“You Be the Historian!” An examination of what it takes to be an historian.

What is an historian? An historian is a person who studies and writes about past events. Historians are typically considered the authority in regard to specific historical events. Historians provide historical context for prior events by discovering information, examining it and finally organizing their research into scholarly submissions.

“The Three Hats of Historians” Detective (Hat #1): Historians look for or research evidence (sources). Scholar (Hat #2): Historians use their evidence or research to understand the historical context or framework. Writer (Hat #3): Once Historians have found evidence, analyze or understand it, then they put it all together in a final draft. All three hats are necessary to wear in order to be considered credible.

Historical Context The who, what, where, when, why and how of histories (framework). Historians use various primary and secondary sources in order to provide context of historical events. What is an example of a primary and secondary source? Without historical context, events may not be understood completely nor may they be considered valid. Gaps in historical context are open to be argued against by opponents of theories or research.

The Scholarly Method A way to make sure your statements are valid and trustworthy. Three steps: research (detect), analyze (understand), and develop your own original framework or historical context (report). These three steps may be done in the order above or in any order that may make more sense to you.

Step #1: Research (Detect) During this step, you are a detective who is asking questions (who, what, where, when, why, and how). You have to find sources whether it is online or through books. These sources need to be researched to find information to make your framework. As you research or detect, you need to make sure the sources you use are creditable or trustworthy. Be careful if you use Wikipedia, it is great to fact check but academically it is not a creditable source.

Step #1 Cont... (Primary and Secondary Sources) Primary sources - first hand accounts from the exact moment in history being studied like: personal diaries, speeches, interviews, original photograph or film, and official records Secondary sources – secondhand accounts that are a step or two removed from the actual event. So not an original thought like: textbooks, movie or book reviews, and encyclopedias. Take useful notes! (record page numbers, save webpages, underline passages or information).

Step #2: Understand (Analyze) Research leads into understanding or analyzing your research. Your research should answer: who, what, where, when, why and how. In this step, you learn what sources are more useful than others. Understanding your research is important and if you take great notes while you research you should understand: who, what, where, when, why and how more easily than before.

Step #3: Develop (Report) The first two steps allow for you to begin to develop a framework of history. By this time, you should already have a rough draft by having solid notes to refer to when you write your final draft. The third step is used to polish or perfect your final draft. Make sure you give credit where it is deserved. Using anyone else’s work without giving them credit is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a terrible habit to get into and it will lead to academic problems.

Plagiarism and Citation Plagiarism – taking someone’s work and passing it off as your own work. Tips to avoid plagiarism: take great notes, put a date on any notes or work you do, cite sources (give credit to other people’s work) and double check to make sure your sources are valid or trustworthy. Citation – a way to give credit to someone else’s work you use in your work. Only used when it is not your own original thought. You do not need to cite someone who states the sky is blue or a river has water. Only cite some else’s thought that is not yours.

Citation At this time, we will only use citations when we do our weekly current events assignments. Three ways to cite: direct quote, paraphrase and bibliography citation May use a citation website called easybib.com to help you properly cite. Basic formula: author’s last name, Title of work. date used. page number/website. = (snell, powerpoint. 8/8/15).

Examples of Citations Direct quote citation (author’s exact words): “Muslim Arab tribes entered the Jazirah from the north (Ochsenwald, The Middle East. P.39).” Paraphrased citation (author’s ideas but in your own words): The Jazirah was invaded by Umar’s Muslim Arab forces (Ochsenwald, The Middle East. P.39). Bibliography citation (full citation from a source used that is on a separate word cited page): Fisher, Sydney Nettleton, and William Ochsenwald. The Middle East: A History. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Print. For direct quote or paraphrased citations: after you use a source once, you just need the author’s last name and the page number or website). Example: (Ochsenwald, P.39). Or if using a website: (Steiner,

Historical Framework While Using Timelines B.C. = Before Christ B.C.E. = Before Common Era Both are the same exact way to date time BEFORE Christ’s birth in year 1 A.D. A.D. = anno domini (Latin) “in the year of Lord Jesus Christ” C.E. = common era Both are the same exact way to date time AFTER Christ’s birth in year 1 A.D. or 1 C.E.

How Does B.C. or B.C.E Work? B.C. or B.C.E. timelines go from larger to smaller in numbers. Example: 3000 B.C.E. or B.C. is later in history than 2000 B.C.E. or B.C B.C.E. happened before 2000 B.C.E. B.C.E. or B.C. works left to right and the end of B.C.E. or B.C. is year 1 A.D. There is no year 0!

Take a minute or 2… put these B.C.E. dates in the correct order from oldest to newest REMEMBER! B.C.E. goes from larger to smaller. The larger the number the oldest it is and smaller the number the newest it is in history. 539 B.C.E 2000 B.C.E B.C.E. 626 B.C 1792 B.C.

How Does A.D. or C.E. Work? A.D. or C.E. works left to right but it goes smaller to larger. The smaller the A.D. or C.E. year the oldest it is to A.D. or C.E. is older than 1900 A.D. or C.E. We are currently using A.D. or C.E. Our date currently is the summer season of 2015 A.D. or C.E.

Once again, take a minute or 2 to place the following dates from oldest to most recent. REMEMBER! A.D. or C.E. goes from smallest to largest numbers in history C.E. 300 A.D C.E C.E A.D.