Research Methods in U.S. History

AMH 3170

Civil War and Reconstruction

Farley Jenkins

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1Library of Congress, Civil War Maps Collection. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3824g.cw0331000 (accessed

November 6, 2011).

What is history?

• History is what happened

• Concerned with the broad overview of events

• Synthesis of many different forms of inquiry

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2Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USP6-2415-A DLC.

http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ppmsc/00000/00052v.jpg (accessed November 6, 2011).

Historical Research

• Must be objective

• Consider the source

• Consider the context

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3Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS VA,44-RICH,146-

1. http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/va/va1600/va1628/photos/162402pv.jpg (accessed November 6, 2011).

Types of Resources

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Primary Sources

• Produced during the time

period

• Authors have first-hand

knowledge

• Letters, diaries,

newspaper articles

Secondary Sources

• Produced after the

time period

• Authors will be

historians or other

scholars

• Books, scholarly

journal articles

4Library of Congress, African American Odyssey, aaohtml 0413.

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/odyssey/archive/04/0413001r.jpg (accessed November 6, 2011). 5Frederic L. Paxson, The Civil War (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1911), http://books.google.com/ (accessed

November 6, 2011).

Finding Sources 6 7

In Print

• Allows browsing

• More in-depth

• Less volatile

Online

• Exact searching

• Quick facts

• Easily transferrable

6Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection, LC-D4-42760 DLC.

http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/det/4a20000/4a20000/4a20400/4a20433v.jpg (accessed November 6, 2011). 7Creative Commons image by Flickr.com user laffy4k. http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-182219003 (accessed

November 6, 2011).

How can the library help?

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• Lots of books and other print resources

• Many database subscriptions

• Help with finding what you need

8Creative Commons image by Flickr.com user Athanasius. http://www.flickr.com/photos/keithpatterson/444003440/

(accessed November 6, 2011).

Finding Resources in the Library

• Circulating non-fiction

• Reference

• Special collections

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9Creative Commons image by Donald Tetto. http://photos.tetto.org/4131/ (accessed November 6, 2011).

Searching the Catalog

• Log in to http://www.lib.usf.edu/

• Find items in library or in databases

• Enter a few words to start, then more to narrow it

down

Library Databases

• Authoritative and trustworthy resources

• Both primary and secondary sources

• Remotely accessible, can be downloaded

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10Editorial, "Hang Out Your Banners," New York Times, April 10, 1865. ProQuest Historical Newspapers (accessed

November 6, 2011).

Google Scholar

• Limits results to scholarly resources

• Can be used to find items in library databases

• Can be searched just like Google Web, the more

words in your search the more specific the results

will be

omg u can txt ur ?s!

• Stop by 1st floor reference desk

• Call (813) 974-2729

• Text (813) 344-2795

• Visit the Website to email a question, get help via

instant messaging or schedule a time to meet with a

librarian for in-depth research assistance

Pathfinder

• List of library resources on a topic and where to

find them

• http://fjenkins.myweb.usf.edu/pathfinder.html

Digital Libraries

• Library collections of downloadable files

• e.g., Library of Congress American Memory

Project at

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html

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11New York Historical Society, Civil War Treasures, nhnycw/ad ad36013.

http://memory.loc.gov/ndlpcoop/nhnycw/ad/ad36/ad36013v.jpg (accessed November 6, 2011).

Images

• A picture is worth 1,000 words

• Must be cited like any other resource

• Most images on the Web subject to copyright

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12New York Historical Society, Civil War Treasures, nhnycw/aj aj14027.

http://memory.loc.gov/ndlpcoop/nhnycw/aj/aj14/aj14027v.jpg (accessed November 6, 2011).

Plagiarism

• Using someone else’s words or ideas and not

giving them credit

• Can result in failing a course or dismissal from the

university

• When in doubt, cite!

Turabian Style

• Used for history papers

• Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research

Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th ed.

(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2007).

• Quick guide available from

http://www.libs.uga.edu/ref/turabian2009.pdf.

Google Books

• Great place to look for primary sources

• All books published prior to 1923 can be

downloaded free

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13Charles H. Lynch, Civil War Diary (Hartford, CT: Case, Lockwood & Brannard, 1915). http://books.google.com

(accessed November 6, 2011).

Discussion Questions

• Why is an objective understanding of history

important?

• What is the difference between scholarly and

popular history?

• Why did you choose to study history? 14Creative Commons image by Flickr.com user Susan Sermoneta. http://www.flickr.com/photos/en321/28927666/

(accessed November 6, 2011).

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Presentations

• 3 resources for your topic

• At least 1 primary source, 1 secondary source, 1 print

source, 1 online source, 1 book, and 1 image

• Tell us why you selected each source and how it

supports your topic

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15Creative Commons image by Flickr.com user dcJohn. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcjohn/72584084/ (accessed

November 6, 2011).

Thank you!

“To forget history is to remain forever a child.”

—Cicero

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16Creative Commons image by Wikimedia Commons user Gunnar Bach.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thorvaldsen_Cicero.jpg (accessed November 6, 2011).