HISTORY 371 JAMIE JOHNSON LIBRARY.CSUN.EDU/GUIDES/HIST371 Professor Joyce Broussard

What is Historiography ? Best described as “the history of history”  Examines the changes in the methods interpretations and conclusions of earlier generations of historians building on or arguing with previous schools of thought.  Deeper understanding of how history is written and the fact that ideas are open to interpretation

What is Historiography? Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. --George Santayana  Historians explanations have changed over time New information comes to light New sources previously unexplored Re-interpretation of previous sources New questions emerge, priorities change Methodologies change New schools of thought

Historiography… continued….  Questions to consider… Individual works  What is the “main point”? Reinforce earlier thought or re-interpretation?  What kinds of sources are used?  What are the strengths and weaknesses of the argument, analysis and conclusions?  How do these authors work as a group to understand the series of events?

Historiography… continued… again!  Questions to consider… The Big Picture  How has the historiography changed over time?  How have ideological shifts had an impact on your topic?  Have the “discovery” or re- interpretations of sources caused historians to ask new questions?

Research Process

Formulating a Research Topic  Frame your research topic as a question  Fit it to the scope of your assignment  Answer it based on evidence in available sources  Focus it: avoid superficial or too narrow/broad coverage

Exploring Information  Investigate available sources to extend your understanding of the topic  Get orientated the type of finding tools available at the library to find secondary sources For context/background info use encyclopedias, dictionaries, & bibliographies. Library Catalog: keyword and subject searching Databases: Journal articles and book reviews Google Scholar

Developing a Search StrategySearch Strategy Found a good article? Try looking at the bibliography or works cited list of citations for additional resources. To find an article by citation type the title ONLY in OneSearch  Choose a Topic  Background information  Developing Keywords  Search Tips  Boolean Searches (AND, OR, NOT)  Phrase Searches (“”)  Wildcard Searches (*)

Evaluating Sources  Author: are they a historian?  What is the experience or qualifications of the author  Google author, find their credentials  Is the resource based on fact, opinion, ideology?  Does the resource express a particular bias or agenda?  Has the resource been examined in prior publications? (book reviews)