what is a research in history

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This guide is an introduction to selected resources available for historical research.  It covers both primary sources (such as diaries, letters, newspaper articles, photographs, government documents and first-hand accounts) and secondary materials (such as books and articles written by historians and devoted to the analysis and interpretation of historical events and evidence).

"Research in history involves developing an understanding of the past through the examination and interpretation of evidence. Evidence may exist in the form of texts, physical remains of historic sites, recorded data, pictures, maps, artifacts, and so on. The historian’s job is to find evidence, analyze its content and biases, corroborate it with further evidence, and use that evidence to develop an interpretation of past events that holds some significance for the present.

Historians use libraries to

• locate primary sources (first-hand information such as diaries, letters, and original documents) for evidence
• find secondary sources (historians’ interpretations and analyses of historical evidence)
• verify factual material as inconsistencies arise"

( Research and Documentation in the Electronic Age, Fifth Edition, by Diana Hacker and Barbara Fister, Bedford/St. Martin, 2010)

This guide is meant to help you work through these steps.

Other helpful guides

This is a list of other historical research guides you may find helpful:

• Learning Historical Research Learning to Do Historical Research: A Primer for Environmental Historians and Others by William Cronon and his students, University of Wisconsin A website designed as a basic introduction to historical research for anyone and everyone who is interested in exploring the past.
• Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students by Patrick Rael, Bowdoin College Guide to all aspects of historical scholarship—from reading a history book to doing primary source research to writing a history paper.
• Writing Historical Essays: A Guide for Undergraduates Rutgers History Department guide to writing historical essays
• History Study Guides History study guides created by the Carleton College History Department

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Home » Historical Research – Types, Methods and Examples

Historical Research – Types, Methods and Examples

Table of Contents

Historical Research

Definition:

Historical research is the process of investigating and studying past events, people, and societies using a variety of sources and methods. This type of research aims to reconstruct and interpret the past based on the available evidence.

Types of Historical Research

There are several types of historical research, including:

Descriptive Research

This type of historical research focuses on describing events, people, or cultures in detail. It can involve examining artifacts, documents, or other sources of information to create a detailed account of what happened or existed.

Analytical Research

This type of historical research aims to explain why events, people, or cultures occurred in a certain way. It involves analyzing data to identify patterns, causes, and effects, and making interpretations based on this analysis.

Comparative Research

This type of historical research involves comparing two or more events, people, or cultures to identify similarities and differences. This can help researchers understand the unique characteristics of each and how they interacted with each other.

Interpretive Research

This type of historical research focuses on interpreting the meaning of past events, people, or cultures. It can involve analyzing cultural symbols, beliefs, and practices to understand their significance in a particular historical context.

Quantitative Research

This type of historical research involves using statistical methods to analyze historical data. It can involve examining demographic information, economic indicators, or other quantitative data to identify patterns and trends.

Qualitative Research

This type of historical research involves examining non-numerical data such as personal accounts, letters, or diaries. It can provide insights into the experiences and perspectives of individuals during a particular historical period.

Data Collection Methods

Data Collection Methods are as follows:

• Archival research : This involves analyzing documents and records that have been preserved over time, such as government records, diaries, letters, newspapers, and photographs. Archival research is often conducted in libraries, archives, and museums.
• Oral history : This involves conducting interviews with individuals who have lived through a particular historical period or event. Oral history can provide a unique perspective on past events and can help to fill gaps in the historical record.
• Artifact analysis: This involves examining physical objects from the past, such as tools, clothing, and artwork, to gain insights into past cultures and practices.
• Secondary sources: This involves analyzing published works, such as books, articles, and academic papers, that discuss past events and cultures. Secondary sources can provide context and insights into the historical period being studied.
• Statistical analysis : This involves analyzing numerical data from the past, such as census records or economic data, to identify patterns and trends.
• Fieldwork : This involves conducting on-site research in a particular location, such as visiting a historical site or conducting ethnographic research in a particular community. Fieldwork can provide a firsthand understanding of the culture and environment being studied.
• Content analysis: This involves analyzing the content of media from the past, such as films, television programs, and advertisements, to gain insights into cultural attitudes and beliefs.

Data Analysis Methods

• Content analysis : This involves analyzing the content of written or visual material, such as books, newspapers, or photographs, to identify patterns and themes. Content analysis can be used to identify changes in cultural values and beliefs over time.
• Textual analysis : This involves analyzing written texts, such as letters or diaries, to understand the experiences and perspectives of individuals during a particular historical period. Textual analysis can provide insights into how people lived and thought in the past.
• Discourse analysis : This involves analyzing how language is used to construct meaning and power relations in a particular historical period. Discourse analysis can help to identify how social and political ideologies were constructed and maintained over time.
• Statistical analysis: This involves using statistical methods to analyze numerical data, such as census records or economic data, to identify patterns and trends. Statistical analysis can help to identify changes in population demographics, economic conditions, and other factors over time.
• Comparative analysis : This involves comparing data from two or more historical periods or events to identify similarities and differences. Comparative analysis can help to identify patterns and trends that may not be apparent from analyzing data from a single historical period.
• Qualitative analysis: This involves analyzing non-numerical data, such as oral history interviews or ethnographic field notes, to identify themes and patterns. Qualitative analysis can provide a rich understanding of the experiences and perspectives of individuals in the past.

Historical Research Methodology

Here are the general steps involved in historical research methodology:

• Define the research question: Start by identifying a research question that you want to answer through your historical research. This question should be focused, specific, and relevant to your research goals.
• Review the literature: Conduct a review of the existing literature on the topic of your research question. This can involve reading books, articles, and academic papers to gain a thorough understanding of the existing research.
• Develop a research design : Develop a research design that outlines the methods you will use to collect and analyze data. This design should be based on the research question and should be feasible given the resources and time available.
• Collect data: Use the methods outlined in your research design to collect data on past events, people, and cultures. This can involve archival research, oral history interviews, artifact analysis, and other data collection methods.
• Analyze data : Analyze the data you have collected using the methods outlined in your research design. This can involve content analysis, textual analysis, statistical analysis, and other data analysis methods.
• Interpret findings : Use the results of your data analysis to draw meaningful insights and conclusions related to your research question. These insights should be grounded in the data and should be relevant to the research goals.
• Communicate results: Communicate your findings through a research report, academic paper, or other means. This should be done in a clear, concise, and well-organized manner, with appropriate citations and references to the literature.

Applications of Historical Research

Historical research has a wide range of applications in various fields, including:

• Education : Historical research can be used to develop curriculum materials that reflect a more accurate and inclusive representation of history. It can also be used to provide students with a deeper understanding of past events and cultures.
• Museums : Historical research is used to develop exhibits, programs, and other materials for museums. It can provide a more accurate and engaging presentation of historical events and artifacts.
• Public policy : Historical research is used to inform public policy decisions by providing insights into the historical context of current issues. It can also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of past policies and programs.
• Business : Historical research can be used by businesses to understand the evolution of their industry and to identify trends that may affect their future success. It can also be used to develop marketing strategies that resonate with customers’ historical interests and values.
• Law : Historical research is used in legal proceedings to provide evidence and context for cases involving historical events or practices. It can also be used to inform the development of new laws and policies.
• Genealogy : Historical research can be used by individuals to trace their family history and to understand their ancestral roots.
• Cultural preservation : Historical research is used to preserve cultural heritage by documenting and interpreting past events, practices, and traditions. It can also be used to identify and preserve historical landmarks and artifacts.

Examples of Historical Research

Examples of Historical Research are as follows:

• Examining the history of race relations in the United States: Historical research could be used to explore the historical roots of racial inequality and injustice in the United States. This could help inform current efforts to address systemic racism and promote social justice.
• Tracing the evolution of political ideologies: Historical research could be used to study the development of political ideologies over time. This could help to contextualize current political debates and provide insights into the origins and evolution of political beliefs and values.
• Analyzing the impact of technology on society : Historical research could be used to explore the impact of technology on society over time. This could include examining the impact of previous technological revolutions (such as the industrial revolution) on society, as well as studying the current impact of emerging technologies on society and the environment.
• Documenting the history of marginalized communities : Historical research could be used to document the history of marginalized communities (such as LGBTQ+ communities or indigenous communities). This could help to preserve cultural heritage, promote social justice, and promote a more inclusive understanding of history.

Purpose of Historical Research

The purpose of historical research is to study the past in order to gain a better understanding of the present and to inform future decision-making. Some specific purposes of historical research include:

• To understand the origins of current events, practices, and institutions : Historical research can be used to explore the historical roots of current events, practices, and institutions. By understanding how things developed over time, we can gain a better understanding of the present.
• To develop a more accurate and inclusive understanding of history : Historical research can be used to correct inaccuracies and biases in historical narratives. By exploring different perspectives and sources of information, we can develop a more complete and nuanced understanding of history.
• To inform decision-making: Historical research can be used to inform decision-making in various fields, including education, public policy, business, and law. By understanding the historical context of current issues, we can make more informed decisions about how to address them.
• To preserve cultural heritage : Historical research can be used to document and preserve cultural heritage, including traditions, practices, and artifacts. By understanding the historical significance of these cultural elements, we can work to preserve them for future generations.
• To stimulate curiosity and critical thinking: Historical research can be used to stimulate curiosity and critical thinking about the past. By exploring different historical perspectives and interpretations, we can develop a more critical and reflective approach to understanding history and its relevance to the present.

When to use Historical Research

Historical research can be useful in a variety of contexts. Here are some examples of when historical research might be particularly appropriate:

• When examining the historical roots of current events: Historical research can be used to explore the historical roots of current events, practices, and institutions. By understanding how things developed over time, we can gain a better understanding of the present.
• When examining the historical context of a particular topic : Historical research can be used to explore the historical context of a particular topic, such as a social issue, political debate, or scientific development. By understanding the historical context, we can gain a more nuanced understanding of the topic and its significance.
• When exploring the evolution of a particular field or discipline : Historical research can be used to explore the evolution of a particular field or discipline, such as medicine, law, or art. By understanding the historical development of the field, we can gain a better understanding of its current state and future directions.
• When examining the impact of past events on current society : Historical research can be used to examine the impact of past events (such as wars, revolutions, or social movements) on current society. By understanding the historical context and impact of these events, we can gain insights into current social and political issues.
• When studying the cultural heritage of a particular community or group : Historical research can be used to document and preserve the cultural heritage of a particular community or group. By understanding the historical significance of cultural practices, traditions, and artifacts, we can work to preserve them for future generations.

Characteristics of Historical Research

The following are some characteristics of historical research:

• Focus on the past : Historical research focuses on events, people, and phenomena of the past. It seeks to understand how things developed over time and how they relate to current events.
• Reliance on primary sources: Historical research relies on primary sources such as letters, diaries, newspapers, government documents, and other artifacts from the period being studied. These sources provide firsthand accounts of events and can help researchers gain a more accurate understanding of the past.
• Interpretation of data : Historical research involves interpretation of data from primary sources. Researchers analyze and interpret data to draw conclusions about the past.
• Use of multiple sources: Historical research often involves using multiple sources of data to gain a more complete understanding of the past. By examining a range of sources, researchers can cross-reference information and validate their findings.
• Importance of context: Historical research emphasizes the importance of context. Researchers analyze the historical context in which events occurred and consider how that context influenced people’s actions and decisions.
• Subjectivity : Historical research is inherently subjective, as researchers interpret data and draw conclusions based on their own perspectives and biases. Researchers must be aware of their own biases and strive for objectivity in their analysis.
• Importance of historical significance: Historical research emphasizes the importance of historical significance. Researchers consider the historical significance of events, people, and phenomena and their impact on the present and future.
• Use of qualitative methods : Historical research often uses qualitative methods such as content analysis, discourse analysis, and narrative analysis to analyze data and draw conclusions about the past.

Advantages of Historical Research

There are several advantages to historical research:

• Provides a deeper understanding of the past : Historical research can provide a more comprehensive understanding of past events and how they have shaped current social, political, and economic conditions. This can help individuals and organizations make informed decisions about the future.
• Helps preserve cultural heritage: Historical research can be used to document and preserve cultural heritage. By studying the history of a particular culture, researchers can gain insights into the cultural practices and beliefs that have shaped that culture over time.
• Provides insights into long-term trends : Historical research can provide insights into long-term trends and patterns. By studying historical data over time, researchers can identify patterns and trends that may be difficult to discern from short-term data.
• Facilitates the development of hypotheses: Historical research can facilitate the development of hypotheses about how past events have influenced current conditions. These hypotheses can be tested using other research methods, such as experiments or surveys.
• Helps identify root causes of social problems : Historical research can help identify the root causes of social problems. By studying the historical context in which these problems developed, researchers can gain a better understanding of how they emerged and what factors may have contributed to their development.
• Provides a source of inspiration: Historical research can provide a source of inspiration for individuals and organizations seeking to address current social, political, and economic challenges. By studying the accomplishments and struggles of past generations, researchers can gain insights into how to address current challenges.

Limitations of Historical Research

Some Limitations of Historical Research are as follows:

• Reliance on incomplete or biased data: Historical research is often limited by the availability and quality of data. Many primary sources have been lost, destroyed, or are inaccessible, making it difficult to get a complete picture of historical events. Additionally, some primary sources may be biased or represent only one perspective on an event.
• Difficulty in generalizing findings: Historical research is often specific to a particular time and place and may not be easily generalized to other contexts. This makes it difficult to draw broad conclusions about human behavior or social phenomena.
• Lack of control over variables : Historical research often lacks control over variables. Researchers cannot manipulate or control historical events, making it difficult to establish cause-and-effect relationships.
• Subjectivity of interpretation : Historical research is often subjective because researchers must interpret data and draw conclusions based on their own biases and perspectives. Different researchers may interpret the same data differently, leading to different conclusions.
• Limited ability to test hypotheses: Historical research is often limited in its ability to test hypotheses. Because the events being studied have already occurred, researchers cannot manipulate variables or conduct experiments to test their hypotheses.
• Lack of objectivity: Historical research is often subjective, and researchers must be aware of their own biases and strive for objectivity in their analysis. However, it can be difficult to maintain objectivity when studying events that are emotionally charged or controversial.
• Limited generalizability: Historical research is often limited in its generalizability, as the events and conditions being studied may be specific to a particular time and place. This makes it difficult to draw broad conclusions that apply to other contexts or time periods.

About the author

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Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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The Princeton Guide to Historical Research

• Zachary Schrag

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The essential handbook for doing historical research in the twenty-first century

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The Princeton Guide to Historical Research provides students, scholars, and professionals with the skills they need to practice the historian’s craft in the digital age, while never losing sight of the fundamental values and techniques that have defined historical scholarship for centuries. Zachary Schrag begins by explaining how to ask good questions and then guides readers step-by-step through all phases of historical research, from narrowing a topic and locating sources to taking notes, crafting a narrative, and connecting one’s work to existing scholarship. He shows how researchers extract knowledge from the widest range of sources, such as government documents, newspapers, unpublished manuscripts, images, interviews, and datasets. He demonstrates how to use archives and libraries, read sources critically, present claims supported by evidence, tell compelling stories, and much more. Featuring a wealth of examples that illustrate the methods used by seasoned experts, The Princeton Guide to Historical Research reveals that, however varied the subject matter and sources, historians share basic tools in the quest to understand people and the choices they made.

