Conversations with History – library research Presented by Richard Pears October 2009

∂ Learning outcomes After this session you will be able to identify the range of secondary and published sources available select the most appropriate sources for your research subject search efficiently using catalogues and bibliographical databases

∂ Conversations themes Inventing the Middle Ages Power and Peoples History and the Media: The Myth of Elizabeth The Built Environment in Renaissance England Did Women have a Renaissance? Gendering early modern history History and Guilt A Usable Past? The Reinterpretation of US History in and since the 1960s

∂ What information do you need? Define research area: People, period, place Focus: i.e. politics, society, religion, economics, etc Information: facts, theories, historiography, data, images, artefacts, etc.

∂ Break down the subject into searchable areas Sample topic: War and national identity in late medieval Scotland themestime periodplace

∂ Where will you find information?

∂ Some sources of information BooksInternet pages JournalsStatistics DatabasesNewspapers Theses Government publications Manuscripts Contacts: staff, organisations Images / film

∂ Start here!

∂ Books - catalogues Use the Library Catalogue: / / All material held in Durham University Libraries Author, title, keyword, subject searching Reserve, recall, renew items in Library Includes DVDs, theses, e-books Obtain items from store Export citations for your bibliography

10 E-books Early English Books Online (EEBO) Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) ACLS Humanities e-books Patrologia Latina Internet, e.g. Google Books -

∂ Locating other sources Use the references and bibliographies cited in other books Look for other works by cited authors Look for published collections, e.g. Surtees Society, Camden Miscellany, Calendar of State Papers Includes e-sources: State Papers Online, Medieval Sources Online, ACLS Humanities e-bookse-sources

∂ Using bibliographic databases Search engines indexing thousands of journals, theses, working papers Often include book reviews Sometimes link to full text Download references to relevant sources, then search for these in the Library catalogue See list at

∂ Using journal databases - JSTOR

∂ L Using Historical Abstracts

∂ Other sources: COPACCOPAC

∂ Other sources: Google BooksGoogle Books

∂ Other sources: Google ScholarGoogle Scholar

∂ Images

∂ Online exercise Use the online resources available from the Library’s History web pages to locate information on your subject. Go to

∂ Getting help Library web pages: Contact Speak to your tutors