HISTORY 281
Historical Research: Libraries and Beyond

http://staff.lib.muohio.edu/~presnejl/hst281/281home.html
email:presnejl@muohio.edu

Objectives:


The purpose of this course is to acquaint second- and third-year history students with the basics of historical research and prepare them for research in upper level history courses. The students will be able to:

Attendence and Activities:


Attendence is expected. We will be exchanging research experiences in class. In addition each class often builds on previous classes.

During class time we will visit Miami University Archives and the Walter Havighurst Special Collections. A possible, optional, outside of class field trip could be planned to include a trip to the Cincinnati Historical Society, the Procter and Gamble Archives, and/or possibly the U.S. Playing Card Museum. Extent of the trip will depend on the interest and availability of the members of the class and of these institutions.

Requirements/Grading

Exercises/Activities/Readings

32

Journal Referee Paper

10

Quizes/Participation

8

Primary Evidence Paper

20

Final Test

30

Syllabus

Date and Location

Topic and Exercise

Readings

August 22
King Library Rm 110		 Introduction to Course. What historians have in common with other reserchers. How Historians Differ None
August 27
King Library Rm 110		 Secondary Sources: Finding Books; MiamiLINK; OhioLINK,Worldcat
Exercise
August 29
King Library Rm 110		 Secondary Sources: Identifying and locating scholarly journal articles using electronic sources and Boolean searching.
Exercise		 Boolean Searching from Colorado State http://manta.library.colostate.edu/howto/others/venn.html
Animated Venn Diagrams
http://multiweb.lib.calpoly.edu/infocomp/modules/04_use/IC3.html
September 4
King Library Rm 110		 Internet, Electronic information and Historical Sources
Exercise		 McMichael, Andrew, Michael O'Malley, and Roy Rosenzweig. Historians and the Web: A Guide
O'Malley, Michael and Roy Rosenzweig. Brave New World or Blind Alley: History on the World Wide Web.
Smith, Carl. Can You do Serious History on the Web
September 5
King Library Rm 110		 Internet, Electronic information and Historical Sources II
Exercise		 None
September 10
King Library Rm 110		 Discuss Journal Referee Papers -- Papers due at beginning of class Grafton. Birth of The Footnote. on reserve
Zweig. Beyond Content: Electronic Fingerprints on reserve
September 12
Havighurst Special Collections -- 3rd floor King Library		 Visit Special Collections Hitt. "In the Franklin Factory." on reserve
Walter Havighurst Special Collections
September 17
King Library Rm 110		 Primary Sources -- identification, location and methods of organization..
Exercise		 Historians Sources (Library of Congress)
Evaluating and Using Primary Sources
September 19
King Library Rm 110		 Periodicals as Primary Sources
Newspapers as Primary Sources.
(Pooles Index, Readers Guide and the American Periodical Series).
Bibliography Exercise		  
September 24
King Library Rm 110		 Other Primary Sources -- locating and using manuscript and archival collections.
Bibliography and Exercise		 Wall of Separation. (reserve)
Locating Primary Sources
October 1
King Library Rm 110		 Visit Miami University Archives *Miami University Archives
October 3
King Library Rm 110		 Review of primary sources.
Reference resources for history: Encyclopedias, almanacs, atlases, chronologies, statistics, biography and book reviews.
Exercise with Bibliography of Sources. Biography, Encyclopedia Bibliography, 		 
October 8
King Library Rm 110		 Discussion of Primary Evidence Paper
Discussion of Reference Resources
Evaluation		  
October 10
King Library Rm 110		 In class final  


Image: Humorous Victorian Spot Illustrations. Dover Publications, found at http://arttoday.com.