• Offers practical step-by-step guidance on how to do historical research, taking readers from initial questions to final publication
• Connects new digital technologies to the traditional skills of the historian
• Draws on hundreds of examples from a broad range of historical topics and approaches
• Shares tips for researchers at every skill level

Skills for Scholars: The new tools of the trade

Awards and recognition.

• Winner of the James Harvey Robinson Prize, American Historical Association
• A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year

• Introduction: History Is for Everyone
• History Is the Study of People and the Choices They Made
• History Is a Means to Understand Today’s World
• History Combines Storytelling and Analysis
• History Is an Ongoing Debate
• Autobiography
• Everything Has a History
• Narrative Expansion
• From the Source
• Public History
• Research Agenda
• Factual Questions
• Interpretive Questions
• Opposing Forces
• Internal Contradictions
• Competing Priorities
• Determining Factors
• Hidden or Contested Meanings
• Before and After
• Dialectics Create Questions, Not Answers
• Copy Other Works
• History Big and Small
• Pick Your People
• Add and Subtract
• Narrative versus Thematic Schemes
• The Balky Time Machine
• Local and Regional
• Transnational and Global
• Comparative
• What Is New about Your Approach?
• Are You Working in a Specific Theoretical Tradition?
• What Have Others Written?
• Are Others Working on It?
• What Might Your Critics Say?
• Primary versus Secondary Sources
• Balancing Your Use of Secondary Sources
• Sets of Sources
• Sources as Records of the Powerful
• No Source Speaks for Itself
• Languages and Specialized Reading
• Choose Sources That You Love
• Workaday Documents
• Specialized Periodicals
• Criminal Investigations and Trials
• Official Reports
• Letters and Petitions
• Institutional Records
• Scholarship
• Motion Pictures and Recordings
• Buildings and Plans
• The Working Bibliography
• The Open Web
• Limits of the Open Web
• Bibliographic Databases
• Full-Text Databases
• Oral History
• What Is an Archive?
• Archives and Access
• Read the Finding Aid
• Follow the Rules
• Work with Archivists
• Types of Cameras
• How Much to Shoot?
• Managing Expectations
• Duck, Duck, Goose
• Credibility
• Avoid Catastrophe
• Complete Tasks—Ideally Just Once, and in the Right Order
• Maintain Momentum
• Kinds of Software
• Word Processors
• Means of Entry
• A Good Day’s Work
• Word Count Is Your Friend
• Managing Research Assistants
• Research Diary
• When to Stop
• Note-Taking as Mining
• Note-Taking as Assembly
• Identify the Source, So You Can Go Back and Consult if Needed
• Distinguish Others’ Words and Ideas from Your Own
• Allow Sorting and Retrieval of Related Pieces of Information
• Provide the Right Level of Detail
• Notebooks and Index Cards
• Word Processors for Note-Taking
• Plain Text and Markdown
• Reference Managers
• Note-Taking Apps
• Relational Databases
• Spreadsheets
• Glossaries and Alphabetical Lists
• Image Catalogs
• Other Specialized Formats
• The Working Draft
• Variants: The Ten- and Thirty-Page Papers
• Thesis Statement
• Historiography
• Sections as Independent Essays
• Topic Sentences
• Answering Questions
• Invisible Bullet Points
• The Perils of Policy Prescriptions
• A Model (T) Outline
• Flexibility
• Protagonists
• Antagonists
• Bit Players
• The Shape of the Story
• The Controlling Idea
• Alchemy: Turning Sources to Stories
• Turning Points
• Counterfactuals
• Point of View
• Symbolic Details
• Combinations
• Speculation
• Is Your Jargon Really Necessary?
• Defining Terms
• Word Choice as Analysis
• Period Vocabulary or Anachronism?
• Integrate Images into Your Story
• Put Numbers in Context
• Summarize Data in Tables and Graphs
• Why We Cite
• Citation Styles
• Active Verbs
• People as Subjects
• Signposting
• First Person
• Putting It Aside
• Reverse Outlining
• Auditing Your Word Budget
• Writing for the Ear
• Conferences
• Social Media
• Coauthorship
• Tough, Fair, and Encouraging
• Manuscript and Book Reviews
• Journal Articles
• Book chapters
• Websites and Social Media
• Museums and Historic Sites
• Press Appearances and Op-Eds
• Law and Policy
• Graphic History, Movies, and Broadway Musicals
• Acknowledgments

"This volume is a complete and sophisticated addition to any scholar’s library and a boon to the curious layperson. . . . [A] major achievement."— Choice Reviews

"This book is quite simply a gem. . . . Schrag’s accessible style and comprehensive treatment of the field make this book a valuable resource."—Alan Sears, Canadian Journal of History

"A tour de force that will help all of us be more capable historians. This wholly readable, delightful book is packed with good advice that will benefit seasoned scholars and novice researchers alike."—Nancy Weiss Malkiel, author of "Keep the Damned Women Out": The Struggle for Coeducation

"An essential and overdue contribution. Schrag's guide offers a lucid breakdown of what historians do and provides plenty of examples."—Jessica Mack, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, George Mason University

"Extraordinarily useful. If there is another book that takes apart as many elements of the historian's craft the way that Schrag does and provides so many examples, I am not aware of it."—James Goodman, author of But Where Is the Lamb?

"This is an engaging guide to being a good historian and all that entails."—Diana Seave Greenwald, Assistant Curator of the Collection, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

"Impressive and engaging. Schrag gracefully incorporates the voices of dozens, if not hundreds, of fellow historians. This gives the book a welcome conversational feeling, as if the reader were overhearing a lively discussion among friendly historians."—Sarah Dry, author of Waters of the World: The Story of the Scientists Who Unraveled the Mysteries of Our Oceans, Atmosphere, and Ice Sheets and Made the Planet Whole

