Sources for History research Presented by Richard Pears October 2011

Using the Library Open 7 days per week Always bring campus card Borrow 20 books at a time 3 week, 3 day and short loan (4 hours) Group, individual and silent study PCs, laptops, wireless access

∂ Learning outcomes After this session you will be able to Use the Library catalogue: to locate books on reading lists locate books on a historical subject locate journals by title renew books on loan and reserve others Use online resources to locate journals and historical material Locate sources of assistance from the Library

∂ 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

∂ Finding information- Start here!

∂ How to find information: books Use the Library Catalogue: / / All material held in Durham University Libraries Author, title, keyword Reserve, recall, renew items in Library Obtain items from store Export citations for your bibliography

Reading lists Link to library catalogue to check availability of print books and journals Access e-books, e-journal articles and scanned chapters and articles Also available in DUO ‘library resources’

∂ Using the Library catalogue

∂ Locating other sources Use the references and bibliographies cited in other books Look for other works by cited authors If the book you need is on loan you can use books at the same shelfmark instead!

∂ 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 Remember: JSTOR does not contain articles published in the last 5 years

∂ Using Historical AbstractsHistorical Abstracts

∂ Recap What sources will you need for your topic? How will you find this information?

∂ Getting help Library web pages: Speak to your tutors

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

Good luck!