Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
NHD Tip of the Day #11: AP Archives
The Associated Press, a respected news
agency (founded in 1846) , has launched a
channel on YouTube which contains over
500,000 minutes of AP coverage.
Click here.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
NHD Tip of the Day #10: Museums and Historic Sites
See if there is a museum or historic site associated with your topic. There could be a lot of information posted such as on the website we found yesterday for the Bethlem Hospital Museum in England.
Emailing these sites with a request for help finding sources can also yield great results.
A few years ago one of our students need a document from the Walt Disney archives that was not available online; they scanned it for here. Don't be shy!
Examples
Monday, September 28, 2015
NHD Tip of the Day #9: Long and Short Term Impact
Remember your topic must have long and short-term consequences to be historically significant.
Some topics could be interesting but not significant.
Here is an article that caught my eye this morning:
Someone is doing a project related to Mae Jemison (first African-American woman astronaut).
This article could be a source because it documents her continued impact on history.
Some topics could be interesting but not significant.
Here is an article that caught my eye this morning:
Someone is doing a project related to Mae Jemison (first African-American woman astronaut).
This article could be a source because it documents her continued impact on history.
NHD Tip of the Day #8: Wikipedia Images
Wikipedia is a good source of images.
If you find an image on Wikipedia, click on it to get more info.
Clicking the digital ID link brought me to the image at the Library of Congress.
Cite the image from the LOC not Wiki!
All images of course are not from the LOC but Wikipedia will often give you lots of metadata that will help you track the image to its origin.
If you find an image on Wikipedia, click on it to get more info.
Clicking the digital ID link brought me to the image at the Library of Congress.
Cite the image from the LOC not Wiki!
All images of course are not from the LOC but Wikipedia will often give you lots of metadata that will help you track the image to its origin.
NHD Tip of the Day #7: TLCPL
There is a great search resource right in our backyard that we have been under-using.
Click here.
I did a search for "Belgian Congo".
The library owned 32 resources on the topic.
Then I clicked "Articles"
It found thousands of articles. I refined my search to Peer Reviewed.
The search yielded over 500 full-text scholarly articles.
By unchecking Peer Reviewed the database listed over 2,000 other articles (encyclopedia, popular magazines, etc.).
The TCPL is a great resource - USE IT!
Click here.
I did a search for "Belgian Congo".
The library owned 32 resources on the topic.
Then I clicked "Articles"
It found thousands of articles. I refined my search to Peer Reviewed.
The search yielded over 500 full-text scholarly articles.
By unchecking Peer Reviewed the database listed over 2,000 other articles (encyclopedia, popular magazines, etc.).
The TCPL is a great resource - USE IT!
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
NHD Tip of the Day #6: Focus of Your Sources
Not all of your sources will be focussed like a laser beam on your topic.
For example let's say you were doing
"Lord Nelson's Encounter with Napoleon's Fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar"
Before you can get into this narrow topic you might need a source that is pretty broad and gives you some context (the "backstory") of the bigger picture.
Broad - Like the sun shining on your topic.
Maybe something like this:
Then . . .
Narrower - Like a flashlight shining on your topic.
Zoom in a little tighter:
Finally . . .
Zoom in like a laser beam on your topic.
So . . .
For example let's say you were doing
"Lord Nelson's Encounter with Napoleon's Fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar"
Before you can get into this narrow topic you might need a source that is pretty broad and gives you some context (the "backstory") of the bigger picture.
Broad - Like the sun shining on your topic.
Maybe something like this:
Then . . .
Narrower - Like a flashlight shining on your topic.
Zoom in a little tighter:
Finally . . .
Zoom in like a laser beam on your topic.
So . . .
- Every one of your sources may not be exactly focussed on your topic.
- You need other sources to inform you about the context of your topic and other background information.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
NHD Tip of the Day #5: World Digital Library/MoOM
Check out these two resources:
World Digital Library
A curated (which means someone has already sorted through the noise to find the good stuff) collection of "significant primary materials from cultures around the world". Created by the Library of Congress and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Even though it only has 12,000 items you could strike gold here. I know one freshman who is doing a topic related to the Belgian Congo. I did a search and found a bunch of good stuff.
MoOM (Museum of Online Museums)
There are some really interesting sites listed here.
World Digital Library
A curated (which means someone has already sorted through the noise to find the good stuff) collection of "significant primary materials from cultures around the world". Created by the Library of Congress and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Even though it only has 12,000 items you could strike gold here. I know one freshman who is doing a topic related to the Belgian Congo. I did a search and found a bunch of good stuff.
MoOM (Museum of Online Museums)
There are some really interesting sites listed here.
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
NHD Tip of the Day #3: MLARC Annotation
Here is a sample MLARC annotated citation.
Notice how it goes:
Small - Description
Medium - Summary
Large - Interpretation and analysis
The first two parts are all about the source. The last part is about your relationship with the source (how it helped you answer your research question, what new questions were raised, etc.)
Book
Ronda, James P. Lewis and Clark among the Indians.
Bicentennial ed. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 2002. Print.
Bicentennial edition of a
book by Professor James Ronda originally published in 1988.
This book examines the Lewis and Clark Expedition from the perspective of the numerous interactions with the Native Americans encountered on the two year exploration including the Nez Perce, the focus of my project.. The Corps of Discovery was the first encounter many indians had with the westward expansion of American settlers that would eventually claim most of their land. The author describes in detail, drawing heavily on the captains' journals and other primary sources, the many diplomatic, cultural and economic exchanges between the two groups. The importance of trade goods was emphasized.