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A Step-by-Step Guide to Doing Historical Research [without getting hysterical!] In addition to being a scholarly investigation, research is a social activity intended to create new knowledge. Historical research is your informed response to the questions that you ask while examining the record of human experience. These questions may concern such elements as looking at an event or topic, examining events that lead to the event in question, social influences, key players, and other contextual information. This step-by-step guide progresses from an introduction to historical resources to information about how to identify a topic, craft a thesis and develop a research paper. Table of contents: The Range and Richness of Historical Sources Secondary Sources Primary Sources Historical Analysis What is it? Who, When, Where, What and Why: The Five "W"s Topic, Thesis, Sources Definition of Terms Choose a Topic Craft a Thesis Evaluate Thesis and Sources A Variety of Information Sources Take Efficient Notes Note Cards Thinking, Organizing, Researching Parenthetical Documentation Prepare a Works Cited Page Drafting, Revising, Rewriting, Rethinking For Further Reading: Works Cited Additional Links So you want to study history?! Tons of help and links Slatta Home Page Use the Writing and other links on the lefhand menu I. The Range and Richness of Historical Sources Back to Top Every period leaves traces, what historians call "sources" or evidence. Some are more credible or carry more weight than others; judging the differences is a vital skill developed by good historians. Sources vary in perspective, so knowing who created the information you are examining is vital. Anonymous doesn't make for a very compelling source. For example, an FBI report on the antiwar movement, prepared for U.S. President Richard Nixon, probably contained secrets that at the time were thought to have affected national security. It would not be usual, however, for a journalist's article about a campus riot, featured in a local newspaper, to leak top secret information. Which source would you read? It depends on your research topic. If you're studying how government officials portrayed student activists, you'll want to read the FBI report and many more documents from other government agencies such as the CIA and the National Security Council. If you're investigating contemporary opinion of pro-war and anti-war activists, local newspaper accounts provide a rich resource. You'd want to read a variety of newspapers to ensure you're covering a wide range of opinions (rural/urban, left/right, North/South, Soldier/Draft-dodger, etc). Historians classify sources into two major categories: primary and secondary sources. Secondary Sources Back to Top Definition: Secondary sources are created by someone who was either not present when the event occurred or removed from it in time. We use secondary sources for overview information, to familiarize ourselves with a topic, and compare that topic with other events in history. In refining a research topic, we often begin with secondary sources. This helps us identify gaps or conflicts in the existing scholarly literature that might prove promsing topics. Types: History books, encyclopedias, historical dictionaries, and academic (scholarly) articles are secondary sources. To help you determine the status of a given secondary source, see How to identify and nagivate scholarly literature . Examples: Historian Marilyn Young's (NYU) book about the Vietnam War is a secondary source. She did not participate in the war. Her study is not based on her personal experience but on the evidence she culled from a variety of sources she found in the United States and Vietnam. Primary Sources Back to Top Definition: Primary sources emanate from individuals or groups who participated in or witnessed an event and recorded that event during or immediately after the event. They include speeches, memoirs, diaries, letters, telegrams, emails, proclamations, government documents, and much more. Examples: A student activist during the war writing about protest activities has created a memoir. This would be a primary source because the information is based on her own involvement in the events she describes. Similarly, an antiwar speech is a primary source. So is the arrest record of student protesters. A newspaper editorial or article, reporting on a student demonstration is also a primary source. II. Historical Analysis What is it? Back to Top No matter what you read, whether it's a primary source or a secondary source, you want to know who authored the source (a trusted scholar? A controversial historian? A propagandist? A famous person? An ordinary individual?). "Author" refers to anyone who created information in any medium (film, sound, or text). You also need to know when it was written and the kind of audience the author intend to reach. You should also consider what you bring to the evidence that you examine. Are you inductively following a path of evidence, developing your interpretation based on the sources? Do you have an ax to grind? Did you begin your research deductively, with your mind made up before even seeing the evidence. Historians need to avoid the latter and emulate the former. To read more about the distinction, examine the difference between Intellectual Inquirers and Partisan Ideologues . In the study of history, perspective is everything. A letter written by a twenty- year old Vietnam War protestor will differ greatly from a letter written by a scholar of protest movements. Although the sentiment might be the same, the perspective and influences of these two authors will be worlds apart. Practicing the " 5 Ws " will avoid the confusion of the authority trap. Who, When, Where, What and Why: The Five "W"s Back to Top Historians accumulate evidence (information, including facts, stories, interpretations, opinions, statements, reports, etc.) from a variety of sources (primary and secondary). They must also verify that certain key pieces of information are corroborated by a number of people and sources ("the predonderance of evidence"). The historian poses the " 5 Ws " to every piece of information he examines: Who is the historical actor? When did the event take place? Where did it occur? What did it entail and why did it happen the way it did? The " 5 Ws " can also be used to evaluate a primary source. Who authored the work? When was it created? Where was it created, published, and disseminated? Why was it written (the intended audience), and what is the document about (what points is the author making)? If you know the answers to these five questions, you can analyze any document, and any primary source. The historian doesn't look for the truth, since this presumes there is only one true story. The historian tries to understand a number of competing viewpoints to form his or her own interpretation-- what constitutes the best explanation of what happened and why. By using as wide a range of primary source documents and secondary sources as possible, you will add depth and richness to your historical analysis. The more exposure you, the researcher, have to a number of different sources and differing view points, the more you have a balanced and complete view about a topic in history. This view will spark more questions and ultimately lead you into the quest to unravel more clues about your topic. You are ready to start assembling information for your research paper. III. Topic, Thesis, Sources Definition of Terms Back to Top Because your purpose is to create new knowledge while recognizing those scholars whose existing work has helped you in this pursuit, you are honor bound never to commit the following academic sins: Plagiarism: Literally "kidnapping," involving the use of someone else's words as if they were your own (Gibaldi 6). To avoid plagiarism you must document direct quotations, paraphrases, and original ideas not your own. Recycling: Rehashing material you already know thoroughly or, without your professor's permission, submitting a paper that you have completed for another course. Premature cognitive commitment: Academic jargon for deciding on a thesis too soon and then seeking information to serve that thesis rather than embarking on a genuine search for new knowledge. Choose a Topic Back to Top "Do not hunt for subjects, let them choose you, not you them." --Samuel Butler Choosing a topic is the first step in the pursuit of a thesis. Below is a logical progression from topic to thesis: Close reading of the primary text, aided by secondary sources Growing awareness of interesting qualities within the primary text Choosing a topic for research Asking productive questions that help explore and evaluate a topic Creating a research hypothesis Revising and refining a hypothesis to form a working thesis First, and most important, identify what qualities in the primary or secondary source pique your imagination and curiosity and send you on a search for answers. Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive levels provides a description of productive questions asked by critical thinkers. While the lower levels (knowledge, comprehension) are necessary to a good history essay, aspire to the upper three levels (analysis, synthesis, evaluation). Skimming reference works such as encyclopedias, books, critical essays and periodical articles can help you choose a topic that evolves into a hypothesis, which in turn may lead to a thesis. One approach to skimming involves reading the first paragraph of a secondary source to locate and evaluate the author's thesis. Then for a general idea of the work's organization and major ideas read the first and last sentence of each paragraph. Read the conclusion carefully, as it usually presents a summary (Barnet and Bedau 19). Craft a Thesis Back to Top Very often a chosen topic is too broad for focused research. You must revise it until you have a working hypothesis, that is, a statement of an idea or an approach with respect to the source that could form the basis for your thesis. Remember to not commit too soon to any one hypothesis. Use it as a divining rod or a first step that will take you to new information that may inspire you to revise your hypothesis. Be flexible. Give yourself time to explore possibilities. The hypothesis you create will mature and shift as you write and rewrite your paper. New questions will send you back to old and on to new material. Remember, this is the nature of research--it is more a spiraling or iterative activity than a linear one. Test your working hypothesis to be sure it is: broad enough to promise a variety of resources. narrow enough for you to research in depth. original enough to interest you and your readers. worthwhile enough to offer information and insights of substance "do-able"--sources are available to complete the research. Now it is time to craft your thesis, your revised and refined hypothesis. A thesis is a declarative sentence that: focuses on one well-defined idea makes an arguable assertion; it is capable of being supported prepares your readers for the body of your paper and foreshadows the conclusion. Evaluate Thesis and Sources Back to Top Like your hypothesis, your thesis is not carved in stone. You are in charge. If necessary, revise it during the research process. As you research, continue to evaluate both your thesis for practicality, originality, and promise as a search tool, and secondary sources for relevance and scholarliness. The following are questions to ask during the research process: Are there many journal articles and entire books devoted to the thesis, suggesting that the subject has been covered so thoroughly that there may be nothing new to say? Does the thesis lead to stimulating, new insights? Are appropriate sources available? Is there a variety of sources available so that the bibliography or works cited page will reflect different kinds of sources? Which sources are too broad for my thesis? Which resources are too narrow? Who is the author of the secondary source? Does the critic's background suggest that he/she is qualified? After crafting a thesis, consider one of the following two approaches to writing a research paper: Excited about your thesis and eager to begin? Return to the primary or secondary source to find support for your thesis. Organize ideas and begin writing your first draft. After writing the first draft, have it reviewed by your peers and your instructor. Ponder their suggestions and return to the sources to answer still-open questions. Document facts and opinions from secondary sources. Remember, secondary sources can never substitute for primary sources. Confused about where to start? Use your thesis to guide you to primary and secondary sources. Secondary sources can help you clarify your position and find a direction for your paper. Keep a working bibliography. You may not use all the sources you record, but you cannot be sure which ones you will eventually discard. Create a working outline as you research. This outline will, of course, change as you delve more deeply into your subject. A Variety of Information Sources Back to Top "A mind that is stretched to a new idea never returns to its original dimension." --Oliver Wendell Holmes Your thesis and your working outline are the primary compasses that will help you navigate the variety of sources available. In "Introduction to the Library" (5-6) the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers suggests you become familiar with the library you will be using by: taking a tour or enrolling for a brief introductory lecture referring to the library's publications describing its resources introducing yourself and your project to the reference librarian The MLA Handbook also lists guides for the use of libraries (5), including: Jean Key Gates, Guide to the Use of Libraries and Information Sources (7th ed., New York: McGraw, 1994). Thomas Mann, A Guide to Library Research Methods (New York: Oxford UP, 1987). Online Central Catalog Most libraries have their holdings listed on a computer. The online catalog may offer Internet sites, Web pages and databases that relate to the university's curriculum. It may also include academic journals and online reference books. Below are three search techniques commonly used online: Index Search: Although online catalogs may differ slightly from library to library, the most common listings are by: Subject Search: Enter the author's name for books and article written about the author. Author Search: Enter an author's name for works written by the author, including collections of essays the author may have written about his/her own works. Title Search: Enter a title for the screen to list all the books the library carries with that title. Key Word Search/Full-text Search: A one-word search, e.g., 'Kennedy,' will produce an overwhelming number of sources, as it will call up any entry that includes the name 'Kennedy.' To focus more narrowly on your subject, add one or more key words, e.g., "John Kennedy, Peace Corps." Use precise key words. Boolean Search: Boolean Search techniques use words such as "and," "or," and "not," which clarify the relationship between key words, thus narrowing the search. Take Efficient Notes Back to Top Keeping complete and accurate bibliography and note cards during the research process is a time (and sanity) saving practice. If you have ever needed a book or pages within a book, only to discover that an earlier researcher has failed to return it or torn pages from your source, you understand the need to take good notes. Every researcher has a favorite method for taking notes. Here are some suggestions-- customize one of them for your own use. Bibliography cards There may be far more books and articles listed than you have time to read, so be selective when choosing a reference. Take information from works that clearly relate to your thesis, remembering that you may not use them all. Use a smaller or a different color card from the one used for taking notes. Write a bibliography card for every source. Number the bibliography cards. On the note cards, use the number rather than the author's name and the title. It's faster. Another method for recording a working bibliography, of course, is to create your own database. Adding, removing, and alphabetizing titles is a simple process. Be sure to save often and to create a back-up file. A bibliography card should include all the information a reader needs to locate that particular source for further study. Most of the information required for a book entry (Gibaldi 112): Author's name Title of a part of the book [preface, chapter titles, etc.] Title of the book Name of the editor, translator, or compiler Edition used Number(s) of the volume(s) used Name of the series Place of publication, name of the publisher, and date of publication Page numbers Supplementary bibliographic information and annotations Most of the information required for an article in a periodical (Gibaldi 141): Author's name Title of the article Name of the periodical Series number or name (if relevant) Volume number (for a scholarly journal) Issue number (if needed) Date of publication Page numbers Supplementary information For information on how to cite other sources refer to your So you want to study history page . Note Cards Back to Top Take notes in ink on either uniform note cards (3x5, 4x6, etc.) or uniform slips of paper. Devote each note card to a single topic identified at the top. Write only on one side. Later, you may want to use the back to add notes or personal observations. Include a topical heading for each card. Include the number of the page(s) where you found the information. You will want the page number(s) later for documentation, and you may also want page number(s)to verify your notes. Most novice researchers write down too much. Condense. Abbreviate. You are striving for substance, not quantity. Quote directly from primary sources--but the "meat," not everything. Suggestions for condensing information: Summary: A summary is intended to provide the gist of an essay. Do not weave in the author's choice phrases. Read the information first and then condense the main points in your own words. This practice will help you avoid the copying that leads to plagiarism. Summarizing also helps you both analyze the text you are reading and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses (Barnet and Bedau 13). Outline: Use to identify a series of points. Paraphrase, except for key primary source quotations. Never quote directly from a secondary source, unless the precise wording is essential to your argument. Simplify the language and list the ideas in the same order. A paraphrase is as long as the original. Paraphrasing is helpful when you are struggling with a particularly difficult passage. Be sure to jot down your own insights or flashes of brilliance. Ralph Waldo Emerson warns you to "Look sharply after your thoughts. They come unlooked for, like a new bird seen on your trees, and, if you turn to your usual task, disappear...." To differentiate these insights from those of the source you are reading, initial them as your own. (When the following examples of note cards include the researcher's insights, they will be followed by the initials N. R.) When you have finished researching your thesis and you are ready to write your paper, organize your cards according to topic. Notecards make it easy to shuffle and organize your source information on a table-- or across the floor. Maintain your working outline that includes the note card headings and explores a logical order for presenting them in your paper. IV. Begin Thinking, Researching, Organizing Back to Top Don't be too sequential. Researching, writing, revising is a complex interactive process. Start writing as soon as possible! "The best antidote to writer's block is--to write." (Klauser 15). However, you still feel overwhelmed and are staring at a blank page, you are not alone. Many students find writing the first sentence to be the most daunting part of the entire research process. Be creative. Cluster (Rico 28-49). Clustering is a form of brainstorming. Sometimes called a web, the cluster forms a design that may suggest a natural organization for a paper. Here's a graphical depiction of brainstorming . Like a sun, the generating idea or topic lies at the center of the web. From it radiate words, phrases, sentences and images that in turn attract other words, phrases, sentences and images. Put another way--stay focused. Start with your outline. If clustering is not a technique that works for you, turn to the working outline you created during the research process. Use the outline view of your word processor. If you have not already done so, group your note cards according to topic headings. Compare them to your outline's major points. If necessary, change the outline to correspond with the headings on the note cards. If any area seems weak because of a scarcity of facts or opinions, return to your primary and/or secondary sources for more information or consider deleting that heading. Use your outline to provide balance in your essay. Each major topic should have approximately the same amount of information. Once you have written a working outline, consider two different methods for organizing it. Deduction: A process of development that moves from the general to the specific. You may use this approach to present your findings. However, as noted above, your research and interpretive process should be inductive. Deduction is the most commonly used form of organization for a research paper. The thesis statement is the generalization that leads to the specific support provided by primary and secondary sources. The thesis is stated early in the paper. The body of the paper then proceeds to provide the facts, examples, and analogies that flow logically from that thesis. The thesis contains key words that are reflected in the outline. These key words become a unifying element throughout the paper, as they reappear in the detailed paragraphs that support and develop the thesis. The conclusion of the paper circles back to the thesis, which is now far more meaningful because of the deductive development that supports it. Chronological order A process that follows a traditional time line or sequence of events. A chronological organization is useful for a paper that explores cause and effect. Parenthetical Documentation Back to Top The Works Cited page, a list of primary and secondary sources, is not sufficient documentation to acknowledge the ideas, facts, and opinions you have included within your text. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers describes an efficient parenthetical style of documentation to be used within the body of your paper. Guidelines for parenthetical documentation: "References to the text must clearly point to specific sources in the list of works cited" (Gibaldi 184). Try to use parenthetical documentation as little as possible. For example, when you cite an entire work, it is preferable to include the author's name in the text. The author's last name followed by the page number is usually enough for an accurate identification of the source in the works cited list. These examples illustrate the most common kinds of documentation. Documenting a quotation: Ex. "The separation from the personal mother is a particularly intense process for a daughter because she has to separate from the one who is the same as herself" (Murdock 17). She may feel abandoned and angry. Note: The author of The Heroine's Journey is listed under Works Cited by the author's name, reversed--Murdock, Maureen. Quoted material is found on page 17 of that book. Parenthetical documentation is after the quotation mark and before the period. Documenting a paraphrase: Ex. In fairy tales a woman who holds the princess captive or who abandons her often needs to be killed (18). Note: The second paraphrase is also from Murdock's book The Heroine's Journey. It is not, however, necessary to repeat the author's name if no other documentation interrupts the two. If the works cited page lists more than one work by the same author, include within the parentheses an abbreviated form of the appropriate title. You may, of course, include the title in your sentence, making it unnecessary to add an abbreviated title in the citation. > Prepare a Works Cited Page Back to Top There are a variety of titles for the page that lists primary and secondary sources (Gibaldi 106-107). A Works Cited page lists those works you have cited within the body of your paper. The reader need only refer to it for the necessary information required for further independent research. Bibliography means literally a description of books. Because your research may involve the use of periodicals, films, art works, photographs, etc. "Works Cited" is a more precise descriptive term than bibliography. An Annotated Bibliography or Annotated Works Cited page offers brief critiques and descriptions of the works listed. A Works Consulted page lists those works you have used but not cited. Avoid using this format. As with other elements of a research paper there are specific guidelines for the placement and the appearance of the Works Cited page. The following guidelines comply with MLA style: The Work Cited page is placed at the end of your paper and numbered consecutively with the body of your paper. Center the title and place it one inch from the top of your page. Do not quote or underline the title. Double space the entire page, both within and between entries. The entries are arranged alphabetically by the author's last name or by the title of the article or book being cited. If the title begins with an article (a, an, the) alphabetize by the next word. If you cite two or more works by the same author, list the titles in alphabetical order. Begin every entry after the first with three hyphens followed by a period. All entries begin at the left margin but subsequent lines are indented five spaces. Be sure that each entry cited on the Works Cited page corresponds to a specific citation within your paper. Refer to the the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (104- 182) for detailed descriptions of Work Cited entries. Citing sources from online databases is a relatively new phenomenon. Make sure to ask your professor about citing these sources and which style to use. V. Draft, Revise, Rewrite, Rethink Back to Top "There are days when the result is so bad that no fewer than five revisions are required. In contrast, when I'm greatly inspired, only four revisions are needed." --John Kenneth Galbraith Try freewriting your first draft. Freewriting is a discovery process during which the writer freely explores a topic. Let your creative juices flow. In Writing without Teachers , Peter Elbow asserts that "[a]lmost everybody interposes a massive and complicated series of editings between the time words start to be born into consciousness and when they finally come off the end of the pencil or typewriter [or word processor] onto the page" (5). Do not let your internal judge interfere with this first draft. Creating and revising are two very different functions. Don't confuse them! If you stop to check spelling, punctuation, or grammar, you disrupt the flow of creative energy. Create; then fix it later. When material you have researched comes easily to mind, include it. Add a quick citation, one you can come back to later to check for form, and get on with your discovery. In subsequent drafts, focus on creating an essay that flows smoothly, supports fully, and speaks clearly and interestingly. Add style to substance. Create a smooth flow of words, ideas and paragraphs. Rearrange paragraphs for a logical progression of information. Transition is essential if you want your reader to follow you smoothly from introduction to conclusion. Transitional words and phrases stitch your ideas together; they provide coherence within the essay. External transition: Words and phrases that are added to a sentence as overt signs of transition are obvious and effective, but should not be overused, as they may draw attention to themselves and away from ideas. Examples of external transition are "however," "then," "next," "therefore." "first," "moreover," and "on the other hand." Internal transition is more subtle. Key words in the introduction become golden threads when they appear in the paper's body and conclusion. When the writer hears a key word repeated too often, however, she/he replaces it with a synonym or a pronoun. Below are examples of internal transition. Transitional sentences create a logical flow from paragraph to paragraph. Iclude individual words, phrases, or clauses that refer to previous ideas and that point ahead to new ones. They are usually placed at the end or at the beginning of a paragraph. A transitional paragraph conducts your reader from one part of the paper to another. It may be only a few sentences long. Each paragraph of the body of the paper should contain adequate support for its one governing idea. Speak/write clearly, in your own voice. Tone: The paper's tone, whether formal, ironic, or humorous, should be appropriate for the audience and the subject. Voice: Keep you language honest. Your paper should sound like you. Understand, paraphrase, absorb, and express in your own words the information you have researched. Avoid phony language. Sentence formation: When you polish your sentences, read them aloud for word choice and word placement. Be concise. Strunk and White in The Elements of Style advise the writer to "omit needless words" (23). First, however, you must recognize them. Keep yourself and your reader interested. In fact, Strunk's 1918 writing advice is still well worth pondering. First, deliver on your promises. Be sure the body of your paper fulfills the promise of the introduction. Avoid the obvious. Offer new insights. Reveal the unexpected. Have you crafted your conclusion as carefully as you have your introduction? Conclusions are not merely the repetition of your thesis. The conclusion of a research paper is a synthesis of the information presented in the body. Your research has led you to conclusions and opinions that have helped you understand your thesis more deeply and more clearly. Lift your reader to the full level of understanding that you have achieved. Revision means "to look again." Find a peer reader to read your paper with you present. Or, visit your college or university's writing lab. Guide your reader's responses by asking specific questions. Are you unsure of the logical order of your paragraphs? Do you want to know whether you have supported all opinions adequately? Are you concerned about punctuation or grammar? Ask that these issues be addressed. You are in charge. Here are some techniques that may prove helpful when you are revising alone or with a reader. When you edit for spelling errors read the sentences backwards. This procedure will help you look closely at individual words. Always read your paper aloud. Hearing your own words puts them in a new light. Listen to the flow of ideas and of language. Decide whether or not the voice sounds honest and the tone is appropriate to the purpose of the paper and to your audience. Listen for awkward or lumpy wording. Find the one right word, Eliminate needless words. Combine sentences. Kill the passive voice. Eliminate was/were/is/are constructions. They're lame and anti-historical. Be ruthless. If an idea doesn't serve your thesis, banish it, even if it's one of your favorite bits of prose. In the margins, write the major topic of each paragraph. By outlining after you have written the paper, you are once again evaluating your paper's organization. OK, you've got the process down. Now execute! And enjoy! It's not everyday that you get to make history. VI. For Further Reading: Works Cited Back to Top Barnet, Sylvan, and Hugo Bedau. Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing: A Brief Guide to Argument. Boston: Bedford, 1993. Brent, Doug. Reading as Rhetorical Invention: Knowledge,Persuasion and the Teaching of Research-Based Writing. Urbana: NCTE, 1992. Elbow, Peter. Writing without Teachers. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973. Gibladi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 4th ed. New York: Modern Language Association, 1995. Horvitz, Deborah. "Nameless Ghosts: Possession and Dispossession in Beloved." Studies in American Fiction , Vol. 17, No. 2, Autum, 1989, pp. 157-167. Republished in the Literature Research Center. Gale Group. (1 January 1999). Klauser, Henriette Anne. Writing on Both Sides of the Brain: Breakthrough Techniques for People Who Write. Philadelphia: Harper, 1986. Rico, Gabriele Lusser. Writing the Natural Way: Using Right Brain Techniques to Release Your Expressive Powers. Los Angeles: Houghton, 1983. Sorenson, Sharon. The Research Paper: A Contemporary Approach. New York: AMSCO, 1994. Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. 3rd ed. New York: MacMillan, 1979. Back to Top This guide adapted from materials published by Thomson Gale, publishers. For free resources, including a generic guide to writing term papers, see the Gale.com website , which also includes product information for schools.

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Department of History and Philosophy of Science

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• Natural History in the Age of Revolutions, 1776–1848
• In the Shadow of the Tree: The Diagrammatics of Relatedness as Scientific, Scholarly and Popular Practice
• The Many Births of the Test-Tube Baby
• Culture at the Macro-Scale: Boundaries, Barriers and Endogenous Change
• Making Climate History overview
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• Histories of Artificial Intelligence: A Genealogy of Power overview
• From Collection to Cultivation: Historical Perspectives on Crop Diversity and Food Security overview
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• How Collections End: Objects, Meaning and Loss in Laboratories and Museums
• Tools in Materials Research
• Epsilon: A Collaborative Digital Framework for Nineteenth-Century Letters of Science
• Contingency in the History and Philosophy of Science
• Industrial Patronage and the Cold War University
• FlyBase: Communicating Drosophila Genetics on Paper and Online, 1970–2000
• The Lost Museums of Cambridge Science, 1865–1936
• From Hansa to Lufthansa: Transportation Technologies and the Mobility of Knowledge in Germanic Lands and Beyond, 1300–2018
• Medical Publishers, Obscenity Law and the Business of Sexual Knowledge in Victorian Britain
• Kinds of Intelligence
• Varieties of Social Knowledge
• The Vesalius Census
• Histories of Biodiversity and Agriculture
• Investigating Fake Scientific Instruments in the Whipple Museum Collection
• Before HIV: Homosex and Venereal Disease, c.1939–1984
• The Casebooks Project
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Tools and techniques for historical research

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If you are just starting out in HPS, this will be the first time for many years – perhaps ever – that you have done substantial library or museum based research. The number of general studies may seem overwhelming, yet digging out specific material relevant to your topic may seem like finding needles in a haystack. Before turning to the specific entries that make up this guide, there are a few general points that apply more widely.

Planning your research

Because good research and good writing go hand in hand, probably the single most important key to successful research is having a good topic. For that, all you need at the beginning are two things: (a) a problem that you are genuinely interested in and (b) a specific issue, controversy, technique, instrument, person, etc. that is likely to offer a fruitful way forward for exploring your problem. In the early stages, it's often a good idea to be general about (a) and very specific about (b). So you might be interested in why people decide to become doctors, and decide to look at the early career of a single practitioner from the early nineteenth century, when the evidence for this kind of question happens to be unusually good. You can get lots of advice from people in the Department about places to look for topics, especially if you combine this with reading in areas of potential interest. Remember that you're more likely to get good advice if you're able to mesh your interests with something that a potential supervisor knows about. HPS is such a broad field that it's impossible for any department to cover all aspects of it with an equal degree of expertise. It can be reassuring to know that your topic will evolve as your research develops, although it is vital that you establish some basic parameters relatively quickly. Otherwise you will end up doing the research for two, three or even four research papers or dissertations, when all you need is the material for one.

Before beginning detailed work, it's obviously a good idea to read some of the secondary literature surrounding your subject. The more general books are listed on the reading lists for the Part II lecture courses, and some of the specialist literature is listed in these research guides. This doesn't need to involve an exhaustive search, at least not at this stage, but you do need to master the fundamentals of what's been done if you're going to be in a position to judge the relevance of anything you find. If there are lectures being offered in your topic, make sure to attend them; and if they are offered later in the year, try to see if you can obtain a preliminary bibliography from the lecturer.

After that, it's usually a good idea to immerse yourself in your main primary sources as soon as possible. If you are studying a museum object, this is the time to look at it closely; if you're writing about a debate, get together the main papers relevant to it and give them a close read; if you're writing about a specific experiment, look at the published papers, the laboratory notebook, and the relevant letters. Don't spend hours in the early stages of research ferreting out hard-to-find details, unless you're absolutely positive that they are of central importance to the viability of your topic. Start to get a feel for the material you have, and the questions that might be explored further. Make an outline of the main topics that you hope to cover, organized along what you see as the most interesting themes (and remember, 'background' is not usually an interesting theme on its own).

At this stage, research can go in many different directions. At some point, you'll want to read more about the techniques other historians have used for exploring similar questions. Most fields have an established repertoire of ways of approaching problems, and you need to know what these are, especially if you decide to reject them. One of the advantages of an interdisciplinary field like HPS is that you are exposed to different and often conflicting ways of tackling similar questions. Remember that this is true within history itself, and you need to be aware of alternatives. This may well involve looking further afield, at classic books or articles that are not specifically on 'your' subject. For example, it may be that you could find some helpful ideas for a study of modern scientific portraiture in a book on the eighteenth century. The best books dealing with educational maps may not be on the astronomical ones you are studying, but on ones used for teaching classical geography. See where the inspiration for works you admire comes from, and have a look at the sources they have used. This will help you develop the kind of focussed questions that make for a successful piece of work.

As you develop an outline and begin to think through your topic in more detail, you'll be in good position to plan possible lines of research. Don't try to find out everything about your topic: pick those aspects that are likely to prove most fruitful for the direction your essay seems to be heading. For example, it may be worth spending a long time searching for biographical details about a person if their career and life are central to your analysis; but in many other cases, such issues may not be very important. If your interest is in the reception of a work, it is likely to be more fruitful to learn a lot about a few commentaries or reviews (where they appeared, who wrote them, and so forth) than to gather in randomly all the comments you can find.

Follow up hints in other people's footnotes. Works that are otherwise dull or outdated in approach are sometimes based on very solid research. One secondary reference to a crucial letter or newspaper article can save you hours of mindless trawling, and lead you straight to the information you need. Moreover, good historians often signal questions or sources that they think would be worth investigating further.

Remember that the best history almost always depends on developing new approaches and interpretations, not on knowing about a secret archive no one has used before. If you give your work time to develop, and combine research with writing, you will discover new sources, and (better still) a fresh importance for material that has supposedly been known for a long time. As you become familiar with your topic, you are likely to find that evidence you dug out at the beginning of your project is much more significant than you thought it was. In historical research, the most important evidence often isn't sitting there on the surface – it's something you need to dig out through close reading and an understanding of the situation in which the document you are studying was written, or in which the object was produced. This is especially true of instruments, paintings and other non-textual sources.

Some standard reference works

Your research should become more focussed as time goes on. Don't just gather randomly: you should always have at least some idea of why you are looking for something, and what you might hope to find. Make guesses, follow up hunches, see if an idea you have has the possibility to work out. At the beginning, it can be valuable to learn the full range of what is available, but eventually you should be following up specific issues, a bit like a detective tracing the clues to a mystery. It is at this stage of research, which is often best done in conjunction with writing up sections of your project, that knowing where to find answers to specific questions is most useful. There is nothing more disheartening than spending a week to find a crucial fact, only to discover that it's been sitting on the shelf next to you all term. The Whipple has a wide variety of guides, biographical dictionaries and bibliographies, so spend a few minutes early on looking at the reference shelves.

Every major country has a national biographical dictionary (the new version of the British one is the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , available 2004 online). For better-known scientists, a good place to start is Charles C. Gillispie (ed.) Dictionary of Scientific Biography (1970–1980). There are more specialized dictionaries for every scientific field, from entomology to astronomy. The University Library has a huge selection of biographical sources; ask your supervisor about the best ones for your purpose.

Preliminary searching for book titles and other bibliographical information is now often best done online, and every historian should know how to use the British Library's online search facility; COPAC (the UK national library database); and WorldCat (an international database). All of these are accessible through the HPS Whipple Library website (under 'other catalogues'). At the time of writing, the University Library is remains one of the few libraries of its size to have many of its records not available online, so remember that you have to check the green guard-book catalogues (and the supplementary catalogues) for most items published before 1977. It is hoped that this situation will be rectified soon. There are also numerous bibliographies for individual sciences and subjects, together with catalogues of relevant manuscripts. Most of these are listed elsewhere in this guide.

As questions arise, you will want to be able to access books and articles by other historians that touch upon your subject. There are many sources for this listed elsewhere in this guide, but you should definitely know about the Isis Current Bibliography and The Wellcome Bibliography for the History of Medicine . Both are available online, the former through the RLG History of Science, Technology and Medicine database, the latter through the website of the Wellcome Library.

Libraries and museums

Finally, a word in praise of libraries and museums. As the comments above make clear, the internet is invaluable for searching for specific pieces of information. If you need a bibliographical reference or a general reading list from a course at another university, it is an excellent place to begin. If you are looking for the source of an unidentified quotation, typing it into Google (or an appropriate database held by the University Library) will often turn up the source in seconds. Many academic journals are now online, as are the texts of many books, though not always in a paginated or citable form.

For almost all historical topics, however, libraries filled with printed books and journals will remain the principal tools for research, just as museums will continue to be essential to any work dealing with the material culture of past science. The reason for this is simple: what is on the internet is the result of decisions by people in the past decade, while libraries and museums are the product of a continuous history of collecting over several thousand years. Cambridge has some of the best collections for the history of science anywhere. Despite what is often said, this is not because of the famous manuscripts or showpiece books (these are mostly available in other ways), but because of the depth and range of its collections across the whole field. The Whipple Library is small and friendly, and has an unparalleled selection of secondary works selected over many years – don't just go for specific titles you've found in the catalogue, try browsing around, and ask the librarians for help if you can't see what you are looking for. Explore the Whipple Museum and talk to the curator and the staff. There are rich troves of material in these departmental collections, on topics ranging from phrenology and microscopy to the early development of pocket calculators. Become familiar with what the University Library has to offer: it is large and sometimes idiosyncratic, but worth getting to know well if you are at all serious about research. It is a fantastic instrument for studying the human past – the historian's equivalent of CERN or the Hubble Telescope. And all you need to get in is a student ID.

Further reading

Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. William, The Craft of Research , 2nd ed. (University of Chicago Press, 2003).

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Library Research Guide for History

Getting what you need, general information.

• Newsletter February 2024
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• HOLLIS (and other) Catalogs
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• Outline of Primary Sources for History
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• Citing Sources & Organizing Research
• Newsletter January 2011
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• Exploring Special Collections at Harvard

Fred Burchsted & Anna Assogba

Research Librarians

We are always happy to give you a tour of Widener and an orientation to our catalog, HOLLIS, and our other resources. Our emails are below.

This guide is intended as a point of departure for research in history.  We also have a more selective guide with major resources only: Introductory Library Research Guide for History .

• Finding Primary Sources Online  offers methods for finding digital libraries and digital collections on the open Web   and for finding Digital Libraries/Collections by Region or Language .
• Online Primary Source Collections for History  lists digital collections at Harvard and beyond by topic

Please feel free to email us with questions. We can make an appointment for you to come in, and we can talk at length about your project.

• Anna Assogba ([email protected]) Research Librarian and Liaison to the Department of History, Lamont Library (With particular knowledge of Zotero and other citation management systems).
• Fred Burchsted  ([email protected]) Research Librarian and Liaison to the Department of History, Widener Library.

How can you get your hands/eyes on material?

HOLLIS is the center of the Library ecosystem. This is often the best first step to see if we have something. In HOLLIS, click on "Online Access" or open the record and scroll down to the "Access Options" section. Check the HOLLIS section of this guide for more guidance.

Browser Plugins for Library Access

Harvard Library Bookmark and Lean Library plugins can help you find out if we have access to books and articles online.

Off-Site Storage

Books and other materials stored in facilities not on Harvard's main campus. Request this material through HOLLIS:

• Select "Request Pick Up" in the Access section of the HOLLIS Record, then enter your Harvard Key.
• A drop down menu will allow you to choose delivery location. Sometimes there is a single delivery option. Submit your request.
• You will receive an email usually next business day (not weekends or holidays) morning. Item is usually ready for pick-up in mid-afternoon. 

Sometimes Offsite storage material is in-library use only. For Widener, this is the Widener secure reading room on the 1st floor (formerly the Periodicals Room). Most Offsite storage material is available for scanning via Scan & Deliver (see below). 

Scan & Deliver/Interlibrary Loan

Use Scan & Deliver/Interlibrary Loan to request PDFs of articles and book chapters from HOLLIS when you cannot get online access. Limit: 2 chapters from a book or 2 articles from a journal.

Interlibrary Loan

Request materials from other libraries via InterLibrary Loan :

• Some non-Harvard special collections may be willing and able to scan material (usually for a fee). Our Interlibrary Loan department will place the request and help with the cost (there is a cap).
• Contact the other repository to see if they're able to scan what you need. Get a price estimate for the material and the exact details (such as: Box 77 folder 4. This information is often available in Finding Aids).
• Fill in what you can (put in N/A if the field is inapplicable) with the price and other information in the Comments box.
• This will get the process going and ILL will get back to you if they need more information or to discuss the price.

BorrowDirect

Borrow Direct allows Harvard students, faculty, and staff to request items from other libraries for delivery to Harvard within 4 business days. If the item you need is not available, try searching our partner institutions' collections in BorrowDirect.

Purchase Request

If there are materials you'd like to see added to the library's collections, submit a purchase request and we will look into acquiring it. We can buy both physical and electronic copies of materials; specify if have a preference.

Special Collections

Special Collections are rare, unique, primary source materials in the library's collections. To access, look for "Request to Scan or Visit" in HOLLIS (to place a scanning request) or contact the repository directly. Most of our larger archival collections are able to provide scans.

Carrels at Widener Library

Graduate students and visiting scholars are eligible to have a carrel in the Widener Library stacks. Start the process with the  carrel request form . (If you do this right at the start of the semester, it may take a few weeks before you receive confirmation.) Materials from the Widener stacks, including non-circulating materials like bound periodicals, can be checked out to your carrel.

Ivy Plus Privileges

Our partnership with BorrowDirect allows physical access to libraries of fellow Ivy Plus institutions: Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University.

Help with Digital Projects

The Digital Scholarship Group offers workshops and support to faculty, students, and staff interested in digital research methods.  See also   GIS Mapping Resources  and  Visualization Support .

• Other Subject Guides
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More guides are available via the  Harvard Library Research Guides site

Finding Book Reviews

Finding Dissertations and Theses

Finding Harvard Library's Unique or Distinctive Primary Sources: Original and Digital

Guide to Research in History of Art & Architecture

Library Research Guide for Book History

Library Research Guide for British Colonial and Foreign Relations Sources

Research Guide for Primary Sources on Civil Rights

Inter Libros: Research Guide for Classics, Byzantine, & Medieval Studies

Literary Research in Harvard Libraries

Library Research Guide for American Material Culture  (This is in an early stage of development)

Middle East and Islamic Studies Library Resources

Music 219r: American Music , Library Guide

Library Research Guide for HIST 1006: Native American and Indigenous Studies

Library Research Guide for the History of Science

Library Research Guide for History 97g: "What is Legal History ?"

Library Research Guide for U.S. Foreign Relations

Library Research Guide for Global History

Library Research Guide for HIST 2256: Digital Archives: Europe and European Empires

Library Research Guide for Educating for American Democracy

Library Research Guide for American Studies

Library Research Guide for Latin American Studies

Germanic Languages and Literatures

Slavic and Eurasian Studies at Harvard  (See Research Contacts at bottom of left hand column)

Library Research Guide for South Asian Studies

Library Research Guide for HIST 1037: Modern Southeast Asia

Research Guides at Other Institutions

Go to Google Advanced Search

• all of these words: Sociology library
• any of these words: guides research resources
• site or domain: edu  (or ac.uk for Britain, etc.)

To find new Harvard E-Resources.Go to  Cross-Search in Harvard Libraries E-Resources  and choose the Quick Set: New E-Resources. This operates oddly, you sometimes have to select one of the E-Resources displayed, then close the resulting page to see the whole list of new E-Resources. This list displays some but not all new E-Resources.

The following history library blogs list new history resources:

• Reviews in History
• University of Washington
• Next: Newsletter February 2024 >>
• Last Updated: May 11, 2024 12:39 AM
• URL: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/history

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Neag School of Education

Educational Research Basics by Del Siegle

Historical research.

 Del Siegle, Ph.D. University of Connecticut [email protected] www.delsiegle.info

updated 2/01/2024

• How it works

Historical Research – A Guide Based on its Uses & Steps

Published by Alvin Nicolas at August 16th, 2021 , Revised On August 29, 2023

History is a study of past incidents, and it’s different from natural science. In natural science, researchers prefer direct observations. Whereas in historical research, a researcher collects, analyses the information to understand, describe, and explain the events that occurred in the past.

They aim to test the truthfulness of the observations made by others. Historical researchers try to find out what happened exactly during a certain period of time as accurately and as closely as possible. It does not allow any manipulation or control of  variables .

When to Use the Historical Research Method?

You can use historical research method to:

• Uncover the unknown fact.
• Answer questions
• Identify the association between the past and present.
• Understand the culture based on past experiences..
• Record and evaluate the contributions of individuals, organisations, and institutes.

How to Conduct Historical Research?

Historical research involves the following steps:

• Select the Research Topic
• Collect the Data
• Analyse the Data
• Criticism of Data
• Present your Findings

Tips to Collect Data

Step 1 – select the research topic.

If you want to conduct historical research, it’s essential to select a research topic before beginning your research. You can follow these tips while choosing a topic and  developing a research question .

• Consider your previous study as your previous knowledge and data can make your research enjoyable and comfortable for you.
• List your interests and focus on the current events to find a promising question.
• Take notes of regular activities and consider your personal experiences on a specific topic.
• Develop a question using your research topic.
• Explore your research question by asking yourself when? Why? How

Step 2- Collect the Data

It is essential to collect data and facts about the research question to get reliable outcomes. You need to select an appropriate instrument for  data collection . Historical research includes two sources of data collection, such as primary and secondary sources.

Primary Sources

Primary sources  are the original first-hand resources such as documents, oral or written records, witnesses to a fact, etc. These are of two types, such as:

Conscious Information : It’s a type of information recorded and restored consciously in the form of written, oral documents, or the actual witnesses of the incident that occurred in the past.

It includes the following sources:

Unconscious information : It’s a type of information restored in the form of remains or relics.

It includes information in the following forms:

Secondary Sources

Sometimes it’s impossible to access primary sources, and researchers rely on secondary sources to obtain information for their research. 

It includes:

• Publications
• Periodicals
• Encyclopedia

Step 3 – Analyse the Data

After collecting the information, you need to analyse it. You can use data analysis methods  like 

• Thematic analysis
• Coding system
• Theoretical model ( Researchers use multiple theories to explain a specific phenomenon, situations, and behavior types.)
• Quantitative data to validate

Step 4 – Criticism of Data

Data criticism is a process used for identifying the validity and reliability of the collected data. It’s of two types such as:

External Criticism :

It aims at identifying the external features of the data such as signature, handwriting, language, nature, spelling, etc., of the documents. It also involves the physical and chemical tests of paper, paint, ink, metal cloth, or any collected object.

Internal Criticism :

It aims at identifying the meaning and reliability of the data. It focuses on the errors, printing, translation, omission, additions in the documents. The researchers should use both external and internal criticism to ensure the validity of the data.

Step 5 – Present your Findings

While presenting the  findings of your research , you need to ensure that you have met the objectives of your research or not. Historical material can be organised based on the theme and topic, and it’s known as thematic and topical arrangement. You can follow these tips while writing your research paper :

Build Arguments and Narrative

Your research aims not just to collect information as these are the raw materials of research. You need to build a strong argument and narrate the details of past events or incidents based on your findings. 

Organise your Argument

You can review the literature and other researchers’ contributions to the topic you’ve chosen to enhance your thinking and argument.

Proofread, Revise and Edit

After putting your findings on a paper, you need to proofread it to weed out the errors, rewrite it to improve, and edit it thoroughly before submitting it.

Are you looking for professional research writing services?

We hear you.

• Whether you want a full dissertation written or need help forming a dissertation proposal, we can help you with both.
• Get different dissertation services at ResearchProspect and score amazing grades!

In this world of technology, many people rely on Google to find out any information. All you have to do is enter a few keywords and sit back. You’ll find several relevant results onscreen.

It’s an effective and quick way of gathering information. Sometimes historical documents are not accessible to everyone online, and you need to visit traditional libraries to find out historical treasures. It will help you explore your knowledge along with data collection. 

You can visit historical places, conduct interviews, review literature, and access  primary and secondary  data sources such as books, newspapers, publications, documents, etc. You can take notes while collecting the information as it helps to organise the data accurately.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Historical Research

Frequently asked questions, what are the initial steps to perform historical research.

Initial steps for historical research:

• Define research scope and period.
• Gather background knowledge.
• Identify primary and secondary sources.
• Develop research questions.
• Plan research approach.
• Begin data collection and analysis.

You May Also Like

In correlational research, a researcher measures the relationship between two or more variables or sets of scores without having control over the variables.

This article presents the key advantages and disadvantages of secondary research so you can select the most appropriate research approach for your study.

Quantitative research is associated with measurable numerical data. Qualitative research is where a researcher collects evidence to seek answers to a question.

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Sara Charles Claire Langhamer

About the journal

Published since 1923,  Historical Research , flagship publication of the  Institute of Historical Research , is a leading generalist history journal, covering the global history of the early middle ages to the twenty-first century...

Classic articles from the recent archives

The new virtual issue from Historical Research shines a light on some of the classic articles from the journal’s recent archive. It features some of the most read and most cited articles from the journal’s archives and covers a wide range of topics of perennial interest to both historians and to a wider readership.

Browse the virtual issue  

2020 Historical Research lecture, video now available

The video of this year's lecture -- 'Writing histories of 2020' -- held on 29 July, is now available. With panellists Professors Jo Fox, Claire Langhamer, Kevin Siena and Richard Vinen who discuss historians' responses to COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter.

Watch the video of the 2020 lecture

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IHR guide to free research resources

From April 2020, the Institute of Historical Research has created a listing of free research materials for historians currently unable to access libraries and archives. The list is regularly extended as researchers offer new suggestions.

Access the resources

Latest articles

Latest posts on x, on history blog, invitation: bibliography of british and irish history (bbih) editorial board membership, call for section editors: bibliography of british and irish history (bbih), laurence swarfeld of antwerp and london: cross channel connections in the 15th century customs accounts, building castle stories – insights from a chppc advisory board member, maud heath and beyond: exploring the lives of women before 1600, the annual pollard prize, about the prize.

The Pollard Prize is awarded annually for the best paper presented at an Institute of Historical Research seminar by a postgraduate student or by a researcher within one year of completing the PhD. The prize is supported by Oxford University Press.

Find out more about the prize and eligibility requirements on the IHR website .

2021 prize winners

Congratulations to Merve Fejzula for winning the Annual Pollard Prize for 2021 with their paper 'Toward a History of Intellectual Labor: Gender, Negritude, and the Black Public Sphere.' Congratulations also to runner up Lucy Clarke  for their paper '"I say I must for I am the King’s shrieve": magistrates invoking the monarch’s name in 1 Henry VI (1592) and The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntingdon (1598)'.

Both papers will be published in  Historical Research  in due course.

Institute of Historical Research

The Institute of Historical Research is the UK's national centre for history, dedicated to supporting historians of all kinds.

Find out more about IHR

Reviews in History

Launched in 1996, Reviews in History now contains more than 2200 reviews, published monthly and are freely accessible as Open Access. Reviews are written by specialists in the field and all authors reviewed have an opportunity to respond.

Explore the latest reviews

On History  blog

Explore news, articles, and research from  On History , a digital magazine curated and published by the Institute of Historical Research.

View the latest posts

The IHR’s new mission and strategy, 2020-2025

The IHR is pleased to launch its new mission and strategy, setting out the values and vision for the IHR in the coming years.

Read the strategy

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• Researching

The historical research process explained

Researching for a History assessment piece can often be the most daunting part of the subject. However, it needn't be. Research is a systematic process that, if followed step-by-step, will become a logical and efficient part of your work. Below are links to the nine stages of good research, providing explanations and examples for each one.

• Key Inquiry Question
• Background Research
• Sub-questions
• Source Research
• Organise Quotes
• Topic Sentences
• Draft Writing
• Final Draft

Other potential research stages:

• Research Rationale
• Critical Summary of Research

Overview of the research process

Below is a pictorial explanation about how the research process works to create a hypothesis from the results of question-driven research. As you follow the research steps, each section of the diagram is completed. 

Let's get started

Need a digital Research Journal?

Additional resources

What do you need help with, download ready-to-use digital learning resources.

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Contact  via email

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Historical Associations

Professional associations and academic communities are often a good place to start for scholarly information and materials on methods and research.

• American Historical Association The professional and academic organization of academic historians, this organization has a wealth of information about careers in history as well as a directory of historians and historical programs
• H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online H-Net "creates and coordinates Internet networks with the common objective of advancing teaching and research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences." Contains public discussion lists related to numerous disciplines.
• National Council on Public History The professional association for public historians, the NCPH serves practitioners by "building community among historians, expanding professional skills and tools, fostering critical reflection on historical practice, and publicly advocating for history and historians."
• Organization of American Historians Less focused on academic history, the OAH nonetheless provides quite a bit of information about the profession, jobs, and current topics in history.

Historical Research and Methods

Guides and major works.

The following is a list of works on Historical methods, philosophy, and subfields of history.

Writing Guide

A series of guides on reading, researching and writing history by Patrick Rael, professor of History at Bowdoin College can be found on this link

Source: Patrick Rael, Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students (Brunswick, ME: Bowdoin College, 2004).

Research Methods

The Shapiro Library subscribes to the SAGE Research Methods database, a resource designed for those who are doing research or who are learning how to do research. Methods and practices covered include writing research questions and literature reviews, choosing research methods, conducting oral histories, and more. 

• SAGE Research Methods - History Discipline The History discipline of SAGE Research Methods includes books, reference resources, videos, cases and datasets useful to historical researchers.
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This page reviews the history of research on Mesopotamian commentaries, from the earliest publications in the late 19 th century to the Cuneiform Commentaries Project . 1

Early History of Research

The first publications of cuneiform commentaries appeared in the foundational period of Assyriology. As early as 1866, E. Norris provided in 2 R , 44 (no. 7) CCP 3.1.u73 and 47 CCP 3.1.u72 autographs of two Nineveh commentaries, one astrological, the other commenting on several different texts. However, cuneiform studies were at that time still so much in their infancy that Norris, unaware of what the texts actually represented, characterized them simply as bilingual lists. Progress in the analysis of the genre was slow. But when C. Bezold, between 1889 and 1899, published his catalogue of cuneiform tablets found by the British excavators at Nineveh, he was already able to distinguish in his index a large number of “commentaries” from texts that were merely “explanatory lists” ( Bezold, 1889/1899 C. Bezold , Catalogue of the Cuneiform Tablets in the Kouyunjik Collection of the British Museum. Vol. I-V . British Museum Press, 1889. : 2098-2100). In an introductory work on Babylonian and Assyrian culture from 1903, Bezold C. Bezold , Ninive und Babylon . Velhagen & Klasing, 1903. “Besondere Hervorhebung verdienen ... die Kommentare ... Man hat solche Kommentare zu einigen Tafeln einer Serie von Omentexten und zu mehreren Stücken des großen alten astrologischen Werkes ... gefunden. Da von diesen Stücken selbst noch mehrere Fragmente in der Bibliothek [Assurbanipals] erhalten sind, so läßt sich nun Zeile für Zeile des Textes mit dem Kommentar vergleichen und ersehen, mit welchen Schwierigkeiten schon 2600 Jahre vor unserer Zeit die berufsmäßigen Erklärer jener alten astrologischen Sammlungen zu kämpfen hatten. Auch einige religiöse Texte wurden von den Assyrern mit erläuternden Bemerkungen versehen und zwar in der Weise, daß nur gelegentlich ein einzelnes Wort oder ein selteneres Wortzeichen eine Erklärung erhält, ähnlich wie das heute noch in den Bemerkungen zu unseren Schulausgaben der alten Klassiker geschieht” (Bezold, 1903: 136-37). also provided one of the earliest brief general descriptions of the genre. Another significant step forward was made when L. W. King, in his book on the Babylonian Epic of Creation, presented a full edition of an important text commentary alongside the text to which it referred ( King, 1902 L. W. King , The Seven Tablets of Creation. Or the Babylonian and Assyrian Legends Concerning the Creation of the World and of Mankind . Luzac, 1902. : 157-75). Additional autograph copies of commentaries, both from Nineveh and from Babylonian cities, were published in subsequent decades by C. Virolleaud ( ACh , 1905-1912 C. Virolleaud , L'Astrologie Chaldéenne: le livre intitulé "Enuma (Anu) ilu.Bel" . Librairie Paul Gauthner, 1910. ), T. Meek ( 1920 T. J. Meek , “ Some Explanatory Lists and Grammatical Texts ” , Revue d'Assyriologie , vol. 17, pp. 117-206, 1920. ), C. J. Gadd ( CT 41 = Gadd, 1931 C. J. Gadd , Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum. Part XLI . British Museum Press, 1931. : nos. 25-50), and many others.

