HIST 124: The US Since 1940

Guide to writing history papers

ljones@library.berkeley.edu (Lynn Jones) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:34:30 -0700

The Research Process

ljones@library.berkeley.edu (Lynn Jones) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 10:02:39 -0700

Choose a topic.

Do a brain dump: Note down what you already know about your topic, including

Names of people, organizations, companies, time period you are interested in, places of interest [countries, regions, cities]

Fill in the gaps in your knowlege: get background information from encyclopedias or other secondary sources. Wikipedia can be good here.

Select the best places/ databases to find information on your topic. Look under the History Databases tab of this guide for article database suggestions. Or use a catalog like Oskicat or Melvyl to search for books and other resources.

Use nouns from your brain dump as search terms.

Evaluate what you find. Change search terms to get closer to what you really want.

Refine Your Topic - Using the information you have gathered, determine if your research topic should be narrower or broader. You may need to search basic resources again using your new, focused topics and keywords.

Take a look this short tutorial on beginning your research for more ideas.

The Craft of Research [book]

ljones@library.berkeley.edu (Lynn Jones) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:41:29 -0700

This classic book on writing a college research paper is easily skimmed or deep enough for the truly obsessed researcher, explains the whole research process from initial questioning, through making an argument, all the way to effectively writing your paper.

This link is to the Google Books preview. But buy a secondhand copy for yourself. It's worth the $8 bucks.

Primary Resources

ljones@library.berkeley.edu (Lynn Jones) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 14:32:11 -0700

The library has created a guide to searching for primary sources in Oskicat, including the best search terms you can use.

This is a list of a few of the many primary source databases in US History, in addition to Oskicat. more

History databases

ljones@library.berkeley.edu (Lynn Jones) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:38:44 -0700

Three important databases for research in History.

Off-campus Access to Library Resources

ljones@library.berkeley.edu (Lynn Jones) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 09:35:19 -0700

Before you can access Library resources from off campus make sure you have configured your computer with proxy server settings.

After you make a one-time change in your web browser settings, the proxy server will ask you to log in with a CalNet ID or Library PIN when you click on the link to a licensed resource.

Library Hours

ljones@library.berkeley.edu (Lynn Jones) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:09:15 -0700

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Ask a Librarian 24/7 Chat

ljones@library.berkeley.edu (Lynn Jones) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 14:27:05 -0700

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