History Poli Sci Senior Thesis

Senior Thesis

HSPSProfessor Jenny Donley, Librarian

Heterick Memorial Library

How will I remember everything?

Or just go to: http://libguides.onu.edu/exds2001CIC

Research Guides!

HSPS Senior Thesis Research Guide

Reminder: Your ONU ID = Your Library Card

• Your student ID is also your library card

• Always enter your whole ID number, including

zeros

EVA

Eva Maglott

00021559801

Eva Maglott

Research Strategy Overview

• Start big by doing background reading

• Follow the existing research to narrow your topic for a

more focused project

• Work on finding the right search terms

• Research the narrowed topic by using subject-specific

databases or vetted internet sites

• Use patterns you see in the results list to narrow your

topic

• Keep track of bibliographic citations to avoid trouble

down the road

• Ask a librarian or your professor for suggestions

Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources


Definitions of primary

sources can depend on the

department and subject

matter being studied

“In the humanities, a

primary resource could be

defined as something that

was created either during

the time period being

studied or afterward by

individuals reflecting on

their involvement in the

events of the time.”

Primary Sources: What are they? Lafayette College Libraries & Academic Information Resources.

https://library.lafayette.edu/help/primary/definitions Accessed February 5, 2015

Examples of Primary Resources:

• Government

government report, interview, letter,

news report, personal account, press

release, public opinion survey, speech,

treaty or international agreement

• History

artifact, diary, government report,

interview, letter, map, news report, oral

history, organizational records,

photograph, speech, work of art

https://library.lafayette.edu/help/primary/definitions


Primary sources = raw data = history

• Reading and evaluating them can be difficult

• They are an opportunity to come into contact with the past

• Enables historians to experience the past by using their imagination

http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/hst300q3.htm


Evaluating primary sources:- What kind of source is it?

• Formal treatise

• Public records

• Private letters and journals

• Literary sources such as novels or

poems

• Nonverbal sources such as art,

architecture, music, and

photography

• Oral histories

• Maps, blueprints, etc.


Questions to ask yourself when

reviewing a document:1. Is the source genuine?

2. What is the date of origin?

3. Who is the author?

4. Who is the audience?


Suggestions for reading a primary source:

• Read through the entire document quickly to

set a sense of the whole source. • Does it show bias?

• Is the bias yours or the source?

• Read the document a second time carefully

noting authorship, time period, intended

purpose and probable impact on the

intended audience.


Identify the following:

• Time and place

• Author

• Audience

• Personalities and roles of all people mentioned

• Meaning and purpose

• Content (colloquial terminology, language of the day, phrases and phrasing)

• Allusions

• Assumptions and/or bias


Additional questions to ask yourself:

1. Do the contents seem reasonable?

2. Are there other primary documents that

provide corroboration information, or are

there contradictions?

3. Place the document in the larger historical

context. Do secondary resources fit with

your interpretation?


As you are following the steps above,

be sure to note anything you need to

come back to and look up in reliable

reference works.


Secondary Sources:

• Secondary Sources analyze or interpret a historical

event or artistic work.

• Secondary sources often base their theories and

arguments on the direct evidence found in primary

sources.

• A secondary work for a subject is one that discusses

the subject but is written after the time contemporary

with it.


“Tertiary sources provide overviews of

topics by synthesizing information

gathered from other resources. Tertiary

resources often provide data in a

convenient form or provide information

with context by which to interpret it.”

Virginia Tech Libraries, Accessed 08/14/2013

• Encyclopedias

• Dictionaries

• Handbooks

Oxford Reference

http://0-www.oxfordreference.com.polar.onu.edu/

Research Tools

• Websites – Must be properly evaluated before used for research

• Catalogs: Used primarily for locating books, maps, musical scores, government documents, etc.

• Databases : Usually for locating periodical/journal and newspaper articles, but may cover other materials as well

Critically analyzing web sources

• What? is the page/site about

• Who? created and maintains this site

• Where? is the information coming from

• Why? is the information presented on the web

• When? was the page created or last updated

• How? accurate or credible is the page

From the University of Wisconsin Library, worksheet for evaluating web sites

What about the web?But I found this great website…

http://staff.library.wisc.edu/instruction/instmat/Custom/evalweb.pdf

o Currency• Timeliness of the information

o Relevance/Coverage• Depth and importance of the information

o Authority• Source of the information

o Accuracy• Reliability of the information

o Purpose/Objectivity• Possible bias present in the information

*The CRAAP acronym and descriptions are from Meriam Library at

California State University Chico. Used with permission.