Labat’s Commentaires

Gadd’s CT volume inspired what until 2011 remained the only monographic treatment of Mesopotamian text commentaries, R. Labat’s Commentaires assyro-babyloniens sur les presages ( Labat, 1933 R. Labat , Commentaires assyro-babyloniens sur les présages . Imprimerie-Librairie de l’Université, 1933. ), a book that offers editions of altogether twenty-two commentaries as well as an introduction that attempts to define the genre. Labat’s work deserves praise because of its pioneering character and many valuable insights, but its usefulness is limited by the small number of commentaries considered. Moreover, some of the author’s conclusions seem unjustified. When Labat claims, for example, that the commentaries “manifestent très rarement un effort intelligent d’interprétation” ( Labat, 1933 R. Labat , Commentaires assyro-babyloniens sur les présages . Imprimerie-Librairie de l’Université, 1933. : 22), his judgement may reflect more of the author’s own ability to understand the commentaries than their actual exegetical potential.

The Modern Era

With the exception of J. Krecher’s useful but brief entry on “Kommentare” in RlA 6 ( Krecher, 1980/1983 J. Krecher , “ Kommentare ” , Reallexikon der Assyriologie , vol. 6, pp. 188-191, 1980. Like Labat, Krecher pays comparatively little attention to the vast body of mukallimtu -commentaries on astrological and extispicy texts. ), there have been no comprehensive treatments of Mesopotamian commentaries since Labat’s book, but several important studies of individual commentaries and commentary groups have appeared. The number of commentaries available in form of autographs or editions has radically increased over the past decades, with the series Spätbabylonische Texte aus Uruk , authored by H. Hunger H. Hunger , Spätbabylonische Texte aus Uruk. Teil I . Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1976. and E. von Weiher E. von Weiher , Spätbabylonische Texte aus Uruk. Teil II . Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1983. E. von Weiher , Spätbabylonische Texte aus Uruk. Teil III . Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1988. E. von Weiher , Spätbabylonische Texte aus dem Planquadrat U 18 . Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1993. E. von Weiher , Spätbabylonische Texte aus dem Planquadrat U 18 . Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1998. and a number of publications by U. Koch(-Westenholz) ( 1999 U. Koch-Westenholz , “ The Astrological Commentary Šumma Sîn ina tāmartīšu Tablet 1 ” , Res Orientales , vol. 12, pp. 149-165, 1999. , 2000b U. Koch-Westenholz , Babylonian Liver Omens. The Chapters Manzāzu, Padānu and Pān Tākalti of the Babylonian Extispicy Series mainly from Aššurbanipal's Library . Museum Tusculanum, 2000. , 2005 U. S. Koch , Secrets of Extispicy. The Chapter Multābiltu of the Babylonian Extispicy Series and Niṣirti bārûti Texts mainly from Aššurbanipal's Library . Ugarit-Verlag, 2005. ) providing the bulk of the new material In addition, many astrological commentaries have been published in the BPO volumes authored by E. Reiner and D. Pingree: E. Reiner and Pingree, D. , Babylonian Planetary Omens. Part Two. Enūma Anu Enlil Tablets 50-51 . Undena Publications, 1985. E. Reiner and Pingree, D. , Babylonian Planetary Omens. Part Three . Styx, 1998. E. Reiner and Pingree, D. , Babylonian Planetary Omens. Part Four . Brill, Styx, 2005. . Particular attention has been paid to the hermeneutical techniques used in the commentaries ( Civil, 1974a M. Civil , “ Medical Commentaries from Nippur ” , Journal of Near Eastern Studies , vol. 33, pp. 329-338, 1974. , Cavigneaux, 1976 A. Cavigneaux , Die sumerisch-akkadischen Zeichenlisten. Überlieferungsprobleme . PhD thesis, 1976. : 151-160, Bottéro, 1977 J. Bottéro , “ Les noms de Marduk, l'écriture et la 'logique' en Mésopotamie Ancienne ” , in Essays on the Ancient Near East in memory of Jacob Joel Finkelstein , deJ. M. Ellis, Ed. Archon Books, 1977, pp. 5-28. , Cavigneaux, 1987 A. Cavigneaux , “ Aux sources du Midrash: L'herméneutique babylonienne ” , Aula Orientalis , vol. 5, pp. 243-255, 1987. , Limet, 1982 H. Limet , “ De la philologie à la mystique en Babylonie ” , in Studia Paulo Naster oblata II: Orientalia Antiqua , J. Quaergebeur, Ed. Peeters, 1982. , George, 1991 A. R. George , “ Babylonian Texts from the folios of Sidney Smith. Part Two: Prognostic and Diagnostic Omens, Tablet I ” , Revue d'Assyriologie , vol. 85, pp. 137-167, 1991. , Hunger, 1995 H. Hunger , “ Ein Kommentar zu Mond-Omina ” , in Vom Alten Orient zum Alten Testament. Festschrift für Wolfram Freiherrn von Soden zum 85. Geburtstag am 19. Juni 1993 , W. Dietrich and Loretz, O. , Eds. Butzon & Kevelaer, 1995, pp. 105-118. , Seminara, 2001 S. Seminara , La versione accadica del Lugal-e. La tecnica babilonese della traduzione dal sumerico e le sue "regole" . Dipartimento di Studi Orientali, 2001. : 546-48), and some authors have compared these techniques to those employed in rabbinical exegesis ( Lambert, 1954/1956 W. G. Lambert , “ An Address of Marduk to the Demons ” , Archiv für Orientforschung , vol. 17, pp. 310-321, 1954. : 311, Cavigneaux, 1987 A. Cavigneaux , “ Aux sources du Midrash: L'herméneutique babylonienne ” , Aula Orientalis , vol. 5, pp. 243-255, 1987. , Lieberman, 1987 S. J. Lieberman , “ A Mesopotamian Background for the So-Called Aggadic 'Measures' of Biblical Hermeneutics? ” , Hebrew Union College Annual , vol. 58, pp. 157-225, 1987. ). Less work has been done to illuminate the socio-cultural context of the commentaries ( Meier, 1937/1939b G. Meier , “ Kommentare aus dem Archiv der Tempelschule in Assur ” , Archiv für Orientforschung , vol. 12, pp. 237-246, 1937. and 1942 G. Meier , “ Ein Kommentar zu einer Selbstprädikation des Marduk aus Assur ” , Zeitschrift für Assyriologie , vol. 47, pp. 241-246, 1942. , George, 1991 A. R. George , “ Babylonian Texts from the folios of Sidney Smith. Part Two: Prognostic and Diagnostic Omens, Tablet I ” , Revue d'Assyriologie , vol. 85, pp. 137-167, 1991. , Frahm, 2004 E. Frahm , “ Royal Hermeneutics: Observations on the Commentaries from Ashurbanipal's Libraries at Nineveh ” , Iraq , vol. 66, pp. 45-50, 2004. ), but a number of studies of the milieu in which first millennium Babylonian and Assyrian scribes operated have paved the ground to tackle this issue in greater depth ( Parpola, 1983b S. Parpola , Letters from Assyrian Scholars to the Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal, Part II: Commentary and Appendices . Butzon & Bercker, 1983. , Pongratz-Leisten, 1999 B. Pongratz-Leisten , Herrschaftwissen in Mesopotamien. Formen der Kommunikation zwischen Gott und König im 2. und 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr. The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, 1999. , Brown, 2000 D. Brown , Mesopotamian Planetary Astronomy-Astrology . Styx, 2000. , Frahm, 2002 E. Frahm , “ Zwischen Tradition und Neuerung: Babylonische Priestergelehrte im achämenidenzeitlichen Uruk ” , in Religion und Religionskontakte im Zeitalter der Achämeniden , R. G. Kratz, Ed. Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2002, pp. 74-108. , Clancier, 2009 P. Clancier , Les bibliothèques en Babylonie dans le deuxième moitié du 1er millénaire av. J.-C. Ugarit-Verlag, 2009. ). Our understanding of the emergence of canonical texts in Mesopotamia, a phenomenon intimately linked to the birth of the commentary, has also received considerable attention in the past years ( Rochberg-Halton, 1984 F. Rochberg , “ Canonicity in Cuneiform Texts ” , Journal of Cuneiform Studies , vol. 36, pp. 127-144, 1984. , Finkel, 1988 I. L. Finkel , “ Adad-apla-iddina, Esagil-kin-apli, and the series SA.GIG ” , in A scientific humanist: studies in memory of Abraham Sachs , E. Liechty, Ellis, MdeJ. , Gerardi, P. , and Gingerich, O. , Eds. University Museum, 1988, pp. 143-159. , Veldhuis 2003 N. Veldhuis , “ Mesopotamian Canons ” , in Homer, the Bible, and Beyond. Literary and Religious Canons in the Ancient World , M. Finkelberg and Stroumsa, G. G. , Eds. Brill, 2003. , Heeßel, 2010a N. P. Heeßel , “ Neues von Esagil-kīn-apli. Die ältere Version der physiognomischen Omenserie alamdimmû ” , in Assur-Forschungen. Arbeiten aus der Forschungsstelle »Edition literarischer Keilschrifttexte aus Assur« der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften , S. M. Maul and Heeßel, N. P. , Eds. Harrassowitz, 2010, pp. 139-187. ).

Because no synthesis of the information gathered in these studies is available at present, recent works that analyze the history and typology of the commentary from a multi-disciplinary perspective have paid little attention to commentaries from Babylonia and Assyria. Assmann & Gladigow, 1995 J. Assmann and Gladigow, B. , Text und Kommentar . Fink, 1995. , the broadest and intellectually most stimulating recent treatment of the commentary tradition, with discussions of exegetical texts from Egypt, the classical world, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic tradition, India, China, and the West, ignores them altogether. Most, 1999 G. W. Most , Commentaries - Kommentare . 1999. includes an important article on cuneiform “etymography” by Maul S. M. Maul , “ Das Wort im Worte, Orthographie und Etymologie als hermeneutische Verfahren babylonischer Gelehrter ” , in Commentaries/Kommentare , G. W. Most, Ed. Göttingen: , 1999, pp. 1-18. , but it, too, fails to discuss the cuneiform commentaries.

Frahm’s Origins and the Cuneiform Commentaries Project

It took several more years, however, before the first comprehensive study of the corpus appeared. In 2011, Eckart Frahm, the Principal Investigator of the Cuneiform Commentaries Project , published his monograph Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries: Origins of Interpretation , in the series Guides to the Mesopotamian Textual Record (Münster). The book, based on several years of research, provides a complete catalog of nearly 900 cuneiform commentaries scattered among museums and private collections around the world, discusses the scribes who copied and collected them, and analyzes the principal hermeneutical techniques, their self-designations, and their intertextual references.

Frahm’s study did not aim to publish large numbers of commentaries. In fact, it presents only two commentaries, one from Assyria ( Frahm, 2011 E. Frahm , Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries. Origins of Interpretation . Ugarit-Verlag, 2011. : 384-396) and one from Babylonia ( Frahm, 2011 E. Frahm , Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries. Origins of Interpretation . Ugarit-Verlag, 2011. : 396-404), in complete, annotated editions. But with its comprehensive catalog, the book provided a starting point for the more ambitious goal of editing all the commentaries in full, including those that have never been properly studied before. 2 Important studies on Mesopotamian commentaries have appeared after the publication of this monograph, especially Gabbay, 2012 U. Gabbay , “ Akkadian Commentaries from Ancient Mesopotamia and Their Relation to Early Hebrew Exegesis ” , Dead Sea Discoveries , vol. 19, pp. 267-312, 2012. and Gabbay, 2014 U. Gabbay , “ Actual Sense and Scriptural Intention: Literal Meaning and Its Terminology in Akkadian and Hebrew Commentaries ” , in Encounters by the Rivers of Babylon: Scholarly Conversations between Jews, Iranians, and Babylonians , U. Gabbay and Secunda, S. , Eds. Mohr Siebeck, 2014, pp. 335-370. .

The main goal of the Cuneiform Commentaries Project is to provide full editions of all known text commentaries from ancient Mesopotamia. As outlined in the section About the Project , the project started in Fall 2013. Eckart Frahm, Principal Investigator, and Enrique Jiménez, Postdoctoral Associate, have created an electronic database of all known commentaries and built a searchable website that makes the database available to a global audience. In cooperation with the Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus ( Oracc ), Frahm and Jiménez have also created online editions of several dozen commentary tablets and fragments. The available editions (50 as of January 2015) are accessible in the section Catalog of Commentaries . Editions of all remaining texts will be prepared and made available on the project’s website during the next few years.

• 1. The first paragraphs of this page have been adapted from E. Frahm , Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries. Origins of Interpretation . Ugarit-Verlag, 2011. Pp. 4-6
• 2. Published reviews of E. Frahm’s Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries: Origins of Interpretation include: Couto, 2013 É. Couto , “ Review of Frahm Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries (GMTR 5) ” , Historiae , vol. 10, pp. 149-150, 2013. , Gertz, 2012 J. C. Gertz , “ Review of Frahm Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries (GMTR 5) ” , Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft , vol. 124, pp. 137-138, 2012. , Glassner, In Press J. - J. Glassner , “ Review of Frahm Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries (GMTR 5) ” , Archiv für Orientforschung , vol. 53, pp. 137-138, Submitted. , and Livingstone, 2012 A. Livingstone , “ Review of Frahm Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries (GMTR 5) ” , Theologische Literaturzeitung , vol. 137, pp. 1179–1180, 2012. .

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Maps: Tools to Enhance Understanding and Bring Research Alive

May 6, 2024.

This map by Andy Olson and Erin Greb shows where Indigenous tribal groups were located in the Old Northwest Territory and beyond around 1800. There was much movement among bands within the main groups, and many villages included individuals or families from more than one tribe. The map shows the major groupings on the eve of the treaty era—the period when Indigenous People were forcibly removed to west of the Mississippi River. (Map by Arthur Andrew Olson III and Erin Greb Cartography, 2017, courtesy of Indiana Historical Society. It appeared in part 1 of Olson’s article series, “The 1818 Treaties of Saint Marys,” Connections, Fall/Winter 2017.)

A good map provides an understanding of a place or region that words cannot convey. Added to deep research and compelling writing, maps can help us see where long-gone forts, Indigenous villages, and early settler farms were located. They can show us how people moved from one place to another through forests, over mountains and hills, or on waterways from marshes to rivers. Maps with these representations can be invaluable when trying to learn where and how historic groups lived and how their environments shaped the opportunities and limits of their lives.

IHS Map Resources

The Indiana Historical Society has a vast collection of maps , dating from the 1500s. Each one shows how places, such North America or the Old Northwest, was perceived at a given time, dating back to the fifteenth century. They help us understand not just what was thought to exist in terms of topography, but also what peoples were inhabiting which areas.

When conducting research, one may have to use many different maps to follow the trails of people from long ago. One map may depict the colonial world, while giving only a vague idea of the rest of North America. Another one may give an idea of where different Indigenous groups lived at a particular point in time. A third may show us the routes the pioneers used to travel to the regions of Kentucky and the Old Northwest. Transportation maps are fascinating keys into the lives of early Hoosiers.