This book really shed a lot of light on my research regarding the interactions between the Corps of Discovery and the various groups of indians encountered along the way. The author's list of sources is extensive. One thing I really appreciated was that the author portrayed the indians as human beings and not as the cartoon character stereotypes I have found in other sources. I was curious as to how they could have encountered so many different tribes with almost no violence. I learned that the captains were very skillful in negotiating with the indian leaders and that the role of gift-giving was important. The captains were at first fairly ignorant about the intricate, complicated and far-ranging trade networks but learned quickly how extensive and important they were. The extent of the trade networks became clear to me when the author told how the expedition discovered some of their very own trade goods actually travelled across the country faster than they did. Another point the author made and supported was the major role that Sacagawea played in negotiations with her people, the Lemhi Shoshone. I also learned how William Clark's "personal servant" York (actually a slave) fascinated the indians who had never seen a black man before (and also how the native women had a special interest in him!). I also have a much clearer picture of how the captains negotiated peacefully with the Nez Perce who helped the expedition traverse the Bitterroot Mountains.
Some new avenues of research I'd like to pursue are the following: What happened to York after the expedition? Did the diplomacy practiced by the captains lead to long-term agreements with the indians? Did the western trade goods have long-lasting effects on the indians economy or culture? I would also like to know if there are any stories in the oral tradition of the Nez Perce regarding the encounter with the Corps of Discovery.
This book examines the Lewis and Clark Expedition from the perspective of the numerous interactions with the Native Americans encountered on the two year exploration including the Nez Perce, the focus of my project.. The Corps of Discovery was the first encounter many indians had with the westward expansion of American settlers that would eventually claim most of their land. The author describes in detail, drawing heavily on the captains' journals and other primary sources, the many diplomatic, cultural and economic exchanges between the two groups. The importance of trade goods was emphasized.
This book really shed a lot of light on my research regarding the interactions between the Corps of Discovery and the various groups of indians encountered along the way. The author's list of sources is extensive. One thing I really appreciated was that the author portrayed the indians as human beings and not as the cartoon character stereotypes I have found in other sources. I was curious as to how they could have encountered so many different tribes with almost no violence. I learned that the captains were very skillful in negotiating with the indian leaders and that the role of gift-giving was important. The captains were at first fairly ignorant about the intricate, complicated and far-ranging trade networks but learned quickly how extensive and important they were. The extent of the trade networks became clear to me when the author told how the expedition discovered some of their very own trade goods actually travelled across the country faster than they did. Another point the author made and supported was the major role that Sacagawea played in negotiations with her people, the Lemhi Shoshone. I also learned how William Clark's "personal servant" York (actually a slave) fascinated the indians who had never seen a black man before (and also how the native women had a special interest in him!). I also have a much clearer picture of how the captains negotiated peacefully with the Nez Perce who helped the expedition traverse the Bitterroot Mountains.
Some new avenues of research I'd like to pursue are the following: What happened to York after the expedition? Did the diplomacy practiced by the captains lead to long-term agreements with the indians? Did the western trade goods have long-lasting effects on the indians economy or culture? I would also like to know if there are any stories in the oral tradition of the Nez Perce regarding the encounter with the Corps of Discovery.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Tip of the Day #2: Citing Images
Citing Images
- This can be tricky
- Try to trace the image back to its source
- DO NOT cite Google Images (that would be like citing the librarian who helped you find a book)
- If you have multiple images from the same archive you only need to cite the archive; not each individual image
Check out the great NoodleTools Guide to Citing Images here
Monday, September 14, 2015
Tip of the Day 1.1: Fordham University Sourcebooks
Check out the Fordham University Internet Sourcebooks.
It is not cheating to use lists of sources that others have put together (of course you still have to read them!).
Most of you will use the Modern History Sourcebook.
NHD Tip of the Day #1: Citing Journal Articles
Citing Journal Articles on NoodleTools
Choose the correct tab on NT. If you find a journal article on Ebsco choose the database tab on NoodleTools (Note: When you search on Ebsco you are actually searching on a number od databases. Choose the right one. e.g., Academic Premier Plus, Business Source Premier, etc.). .
Preview your citation on EBSCO
You can see what your MLA citation should look like by clicking the little icon on the right side that looks like this
Do not just copy and paste the citation from EBSCO into NT; if you do you will have formatting problems when you export to Word at the end. Put the information in the NT fields.
Choose the correct tab on NT. If you find a journal article on Ebsco choose the database tab on NoodleTools (Note: When you search on Ebsco you are actually searching on a number od databases. Choose the right one. e.g., Academic Premier Plus, Business Source Premier, etc.). .
Preview your citation on EBSCO
You can see what your MLA citation should look like by clicking the little icon on the right side that looks like this
Do not just copy and paste the citation from EBSCO into NT; if you do you will have formatting problems when you export to Word at the end. Put the information in the NT fields.
URLs
URLs are optional in MLA citations. We are asking you to add the URL to the field on NT.
The citation will look clunky with the URL (and different from the EBSCO preview) but don't fret. When we export to Word at the end we will choose not to include URLs.
Thursday, January 8, 2015
2015 Theme
Consider the following regarding this year's theme
Leadership and Legacy in History.
A leader . . .
Leadership and Legacy in History.
A leader . . .
- Articulates a vision,
- Motivates others,
- Makes effective decisions,
- Willing to confront tough issues, and
- Impacts history.
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