Researching histories of Buenos Aires

Simon Elichko  (they/he)

Social Sciences & Data Librarian

Illustrated provincial map, 1933, Coleccion Billiken
(David Rumsey Map Collection)

Unpacking what we mean by "the literature"

How to tell if books/articles are scholarly (or not)

  • Who published it?
    • University presses such as Duke, Princeton, Cambridge, Chicago, Penn, Rutgers, NYU, Stanford
    • Non-university presses that often publish scholarly books include Routledge, Berghahn, Rowman and Littlefield, Springer/Palgrave
    • Is the article published in a scholarly journal?
       
  • Who wrote it?
    • Does the author have training in history? Another field?
    • What kind of expertise do they have about the topic of the book?
    • What academic discipline(s) do they engage with? (e.g. the department where they teach, journals they publish in, conferences where they present)
       
  • How does this source engage with other research?
    • Do you see citations to other scholarship?
    • Are there notes and/or references at the end of the book or article?

Google Scholar

Expansive selection of articles and books

Quality varies widely

Includes "Cited by" search 

PRISMA
Publicaciones y Revistas Sociales y Humanísticas

Use to find journal articles in English and Spanish

 

Includes articles from Latin American journals that are harder to find through other tools

Worldcat

 

 

Similar to Tripod library search

Much more expansive selection of books

Historical Abstracts

Emphasizes history journals and books

Has useful filters to narrow down results

Tools for finding scholarly literature:

Bibliographies:

Exploring the literature

Literature to explore Search ideas
Group 1 Housing  housing OR tenements OR conventillos OR apartments OR single family homes OR
country houses OR barrios cerrados
 
Group 2 Neighborhoods Barrios OR neighborhoods OR neighborhood associations OR sociedades de fomento
 
Group 3 Public space Parks OR Parque de Palermo OR plaza OR
Plaza de Mayo OR squares OR public space
 
Group 4 Transportation Colectivos OR buses OR tramways OR subway OR subte OR highways OR autopistas OR transportation OR transit

With your group, select 3 scholarly books or journal articles that discuss your topic in the 20th century history of Buenos Aires. 

Be ready to share for each:

  • What made you select this work? What seems interesting about it?
  • Who wrote it and what you learned about the author

 

For at least one:

  • How does this author situate their work in the existing literature on the topic?

Try to identify literature that addresses different aspects of this topic

Research help & advice

 

More ways to get help: