Doing History Research
Defining an "Us": Nationalism, Culture
and Identity in Modern Europe
Simon Elichko (they/them)
Social Sciences & Data Librarian
Workshop Agenda:
- Getting a book from the library
- Finding secondary sources
- Tripod & Worldcat
- Databases
- Exploring historical newspapers
and other primary sources
✓
source: McMaster University Library
Book Basics
Example call number:
HQ1163 .H55 2022
H: Social Sciences
| Call number starts with | Floor in McCabe |
|---|---|
| A-E | Lower Floor |
| F-K | 2nd Floor |
| L-Z | 3rd Floor |
Tutorial: How to find a book in McCabe
1. Go to Tripod: swarthmore.edu/libraries
2. Search for the book's title to find its record in Tripod.
- Choose the result for the book itself, not a book review
- If you see multiple matching titles, choose the physical / paper copy
3. Explore the subjects used to describe your book.
- Scroll down to Details section. Find the section labeled Subject.
- Click on a subject tag. What do you find? (e.g. Collective memory -- France)
- What happens if you remove the last term from a multi-part subject?
- e.g. Postcolonialism -- France versus Postcolonialism
-- France
- e.g. Postcolonialism -- France versus Postcolonialism
- Try using Filters like Region and Subject to explore your Tripod results
How to find relevant books
Using subject tags in Tripod to find books on your topic
Tripod
Login to Tripod to request delivery (arrives 1-2 days)
E-Z Borrow
Borrow books from academic libraries in PA, NJ (arrives in ~1 week)
Borrow books, journals, microfilm, DVDs, etc. from all over the world. (arrives in 1-3 weeks)
Penn Drexel Temple NYU Rutgers
Swat Haverford Bryn Mawr
Oxford Columbia University of Amsterdam
Harvard Stanford Museum of Natural History
You can access books(+) from Tripod and beyond
You can also request delivery of PDFs of articles & book chapters that aren't available in Tripod.
1. Go to Worldcat.org
2. Search in Worldcat using the same subjects you used
in Tripod, for example:
Worldcat is similar to Tripod, but it lets you search for books owned by libraries across the world.
What if you see a book you'd like to read?
First, check to make sure it's not in Tripod.
If it's not in Tripod, follow the link for Borrow Beyond TriCo.
The fastest way to request a book is through EZBorrow.
Workshop Agenda:
- Getting a book from the library
- Finding secondary sources
- Tripod & Worldcat
- Databases
- Exploring historical newspapers
and other primary sources
✓
✓
Where can you find secondary sources?
Books + Book Chapters:
• Search Tripod, the TriCo library catalog:
• To expand your results, search Worldcat: worldcat.org
Journal Articles + Book Reviews:
• The database Historical Abstracts can help you find
relevant journal articles.
• Other databases for academic articles: JSTOR, Project Muse
You can get links to databases and other resources for this class on the HIST 1U Research Guide.
Find a link to Research Guides in Tripod or the Libraries site.
In Research Guides, search for the class. (e.g. Defining an Us)
From the HIST 1U Research Guide,
go to the page Find Journal Articles.
Then from the Find Journal Articles page,
go to the database Historical Abstracts.
(click the yellow S)
Concept 1
Concept 2
Memorialization
OR
Memorials
Europe
OR
France
TOPIC
Collective Memory
Political Customs and Rites
Searching Effectively
in Tripod, JSTOR, etc.
("memorials" OR "memorialization" OR "collective memory" OR "political customs and rites")
AND (europe OR european OR france OR french)
OR
OR
French
OR
European
OR
Choosing your research tools
| Research Tool | Content Focus | Geographic Focus (of articles) | Matches your search term in... |
|---|---|---|---|
| Historical Abstracts | Articles from History journals | Outside of the US and Canada | Summary of each article |
| America, History & Life | Articles from History journals | US and Canada | Summary of each article |
| JSTOR | Articles from journals (all fields) | All | Every word in the article |
Workshop Agenda:
- Getting a book from the library
- Finding secondary sources
- Tripod & Worldcat
- Databases
-
Exploring historical newspapers
and other primary sources
✓
✓
✓
From the HIST 1U Research Guide,
go to the page Find Primary Sources: Historical News.
Then from the Find Primary Sources page,
go to The Guardian and Observer.
(click the yellow S)
Research Help & Advice
Reach out to talk about your ideas, projects, questions
Discussing your work and asking questions is a great way to build skills
Simon Elichko (social sciences librarian)
- Make an appointment: bit.ly/selichk1
-
Email selichk1@swarthmore.edu
Email librarian@swarthmore.edu
- You'll reach all of the subject librarians and someone will follow up with you
Chat in Tripod
- If chat is open, a real human will answer your question! :)