HI 1311: Introduction to Urban History

D. Gray

While gathering general information and facts...

Make a list of keywords and add to this list as you find more
Follow up on relevant authors, researchers, experts
Gather statistical information to build scope and impact of problem
Consider all perspectives: historic, economic, social, political, etc.

Off campus?

Access resources with proxy.

Background Information

Beyond reading your class texts try...

The free web: search engines and other free web sites such as Wikipedia
Grolier Encyclopedia and Encyclopedia Americana or Encyclopædia Britannica Online .

A Few Library Reference & Electronic Books

Dictionary of American History. Reference E 174 A43 2003 10 volumes
Historical Statistics of the United States. Reference HA202 A385 2006 5 volumes or online

Information Choices: What Sources To Use

Use different types of information to get broad coverage of your topic. Historians use primary materials to build their research. See the Primary Sources guide for information on primary literature and how to find it.

List 3 types of primary source materials:
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Quickly review the 3 items below. What type of sources are the following? Newspapers, popular magazines, scholarly journal, primary material? Who's the intended audience for each?

Artisans, Journeymen, and the Transformation of Labor in Late Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia in The William and Mary Quarterly
Don't Fight It. It Might Just Work Out: Faced with base closings, towns are desperate to get off the hit list Time
Mending Fences" Report: Worcester IMC

Books

Evaluate...

Evaluating Web Resources Checklist (PDF)

According to a study at Stanford, nearly half of all web site evaluators (46.1%) used visual cues, to assess a site's credibility. Move beyond what a site looks like...

Authority
Scope
Currency
Accuracy

Search the Library Catalog for items @ WPI or WorldCat to search beyond our library.

Subject headings:

Cities and towns History.
Sociology, Urban.
Urban policy
City planning
Urban renewal
Washington (D.C.) -- History -- 19th century
etc.

Browse WorldCat to find another book, that is not available at WPI. What library is it available at? What does ARC stand for?
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Can the library get it for you? How do you go about requesting the item? How long would it take?
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Find Articles about Your Topic

All databases listed are WPI subscriptions. But check out Google Scholar, a web search of scholarly sources.

America, History & Life and Historical Abstracts: References to articles on historic topics. Click on FullTextFinder to track down full articles or options to obtain the full text.
ThomsonGale PowerSearch: Articles on all topics, click More Search options, limit the results to peer-reviewed publications. Contains articles back to the 1980s but good coverage of historical topics.
JSTOR: Complete full text of important scholarly journals in a variety of academic fields. Coverage: Varies by publication but many back to late 1800s.
Project Muse: Search full text of major historical and global studies journal, most academic sources.
LEXIS®-NEXIS® Academic: Current full text news, legal, medical, and business information. News coverage ranges from regional coverage (Worcester T & G) to national.

Filter and Follow Up...

Scan results: use subject headings/descriptors, keywords, phrases found to expand search
Scrutinize article titles, number of pages, and journal title
Browse promising abstract and conclusion sections of long studies
Bibliographies can clue you in on the value of the article as well
Find an interesting author? Search for more articles or for his/her web site
Notice an agency, association or expert mentioned in an article? Follow up!

MLA style

Example of a work from a library subscription service:: Gooday, Graeme J. N. and Morris F. Low. "Technology Transfer and; Cultural Exchange." Osiris 13 (1998): 99-128.; JSTOR. Gordon Library Worcester; Polytechnic Institute, MA. 30 Aug. 2005; <http://www.jstor.org>.

What journal or magazine is this article from? Is it available in full text? Or just an abstract? If only an abstract is found, find the full text, using the library's Journals, Magazines, & Newspapers list.

Only Finding a Citation? Getting the Full Text

Is the journal online or here in the library? Use FullTextFinder to link to full articles or retrieval options within database results or search our Journals, Magazines, & Newspapers list
Visit another library: Search WorldCat to find one
Request delivery from another library: Interlibrary Loan.

Give Credit! Cite Your Sources

Try RefWorks, if you wish to create a database of your personal references, which can be output into MLA format for your bibliography.

Questions?

Stop by the reference desk or set up a research consultation.

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Last modified: May 13, 2008, 13:21 EDT