New Maps in Connections

What if we could pull all the disparate parts of the different maps together to more clearly see the world as it existed when early Americans, ancient Indigenous tribes, French fur traders, and English militia inhabited the Old Northwest together? Wouldn’t this give us a deeper understanding of the world our ancestors were creating, the challenges faced on all sides, the realization that everyone there was fighting for survival, family, tribe, country—or a combination of some of these goals? In two different series of articles for Connections magazine, author Andy Olson encountered the need for such maps and set about creating them. His first series, on the 1818 Saint Marys Treaties , tells the story of the different tribes involved in the first treaties that initiated the removal of the Indigenous Peoples from the eastern part of the fledgling United States.

The second article series, available in the Members’ Section of the IHS website, is titled “The History Behind Your Hoosier Genealogy.” Featured in six issues of Connections from Fall/Winter 2020 through Fall/Winter 2023, it contains uniquely crafted maps by Olson and Erin Greb Cartography. Their maps guide us through the early-eighteenth-century backcountry of Pennsylvania, down the Ohio River, into Revolutionary-era Kentucky forts, up through the Indigenous country of Ohio, and into the territory and then fledgling state of Indiana. The detail and clarity of the Olson-Greb maps is stunning and highly useful to historical and genealogical researchers.

Throughout the Revolutionary War, battles, skirmishes, or sieges—led or endorsed by the British and nearly always with Indigenous warrior participation—occurred with high frequency in Kentucky. The goal was to confine American settlement east of the Appalachian Mountains, formally known as the 1763 Proclamation Line. This series of invasions was intended to disrupt permanent pioneer encampment. Even as late as the War of 1812, such raids continued to be a threat. American soldiers and settlers built a series of lightly fortified “stations” and more heavily defended forts to protect settlers from such threats. Because the Limestone (Buffalo) Trace/Maysville Road, which served as a primary avenue for pioneer migration to Kentucky’s interior, was closer to Indigenous populations just north of the Ohio River, stations along this artery were more vulnerable to attack than migratory movement along the more southerly Wilderness Road. (Map courtesy of Arthur Andrew Olson III and Erin Greb Cartography, ©2021; originally scheduled to appear in part 3 of Olson’s article series, “The History Behind Your Hoosier Genealogy,” Connections, Spring/Summer 2022, available in the Basile History Market)

A Mapmaker’s Perspective

Recently, Andy and I took a pause from writing and editing his article series to talk about the treasure trove of maps he and Erin Greb have been producing. Andy opened up and told me about his love of maps and about his work with Erin to create the collection of maps for his publication projects:

Throughout my life I have had an interest in maps and what they convey. Long before I began research and writing, I had accumulated a variety of atlases to help me better understand and interpret the world around me. Most people of my generation were familiar with the Nystrom pull-down world maps, prevalent in elementary school classrooms. These whetted my appetite for visual presentations of the world. Then there were the Rand McNally Road Atlas es, which, for many of us, provided our first exposure to using maps in our everyday lives—most often for family road trips. The World Book Encyclopedia of the late 1950s was also ever present in my household. Its full-color maps, tailored for school-age children, often incorporated an underlying base map overlaid with flexible see-through sheets that added layer after layer of additional information.  

My family also subscribed to National Geographic magazine, wherein maps helped orient readers to different parts of the globe, adding insight to articles about today’s communities as well as those about the generations who lived before us. National Geographic also provided wall-sized political, physical, and specialized maps.  

To this day, the large 1981 National Geographic Atlas of the World , sits on my family room table alongside the Indiana Historical Society’s Mapping Indiana book from 2015, offering a history in maps of the Hoosier state. Still scattered around my home are atlases and standalone maps produced over the past fifty years—from those I used to navigate during numerous business and pleasure trips to those providing unique presentations of historical expeditions of discovery made around the world. I have always loved maps.  

Thus, it is not surprising that as I began my “second career” of historical research and writing, I quickly realized that the creation of specialized maps to help guide readers would need to become an integral part of clearly conveying the stories. My first project was a book on one of Indiana’s earliest railroads, Forging the Bee Line Railroad (Kent State University Press, 2017). Using the Internet in 2015, I sought a cartographer suited to the task. Fortunately, I came upon Erin Greb Cartography. On Erin’s company website she provided substantial examples of her work and the types of clients for whom she worked. Her strong academic background in geography was complemented by subsequent employment as a textbook map designer with such organizations as MapQuest Publishing and as a cartographer at Penn State’s Department of Geography, where she produced scholarly maps. Erin had made the jump to freelance work in 2007, providing me with the opportunity to engage her on a project-by-project basis. It has proved to be an incredibly important professional relationship.  

Erin has taken my myriad of historical discoveries and translated them into accurately mapped portrayals, balancing my desire for detail with her artistic skills, while providing sufficient background information without cluttering the final products. Her maps are striking yet easy to interpret. As she says about herself: “I think in maps. . . . I just can’t get away from it. And I guess that’s why I became a cartographer.” On her website, Erin suggests the passion for her work “comes from bringing all sorts of data together and telling a visual story through the art of cartography.”  

Since our initial work on the railroad book, for which she created or annotated eight maps, Erin has created a variety of maps for my two Connections series. Our work has evolved over the past eight years to include representations of several sub-maps integrated onto a single page (or two-page spread). Ours is an iterative back-and-forth process, often resulting in five or more versions before finally arriving at a mutually satisfying result. Without her skills, it would have been difficult to tackle and interpret the level of detail conveyed in my articles. Erin’s work has brought my articles to life. I am both grateful and amazed by what she has accomplished.

The IHS Press is also grateful and amazed by the maps made by Erin Greb and Andy Olson. His work to discover the day-to-day worlds in which our ancestors traveled informs Erin’s work. Together, their maps provide much-needed windows onto the transportation routes, villages, forts, and people who lived in our region before us, paving the way for the world we live in today.

The initiation of land auction sales of “New Purchase of Indiana” parcels in Franklin County’s Brookville, beginning in 1819, led to a large influx of pioneers first to this land office town and county, and then to acquired parcels to the north and west. Counties such as Madison and Delaware were soon organized around two former villages of the removed Delaware (Lenape) Indigenous Nation. In these two instances, Anderson (named after chief Anderson [Kikthawenund]) and Muncie (named for the Munsee/Muncee tribal group of the Lenapes) became their respective county seats. Enterprising new arrivals soon acquired land from both the government—known as “land patents”—and private individuals. (Map courtesy of Arthur Andrew Olson III and Erin Greb Cartography, ©2022; published in part 5 of Olson’s article series, “The History Behind Your Hoosier Genealogy,” Connections, Spring/Summer 2023)

Teresa Baer is a historian, author, speaker and is managing editor of the Indiana Historical Society Press, in charge of family, ethnic and immigration history, as well as historical fiction and nonfiction for the schools. She loves hiking and biking in parks, reading murder mysteries, and having fun with family and friends.

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SOAR History is SUNY Oneonta's open access undergraduate history journal. This selective peer-reviewed forum is student-run and faculty-advised. The primary goal is to provide undergraduate students from any university with an outlet for publishing rigorous academic research. SOAR will always remain student-run and faculty-advised to ensure the integrity of the journal, and uphold our commitment to student growth and experience. Our editorial board is SUNY Oneonta-based, but SOAR: History accepts submissions from undergraduate students or recent graduates (up to one year after graduation) from any university.

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Eric Perreault, vice-president for research at Northwestern, suggests the story dates to at least the 1950s when research initiatives led to the university’s biomedical engineering and materials science departments being launched. These efforts established an impact-focused research environment that resisted siloed thinking.

“This interdisciplinary research culture is deeply embedded in Northwestern,” Perreault says. We have worked hard to foster interdisciplinary research on campus and continue this tradition. One way we have done it is through our 35  university-wide research institutes and centres (URICs), which fuel innovation and translation.”

Northwestern’s research culture manifests itself in the scale of its operations and the infrastructure it has developed. More than 700 Northwestern faculty from 100 different departments work within the URICs. One relatively recently established URIC focuses on  synthetic biology , bringing together biology, engineering, physics, mathematics, computer science and social sciences under one roof. Northwestern is already considered a leader in this cross-field domain, and its synthetic biology faculty has launched multiple start-up ventures , adding to the university’s  entrepreneurial portfolio . 

“We have this really interdisciplinary approach attempting to drive transformative innovation in various areas, including targeted drug development, sustainable manufacturing and advanced materials. To do that, you need to have a deep understanding of biology, a deep understanding of how to engineer new systems, and a deep understanding of the challenges people are facing,” Perreault says.

There are more than 50 core facilities on campus, where researchers can access PhD-level expertise and state-of-the-art equipment for gene sequencing, imaging, or materials characterisation. When Northwestern invested $8 million (£6.4 million) in a cryo-electron microscopy system, it ensured that faculty from myriad disciplines could access it.

“ Our shared facilities increase access to top-tier instrumentation and provide a common platform that brings faculty from different disciplines together for a common purpose,” Perreault says. “They see each other when designing experiments or collecting data, often spurring new ideas and collaborations.”

Third-party partnerships can yield dramatic results,  such as Northwestern’s collaboration with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, which developed stickers that monitor a patient’s internal organs via ultrasound, offering an early warning sign for post-operation complications.

Northwestern also contributes to and benefits from a first-class regional research ecosystem. With two national laboratories nearby, it can access supercomputers and other resources that no university could afford. At the same time, it contributes to research excellence in numerous fields, from chemistry and materials science to physics, medicine and various engineering domains. It also partners with fellow regional institutions when applying for federal or foundation funding. A three-way project with the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign secured a $250 million (£200 million) grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to fund a  pioneering biotech hub , the president of which is a Northwestern faculty member.

Research culture and history can only take an institution so far. Ultimately, academic talent sustains innovation, and Northwestern offers a fantastic environment and attractive opportunities to faculty and students alike. After all, Perreault says, recruitment is the bedrock of Northwestern’s success: “One of the things we are doing well is educating the next generation of global talent – students who will bring exceptional and highly interdisciplinary skills to industry and academia.” 

Times Higher Education has partnered with Schmidt Science Fellows to develop a new ranking measuring universities’ contribution to interdisciplinary science.  Find out how to participate.

Find out more  about Schmidt Science Fellows.

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Bibliography of British and Irish History

The Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) is the most comprehensive and accurate guide available to what's been written about British and Irish history. It's an essential resource for research and teaching.

BBIH is a subscription service and is available remotely via university and research libraries worldwide.

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Announcement.

Following the decision of the Royal Historical Society , the Institute of Historical Research is pleased to announce that it will increase its support for BBIH to become the sole academic partner for the project. The IHR is delighted that Professor Roey Sweet and Jenny Lelkes-Rarugal, Editor of BBIH, will continue to lead the bibliography at the IHR in future years, with the support of section editors and our publishing partner Brepols .  We will provide further updates in due course as we work with our partners to manage a smooth transition to the new arrangement.

Using BBIH for studying, teaching and research

Our help pack aims to help you get the most from BBIH when studying, teaching or researching British and Irish history

Latest BBIH update

The October 2023 update to BBIH adds records of 4091 new publications in the field of British and Irish History

The Changing Relevance of Empire

Professor Trevor Burnard reflects on the changing historiography of the British Empire and imperialism from 2003-2022

Women's histories in BBIH

For Women's History Month, our editors have identified 500 recent titles relating to women's histories

Recovering Emotions in Historical Research

Dr Helen Metcalfe discusses how BBIH can be used to research the history of emotions

LGBTQIA+ histories in BBIH

For UK LGBTQIA+ History Month, our editors have identified 500 recent titles relating to histories of ‘homosexuality’ and ‘transgender & transsexual people'

Black British History in BBIH

A selection of 400 recent publications (2010-2020) in the field of Black British History, selected from the Bibliography of British and Irish History.

About the Bibliography

The Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) is the most comprehensive and accurate guide available to what has been published in British and Irish history over the past 125 years. This makes BBIH a key resource for study, research and teaching: the essential starting point for discovering what's been written in any historical field, when and by whom.

What makes BBIH so valuable and useful? 

• contains over  640,000 records of books, edited collections, journal articles and book chapters
• includes details of history publications from the early 1900s to present
• covers the history of the British Isles , the former empire and Commonwealth , the British world , and Britons' activities on the global stage
• is searchable via a range of options. These include: author, title of publication, subject area, period and places covered, publication type and date/s of publication

What makes BBIH a unique resource?

• created using systematic and extensive surveys of data on all relevant new publications, including weekly reviews of 800 academic journals and records of the British Library
• provides links to individual publications in your library or a union catalogue, along with academic reviews of books listed in the bibliography
• enables you to  create your own comprehensive bibliography on any topic
• the definitive record  of British historical research and publishing in the C20th and C21st

BBIH is  updated three times a year by specialist bibliographers at the IHR, working with a team of academic historians to ensure accuracy and comprehensiveness. BBIH is a research and publishing project of the IHR, the UK's Royal Historical Society and the Belgian academic press,  Brepols .

Access the Bibliography of British and Irish History

BBIH is a subscription service available through many libraries and archives in Britain, Ireland and worldwide. Use your library login to view BBIH.

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The Bibliography in numbers

BBIH is a essential resource for research and teaching, and the best possible guide to what's been written about British and Irish history.

• 640,000+ : Records of books, chapters and article in BBIH
• 10,000+ : New records added each year in regular updates
• 8000 : Thematic search categories with the BBIH taxonomy
• 800 : Academic journals checked weekly for new content
• 2023 : Includes records of the latest publications

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British History Online is a digital library of key printed primary and secondary sources for the history of Britain and Ireland.

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Reviews in History is the IHR's online reviews service. It provides specialist commentaries on the latest historical books, exhibitions and digital resources.

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IHR Library & Digital provides a wealth of services and resources, both in person and online, to all those interested in history.

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Coble reflects on research, travels as he retires after 48 years.

6 days ago · 4 min read

Coble reflects on research, travels as he retires after 48 years

Parks Coble studies the past, but as a student in the 1970s, he settled into his area of study because of the current events of that time.

It was the height of the Cold War and U.S. President Richard Nixon had recently opened up diplomatic relations with the Chinese government.

“China was the big communist unknown,” Coble, James L. Sellers Professor of History, said. “China was in the middle of the Cultural Revolution period. The timing was right…There really were a lot of exciting things going on.”

Coble, who will retire in May after 48 years with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, teaches courses in East Asian history. His research focuses on 20th Century Chinese history. In his career he’s published eight books and dozens of journal articles, and his most recent book, “The Collapse of Nationalist China: How Chiang Kai-shek Lost China’s Civil War,” was published last year.

Originally from South Carolina, Coble received his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He taught for one year at North Dakota State University before arriving in Nebraska in 1976.

It was difficult to travel to China when Coble was starting out because of the political environment, but he made his first trip to mainland China as part of a U.S. China Peoples Friendship Association delegation.

