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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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?

5. 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?

6. Research Process

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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 (*)

10. 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)