, period sanitation issues, and much more. Presented in A-Z format with more than 200 entries, the encyclopedia treats both Union and Confederate material in a balanced way. Its many user-friendly features include a chronology, a glossary, cross-references, and a bibliography for further study.
Journals
Some journals regularly publish historiographies. These include:
- History CompassThis peer-reviewed journal publishes articles that present new research within the context of the existing scholarly conversation. Essentially, all articles include an historiography.
- Reviews in American HistoryIncludes review essays about new releases in American history, retrospective essays of key books, and historiographies.
Book Reviews
Book reviews are included in many journals. Find them in most History databases, including Search It, JSTOR, Project Muse, and America: History and Life.
Most databases provide an option to limit your results to book reviews. They may also label the article as "Review."
Below are examples of journals and websites that focus on book reviews.
- Reviews in HistoryAn open access journal from the University of London's School of Advanced Study. This journal offers reviews of books, websites, films, and even projects like the Charleston Syllabus.
- H-Net ReviewsHosted by the Michigan State University History Department, H-Net publishes book reviews under a Creative Commons license. H-Net is a hub for many aspects of research in history, not the least of which are book reviews.
Searching databases for journal articles & reports
Start your search with these history databases:
- America: History & LifePublication 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 (also new home of the Artstor content)
Paid for by K-State Libraries
A full-text collection of more than 550 core 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.Note: The Artstor content transitioned to the JSTOR platform over the summer of 2024 and it was retired on August 1, 2024. If you had image groups on Artstor, they should be copied over to your JSTOR Workspace.
- Project MusePublication Dates Covered: 1995 - present Paid for by K-State Libraries
Full-text scholarly journals in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. Titles include the most widely held and heavily used core titles from noted academic publishers. Subjects include literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, mathematics and others.
K-State Libraries subscribes to many more databases for historians.
Other Relevant Fields
History is an interdisciplinary field; you may discover valuable information in our databases for other disciplines.
American Ethnic Studies
- Diversity Database Suite
Paid for by K-State Libraries
Provides a combined search for Ethnic NewsWatch and Ethnic NewsWatch History which feature newspapers, magazines, and journals from ethnic and minority presses; GenderWatch which features historical and current perspectives of gender roles; and Alt-PressWatch which showcases some of the nation’s most respected and cited grassroots publications. Searches can be narrowed to peer-reviewed publications.
- Women and Social Movements in the United States 1600-2000: Basic EditionPublication Dates Covered: 1600-2000 Paid for by K-State Libraries
Examines perspectives on women’s social movements from colonial times to the present. Brings together books, images, documents, scholarly essays, commentaries, and bibliographies, documenting the multiplicity of women’s activism in public life.
- PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) Index
Publication Dates Covered: 1915 - present. Paid for by K-State Libraries
Indexes publications on public affairs, public and social policies, international relations, and world politics from over 120 countries throughout the world. Articles are published in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. Types of materials indexed include articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, conference reports, grey literature, and Internet materials. Newspapers and newsletters are not indexed. Includes access to PAIS Archive. - PTSDpubs
Publication Dates Covered: 1871 - present Free Resource
Non K-Staters: use this link
A freely available, online database providing access to the worldwide literature on PTSD and other mental health consequences of exposure to traumatic events. It is produced by the National Center for PTSD, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, although it is not limited to literature on PTSD among Veterans..
Document types covered include journal articles, books, reports, newsletters, and dissertations.
Dissertations & Theses
- ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global
Publication Dates Covered: 1861 - present; full text varies by school Paid for by K-State Libraries
Includes full text for many dissertations written after 1996, including some master’s theses. Copies of dissertations not available in full text in this database may be requested via interlibrary loan and/or purchased as microfilm or as unbound copies from UMI. You can limit the search to K-State dissertations only. Also, this database can be searched in the Web of Science (includes all databases) platform.
Government and Law
- CQ (Congressional Quarterly) Researcher Plus Archive
Publication Dates Covered: 1923 - present Paid for by K-State Libraries
Single-themed reports on current issues from Congressional Quarterly Press dating back to 1923. Topics include social trends, health concerns, the economy, education, and technology. Reports provide overview, background, pro/con arguments, chronologies, current situation, and bibliographies of additional sources. - HeinOnline
HeinOnline is a premier online database containing more than 160 million pages and 200,000 titles of historical and government documents in a fully searchable, image-based format. HeinOnline bridges an important research gap by providing comprehensive coverage from inception of more than 2,600 law-related periodicals. In addition to its vast collection of academic journals, HeinOnline contains the entire Congressional Record, Federal Register, and Code of Federal Regulations, complete coverage of the U.S. Reports back to 1754, and entire databases dedicated to treaties, constitutions, case law, world trials, classic treatises, international trade, foreign relations, U.S. Presidents, and much more.
Searching Widely
These databases are not specific to history. Instead, they cover all disciplines. However, history often crosses over disciplines, so if you aren't finding what you need in the more focused databases, try these.
- Google ScholarFree Resource
Google Scholar is a useful tool for searching through a very broad scope of articles; however, be aware that they aren’t actually all “scholarly.” Look for the text “Get It @ KSU” instead of the usual “Get It” button to search for the full text of articles that don’t have an included PDF. It is sometimes found under the “more” link below the record. - ProQuest Central
Paid for by K-State Libraries
ProQuest Central brings together many of the most used ProQuest databases. It provides access to databases across all major subject areas (business, health and medical, social sciences, arts and humanities, education, science and technology, and religion). It includes full-text scholarly journals, trade and professional titles, newspapers, magazines, dissertations, working papers, case studies, and market reports. With our Ebook Central subscription (especially access to Academic Complete and Academic Video Online) users can now search in a comprehensive way that connects text and video.