“We traveled on a set tour,” Coble said. “Foreigners at that time were really isolated. We stayed at special hotels, had our own restaurants.”

Coble was still able to see many of the country’s most recognizable sites on that first visit, including the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Terracotta Warriors. Over the years, travelers have gained more freedom to travel around China, and he’s been able to venture more.

However, he’s also visited sites that might not seem as interesting to some but have significance to him as a historian, such as the location near Beijing where World War II in Asia began. He’s stayed at the Jinjiang Hotel, where Nixon and Zhou Enlai signed a communique opening diplomatic relations.

Coble lived in Shanghai for a year and had a couple of six-month stays for professional reasons, but those longer stays also allowed for some sightseeing trips. In order to read original source material and communicate with others in the field, he’s learned some Mandarin.

Coble said the Great Wall was more impressive than he could have imagined. When he saw the Terracotta Warriors for the first time, the excavation process was still ongoing, which Coble said was “pretty stunning.”

“There’s something about seeing it and thinking about all the work that went into it,” he said.

Because he studies the modern age, Coble has been able to access more archival material that has become available as political tensions have eased and historical figures have died. His most recent book on Chiang Kai-Shek, for example, wouldn’t have been possible 20 years ago, because new sources have opened up.

“You get the inside story, which is fascinating, personal letters and things of that type,” he said.

Now that the day of retirement is getting nearer, Coble said what he will miss most is working with students. His class is not a requirement for most students, so he said most of his students have a genuine interest in the subject matter. He’s taught many Asian-American students, for example, interested in learning more about the history of where their families originated, he said, and students interested in studying abroad.

Coble doesn’t have much planned for retirement, but he has scheduled a couple of stateside trips for later this year. And although he might not be making as many research trips anymore, there are still places in the region he’d be interested in seeing, like the wartime capital of Chongqing and Tibet.

“I haven’t seen a fraction of what there would be to see,” Coble said.

Coble will give a talk on the 2011 nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, during a Lunch & Learn at noon May 8 at the Kawasaki Reading Room. The Department of History’s Pauley Symposium in October will be themed “The Legacy of Republican China” in honor of Coble, who will give the keynote address.

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Dick Rutan, co-pilot of historic round-the-world flight, dies at 85

FILE - Co-pilots Dick Rutan, right, and Jeana Yeager, no relationship to test pilot Chuck Yeager, pose for a photo after a test flight over the Mojave Desert, Dec. 19, 1985. Rutan, a decorated Vietnam War pilot, who along with copilot Yeager completed one of the greatest milestones in aviation history: the first round-the-world flight with no stops or refueling, died late Friday, May 3, 2024. He was 85. (AP Photo/Doug Pizac, File)

FILE - Balloonist Dick Rutan talks about the short flight of the Global Hilton balloon at a news conference in Albuquerque, N.M., Friday, Jan. 9, 1998. Rutan, a decorated Vietnam War pilot, who along with copilot Jeana Yeager completed one of the greatest milestones in aviation history: the first round-the-world flight with no stops or refueling, died late Friday, May 3, 2024. He was 85. (AP Photo/Jake Schoellkopf, File)

FILE - Dick Rutan works on disassembling the wings of his Cessna on Buttermere Road in Victorville, Calif., where he made an emergency landing, early Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007. Rutan, a decorated Vietnam War pilot, who along with copilot Jeana Yeager completed one of the greatest milestones in aviation history: the first round-the-world flight with no stops or refueling, died late Friday, May 3, 2024. He was 85. (Reneh Agha/Daily Press via AP, File)

FILE - Sir Richard Branson, left, shakes hands with record breaking aviator Dick Rutan after Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo space tourism rocket was unveiled, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Mojave, Calif. Rutan, a decorated Vietnam War pilot, who along with copilot Jeana Yeager completed one of the greatest milestones in aviation history: the first round-the-world flight with no stops or refueling, died late Friday, May 3, 2024. He was 85. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

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MEREDITH, N.H. (AP) — Burt Rutan was alarmed to see the plane he had designed was so loaded with fuel that the wing tips started dragging along the ground as it taxied down the runway. He grabbed the radio to warn the pilot, his older brother Dick Rutan. But Dick never heard the message.

Nine days and three minutes later, Dick, along with copilot Jeana Yeager, completed one of the greatest milestones in aviation history: the first round-the-world flight with no stops or refueling.

A decorated Vietnam War pilot, Dick Rutan died Friday evening at a hospital in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, with Burt and other loved ones by his side. He was 85. His friend Bill Whittle said he died on his own terms when he decided against enduring a second night on oxygen after suffering a severe lung infection.

“He played an airplane like someone plays a grand piano,” said Burt Rutan of his brother, who was often described as has having a velvet arm because of his smooth flying style.

Burt Rutan said he had always loved designing airplanes and became fascinated with the idea of a craft that could go clear around the world. His brother was equally passionate about flying. The project took six years.

There was plenty to worry Burt during testing of the light graphite plane, Voyager. There were mechanical failures, any one of which would have been disastrous over a distant ocean. When fully laden, the plane couldn’t handle turbulence. And then there was the question of how the pilots could endure such a long flight on so little sleep. But Burt said his brother had an optimism about him that made them all believe.

“Dick never doubted whether my design would actually make it around, with still some gas in the tank,” Burt Rutan said.

Voyager left from Edwards Air Force Base in California just after 8 a.m. on Dec. 14, 1986. Rutan said with all that fuel, the wings had only inches of clearance. Dick couldn’t see when they started dragging on the runway. But at the moment Burt called on the radio, copilot Yeager gave a speed report, drowning out the message.

“And then, the velvet arm really came in,” Burt Rutan said. “And he very slowly brought the stick back and the wings bent way up, some 30 feet at the wingtips, and it lifted off very smoothly.”

They arrived back to a hero’s welcome as thousands gathered to witness the landing. Both Rutan brothers and Yeager were each awarded a Presidential Citizens Medal by President Ronald Reagan, who described how a local official in Thailand at first “refused to believe some cockamamie story” about a plane flying around the world on a single tank of gas.

“We had the freedom to pursue a dream, and that’s important,” Dick Rutan said at the ceremony. “And we should never forget, and those that guard our freedoms, that we should hang on to them very tenaciously and be very careful about some do-gooder that thinks that our safety is more important than our freedom. Because freedom is awful difficult to obtain, and it’s even more difficult to regain it once it’s lost.”

Richard Glenn Rutan was born in Loma Linda, California. He joined the U.S. Air Force as a teenager and flew more than 300 combat missions during the Vietnam War.

He was part of an elite group that would loiter over enemy anti-aircraft positions for hours at a time. The missions had the call sign “Misty,” and Dick was known as “Misty Four-Zero.” Among the many awards Dick received were the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.

He survived having to eject twice from planes, once when his F-100 Super Sabre was hit by enemy fire over Vietnam, and a second time when he was stationed in England and the same type of plane had a mechanical failure. He retired from the Air Force with the rank of lieutenant colonel and went on to work as a test pilot.

Burt Rutan said his brother was always having adventures, like the time he got stranded at the North Pole for a couple of days when the Russian biplane he was in landed and then sank through the ice.

Dick Rutan set another record in 2005 when he flew about 10 miles (16 kilometers) in a rocket-powered plane launched from the ground in Mojave, California. It was also the first time U.S. mail had been carried by such a plane.

Greg Morris, the president of Scaled Composites, a company founded by Burt Rutan, said he first met Dick was when he was about seven and over the years always found him generous and welcoming.

“Bigger than life, in every sense of the word,” Morris said, listing off Rutan’s legacy in the Vietnam War, testing planes and on the Voyager flight. “Any one of those contributions would make a legend in aviation. All of them together, in one person, is just inconceivable.”

Whittle said Rutan had been courageous in his final hours at the hospital — sharp as a tack, calm and joking with them about what might come next after death.

“He’s the greatest pilot that’s ever lived,” Whittle said.

Dick Rutan is survived by his wife of 25 years Kris Rutan; daughters Holly Hogan and Jill Hoffman; and grandchildren Jack, Sean, Noelle and Haley.

February 12, 2024

Pseudoscience Has Long Been Used to Oppress Transgender People

Three major waves of opposition to transgender health care in the past century have cited faulty science to justify hostility

By G. Samantha Rosenthal & The Conversation US

An activist holds a poster at a protest supporting the transgender community in Canada.

Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation , an online publication covering the latest research.

In the past century, there have been three waves of opposition to transgender health care.

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In 1933, when the Nazis rose to power, they cracked down on transgender medical research and clinical practice in Europe. In 1979, a research report critical of transgender medicine led to the closure of the most well-respected clinics in the United States. And since 2021, when Arkansas became the first U.S. state among now at least 21 other states banning gender-affirming care for minors, we have been living in a third wave.

In my work as a scholar of transgender history , I study the long history of gender-affirming care in the U.S., which has been practiced since at least the 1940s. Puberty blockers , hormone therapies and anatomical surgeries are neither experimental nor untested and have been safely administered to cisgender, transgender and intersex adults and children for decades.

On the other hand, the archives of transgender medicine demonstrate that backlash against these practices has historically been rooted in pseudoscience. And today, an anti-science movement that aims to discredit science altogether is fueling the fire of the current wave of anti-trans panic.

The 1930s − eugenics and sexology collide

In the 1920s, the new science of hormones was just reaching maturation and entering mainstream consciousness . In the field of sexology – the study of human sexuality, founded in 19th century Europe – scientists were excited about research on animals demonstrating that removing or transplanting gonads could effectively change an organism’s sex.

In 1919, the German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld founded the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft in Berlin, which became the world’s leading center for queer and transgender research and clinical practice. Hirschfeld worked closely with trans women as co-researchers throughout the 1920s. Several trans women also received care at the institute, including orchiectomies that halted the production of testosterone in their bodies.

Within months of Hitler’s rise to power in early 1933, a mob of far-right students broke into and shuttered the institute for being “ un-German .” Some of the most famous images of Nazi book burning show the institute’s library set ablaze in an outdoor plaza.

Nazi ideology was based on another prominent field of science of that time: eugenics , the belief that certain superior populations should survive while inferior populations must be exterminated. In fact, Hirschfeld’s sexology and Nazi race science had common roots in the Enlightenment-era effort to classify and categorize the world’s life forms.

But in the late 19th century, many scientists went a step further and developed a hierarchy of human types based on race, gender and sexuality. They were inspired by social Darwinism , a set of pseudoscientific beliefs applying the theory of survival of the fittest to human differences. As race scientists imagined a fixed number of human races of varying intelligence, sexologists simultaneously sought to classify sexual behaviors as innate, inherited states of being: the “homosexual” in the 1860s and the “transvestite,” a term coined by Hirschfeld himself, in 1910.

But where Hirschfeld and other sexologists saw the classification of queer and trans people as justifications for legal emancipation, eugenicists of the early 20th century in the U.S. and Europe believed sexually transgressive people should be sterilized and ultimately eradicated.

Based on this premise, the Nazis murdered thousands of LGBTQ people in the Holocaust.

The 1970s − making model citizens

In the 1950s and 1960s, transgender medicine bounced back in the U.S. Scientists and clinicians at several universities began experimenting with new hormonal and surgical interventions . In 1966, Johns Hopkins became the first university hospital in the world to offer trans health care.

By the 1970s, trans medicine went mainstream. Nearly two dozen university hospitals were operating gender identity clinics and treating thousands of transgender Americans. Several trans women and men wrote popular autobiographical accounts of their transitions. Trans people were even on television , talking about their bodies and fighting for their rights.

Yet trouble was brewing behind the scenes. Jon Meyer, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins, was skeptical of whether medical interventions really helped transgender people. In 1979, Meyer, along with his secretary Donna Reter, published a short academic paper that ushered in the second wave of historic backlash to trans medicine.

In their study, Meyer and Reter contacted previous patients of the Johns Hopkins Gender Identity Clinic. To understand whether surgery had improved patients’ lives, the authors developed an “adjustment scoring system.” They assigned points to patients who were in heterosexual marriages and had achieved economic security since their operations, while deducting points from those who continued to engage in gender nonconformity, homosexuality, criminality, or sought mental health care.

Meyer and Reter believed that gender-affirming surgeries were successful only if they made model citizens out of transgender people: straight, married and law-abiding.

In their results, the authors found no negative effects from surgery, and no patients expressed regret. They concluded that “sex reassignment surgery confers no objective advantage in terms of social rehabilitation,” but it is “subjectively satisfying” to the patients themselves. This was not a damning conclusion.

Yet, within two months, Johns Hopkins had shuttered its clinic . The New York Times reported that universities would feel pressure to similarly “curtail their operations and discourage others from starting to do them.” Indeed, only a handful of clinics remained by the 1990s. Transgender medicine did not return to Johns Hopkins until 2017 .

In requiring trans patients to enter straight marriages and hold gender-appropriate jobs to be considered successful, Meyer and Reter’s study was homophobic and classist in design . The study exemplified the pseudoscientific beliefs at the heart of transgender medicine in the 1960s through the 1980s, that patients had to conform to societal norms – including heterosexuality, gender conformity, domesticity and marriage – in order to receive care. This was not an ideology rooted in science but in bigotry.

The 2020s − distrust in science

As in the 1930s, opposition to trans medicine today is part of a broad reactionary movement against what some far-right groups consider the “ toxic normalization ” of LGBTQ people.

Legislators have removed books with LGBTQ content from libraries and disparaged them as “filth .” A recent law in Florida threatens trans people with arrest for using public restrooms. Both Florida and Texas have pursued efforts to compile data on their trans citizens . Donald Trump’s campaign platform calls for a nationwide ban on trans health care for minors and severe restrictions for adults.

And similar to the 1970s, opponents of trans medicine today frame gender-affirming care as a “debate,” even though all major U.S. medical associations support these practices as medically necessary and lifesaving.

But widespread distrust in science and medicine in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected how Americans perceive trans health care. Prohibitions on gender-affirming care have occurred simultaneously with the relaxing of pandemic restrictions, and some scholars argue that the movement against trans health care is part of a broader movement aimed at discrediting scientific consensus.

Yet the adage “ believe in science ” is not an effective rejoinder to these anti-trans policies. Instead, many trans activists today call for diminishing the role of medical authority altogether in gatekeeping access to trans health care . Medical gatekeeping occurs through stringent guidelines that govern access to trans health care, including mandated psychiatric evaluations and extended waiting periods that limit and control patient choice.

Trans activists have fought with the World Professional Association for Transgender Health , the organization that maintains these standards of care, by demanding greater bodily autonomy and depathologizing transsexuality. This includes pivoting to an informed consent model where patients make decisions about their own bodies after discussing the pros and cons with their doctors. Trans activists have been rallying against medical authority since the early 1970s, including calling for access to hormones and surgeries on demand .

It is not clear how the current third wave of backlash to transgender medicine will end. For now, trans health care remains a question dominated by medical experts on one hand and people who question science on the other.

This article was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article .