Preface -- New to this edition -- Introduction: What it means to be a historian -- Part I: Basic research -- 1. Historians and the research process : getting started -- How scholarly information is communicated -- What historians do and how they do it -- How to think historically -- Beginning your research -- Where do viable and interesting topics come from? -- Developing a question and formulating an argument -- The blueprint : concept maps, storyboarding, and outlines -- Taking notes -- Creating bibliographies and documenting sources -- The changing nature of historical research and what remains the same -- For further reading -- 2. Reference resources -- What are reference resources and when are they useful? -- How to find reference resources -- Types of reference resources -- Encyclopedias -- Bibliographies -- Multivolume general histories -- Biographical resources -- Chronologies -- Dictionaries, etymologies, and word origins -- Book reviews -- Directories -- Using the Internet as a reference resource -- Case study: Using reference resources to understand Herodotus -- 3. Finding monographs and using catalogs -- What is a book? The changing nature of monographs -- When are books the right choice for information? -- How to use a book artfully -- Finding monographs and using catalogs -- Navigating a library portal/finding the catalog -- Strategic searching : keyword vs. subject searching -- Keyword searching -- Subject searching -- Alternative searching : faceted catalogs and limiting -- How to read an online catalog record -- Finding monographs and using catalogs outside of your school -- Sources for catalogs -- Where else can I find monographs? -- Case study: Finding and using monographs : the spread of Islam in western Africa -- 4. Finding journals, magazines, and newspapers : using indexes -- What are periodicals (or journals, magazines, newspapers)? -- Journals vs. magazines -- Commentary periodicals -- The role of newspapers in secondary historical research -- Journal articles : the core of secondary periodical research -- How to read a journal article -- How to find articles : designing a search and using and index -- Using an online database : Historical abstracts and America : history and life -- Entering a keyword search in Historical abstracts -- What you will get : looking at your results -- Selecting other indexes -- E-journals and electronic collections of journals : JSTOR and Project Muse -- JSTOR, Project Muse, and periodical indexes -- Case study: Searching for periodical articles : Canton Trade System -- Selected historical indexes -- Selected periodical indexes of use to historians -- 5. Evaluating your sources -- Why evaluate your sources? -- Basic evaluation criteria -- Perspective and bias : historians and interpretation -- Scholarship or propaganda? -- Case study: Evaluating sources : Holocaust historians -- 6. The thrill of discovery : primary sources -- Definitions -- Nature and categories of primary sources -- Planning your project with primary sources -- Locating primary sources -- Digitization and electronic access to primary sources -- Published sources for mass consumption -- Books as primary sources -- Magazines and journals as primary sources -- Newspapers as primary sources -- Unpublished sources and manuscripts -- Catalogs, bibliographies, directories, and indexes for manuscripts -- Directories to archive repositories -- Documents from governments and other official bodies -- Indexes, full text sources, and bibliographies of government documents -- Directories/bibliographies for government/guides to government publications -- Genealogy and public records -- Guides for genealogy and public records -- Business records -- Directories and resources -- Oral history -- Guide to oral history repositories -- Material culture : buildings, artifacts, and objects -- History before 1400 : ancient and medieval cultures and those with substantial oral and material culture traditions -- Ancient history --
Medieval European history -- Indigenous peoples, former colonial nations, and African American history -- Using bibliographies to locate primary sources -- Bibliographies containing references to primary sources -- Evaluation -- Case study: Finding primary sources : tobacco through the ages -- For further reading -- Bibliography of advanced indexes to published primary sources --
7. History and the Internet
The Internet and research
When is the Internet appropriate for historical research?
Practicing history in the electronic age : using the Internet
Using the Internet : the basics
How do I access websites on the Internet?
What am I missing? The deep web or invisible web
Special search techniques : finding primary sources on the Internet
Searching for primary sources
Historians communicating: using listservs and blogs for information
Evaluating sites concerned with primary sources
Case study: Using the Internet : Japanese Americas and internment camps
Part II: Advanced research techniques for primary sources
8. Digital history and big data
What digital history is and is not
Approaches to digital history
How to perform simple digital textual analysis
Digital textual analysis tools
Examples of digital history projects
Beginning your own digital history project
9. Maps : from simple to geographic information systems
Maps as representations of our world
A short history of maps and cartography
Maps for navigation and commercial use
Components of modern maps
Categories of historical maps
Questions to ask when reading a map
Planning your own map : simple to complex
10. Beyond the written word : finding, evaluating, and using images, motion pictures, and audio. The role of media in historical research : images throughout history
Photography : real life captured?
Art as visual media : painting and drawing
Moving images : fact and fiction : newsreels, documentaries, motion pictures, and television programs
Searching for visual media
Collections of historic images
Search engines and meta-search engines for images and indexes to image collections
Images on the Internet : some cautions
Digital video : using moving images
Audio, music, and speech resources
Searching for audio materials
11. Statistics : quantifying history. A society of statistics
A short history of the evolution of statistical collection and analysis : What can you expect to find?
Categorizing statistics : how they are collected and organized
Demographics/vital statistics/census data
Public opinion and consumer preferences
Gleaning statistics from primary sources
How to think about the sources
Evaluating statistics : common problems with data collection and results
Questions to evaluate data
Data problems : signs that something is wrong
Data sets : doing your own thing
Collections of general statistics/statistical abstracts
Economic, financial, and commercial statistics
General demographics and social characteristics
Bibliographies and indexes for statistics
Finding and using data sets
Case study: Contextualizing statistics
Part III: Presenting your research
12. Presenting your research : traditional research paper, presentation, poster, or website?
Creating a research paper
Ebb and flow of paragraphs
Oral, slide, and poster presentations
Creating websites for historical research
Historical and scholarly websites
Website design : how to begin
Preplanning : the major considerations
What every good website must hav
Common mistakes to avoid on websites
Case study: A student paper : "Americans and the bomb"
Appendix A: Citation examples
Appendix B: Information literacy guidelines and competencies for undergraduate History students
Appendix C: Research checklist.