What about the web?The CRAAP Test

Library Catalogs• POLAR Catalog: Search for physical and

electronic items (ebooks and ejournals) that are available from Heterick Memorial Library and Taggart Law Library

• OhioLINK Catalog: Your next step if you can’t find what you want in the HML collection. Materials are owned by 90+ other libraries in Ohio, including colleges, universities, public libraries

• Interlibrary Loans (ILL): ILLs are typically considered the option of last resort

o Books can help you narrow your research topic by giving

you background information.

Books in the POLAR Library Catalog

Basic keyword searches are a good way to get started.

POLAR Library Catalog: Keyword Search

• Looks in several locations

− Subject

− Article title

− Abstracts

− Table of contents

• Does not require an exact match

• Generates comparatively large number of hits

• Good if you are not familiar with terminology

• Good for a beginning search

• Looks at the subject headings in the records

• Requires an exact match

• Provides a results list with related headings to

use for broader and narrower searches

• Generates comparatively smaller number of hits

• Good if you are familiar with terminology

• Good for a next step after a keyword search

POLAR Library Catalog: Subject Search

If an item is checked out in

POLAR, try OhioLINK.

POLAR Library Catalog

Available on the third floor.

The oversized collection is to

the left at the top of the stairs.

• Materials are owned by 90+ other libraries in Ohio, including colleges, universities, public libraries

• Links within POLAR permit you to submit requests

• Most requests arrive in 3-5 working days

• No charge to request items from OhioLINK

• Limit of only 25 requests at a time

• Items may be renewed up to 6 times if no holds have been placed on the item

OhioLINK

Ordering items through OhioLINK

1. Make sure

copies are

available at other

libraries

2. Click on

request

button

Ordering items through OhioLINK

3. Select Ohio Northern 4. Enter your first and last

name and all 11 digits

exactly as they appear on

your ID

5. Be sure to select Heterick as

your pick up location and then

click submit.

6. An email will be sent

when the item is ready

for pickup

Articles● A periodical is something that is published at regular

intervals. Magazines and journals are both periodicals,

however…

● Magazines are periodicals that contain more popular

content. They tend to have glossy pages, lots of pictures, and

can be read and understood by the general public. They

contain shorter articles written by a staff of journalists.

● Journals are periodicals that contain scholarly and

peer-reviewed articles, written by scholars and

researchers, that are aimed at professionals in the field.

The articles are longer and have extensive

bibliographies at the ends of the articles.

• Library databases are tools used for locating journal and

newspaper articles

• Most are subject-specific, but some are multi-disciplinary

• Many give access to full text articles

• Heterick has 250+ databases

• Accessible from the Heterick home page:

www.onu.edu/library

Find an Article: Databases

Click on the Databases tab



The library suggests

several history and

political science

databases in the

SUBJECT listing.

Off Campus Access Problems?

• Make sure you click the “Off Campus Access” link and

not the name of the database for access when you are off

campus:


• Suggested databases to use for this class:

• See the database tab on the HSPS Senior Thesis

Research Guide for a complete listing

• SEARCH: a mega-database that can be helpful if

you’re having trouble finding articles in the

databases listed above.

SEARCH (the mega-database)

What is included in SEARCH?

• POLAR

• Article-level searching for all EBSCO databases

• Article-level searching for a variety of other

databases: JSTOR, Hoover’s, AccessPharmacy,

etc.

• Title-level searching for most other databases:

IEEE, CIAO, Proquest Nursing & Allied Health

• OhioLINK Central Catalog

Full Text Articles in Databases

Full text: Find it @ ONU

• Find It @ ONU takes you from a database where

you don’t have full text access to a database where

you do have full text access

Results: ILL• When in doubt, email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Facets: limit your results

Manage information: RefWorks

RefWorks is a

bibliographic citation

tool provided by ONU.

Export to RefWorks

• Most databases will

have “export”

• If there isn’t an

export, check for

“download”

• Reference librarians on duty:

• Monday – Friday

• 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM

• Monday – Wednesday

• 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

• One-on-one sessions available by appointment

• Professor Jenny Donley:

• [email protected]

• Reference email:

• [email protected]

• Feel free to stop by or send us an email

Questions?

History Poli Sci Senior Thesis

Documents

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