Introduction
Start with the Undergraduate Library Orientation page to learn your way around the TSU Library.
Following that, if you'd like to know more about doing research specifically in history, the University of Exeter Library has some excellent tutorials. Keep in mind that TSU doesn't subscribe to everything they mention; even so, there's a lot about the research process that applies to all libraries.
To discuss an assignment or a research question with a librarian, contact me or one of my colleagues, and we'd be happy to email you or set up a meeting. Have ready a copy of your assignment and/or a summary of what you've tried so far, so that we will know what to suggest.
Best Databases for Beginning History Students
Most of these contain large numbers of secondary sources, with some primary and tertiary sources.
- Academic Search CompleteAcademic Search Premier is the world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 3486 full-text periodicals, including more than 4734 full text non-open accessed journals.
- JSTOR
Is a highly selective digital library of academic content in many formats and disciplines. The collections include top peer-reviewed scholarly journals as well as respected literary journals, academic monographs, research reports from trusted institutes, and primary sources. The library has the entire Arts & Sciences Collection, the Life Sciences Collection and Business Journal IV. We have both archival and current subscriptions.
- Project Muse (Social Sciences Collection)
Is a leading provider of digital humanities and social science content for the scholarly community around the world. For over 20 years, Project MUSE has been the trusted and reliable source of complete, full-text versions of scholarly journals from many of the world's leading universities and scholarly societies. Currently, Project MUSE has over 674 journals from 125 publishers and offers over 50,000 books from more than 100 presses.
- Oxford Reference PremiumOxford Reference is an online reference collection spanning 25 different subject areas, that include dictionaries, companions and encyclopedias.
- Gale E-Books
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a reference ebooks collection that offers coverage of virtually every academic, scholarly and professional discipline, delivering titles for all kinds of research.
Questions to ask when starting historical research
- What question(s) are you trying to answer?
- What types of materials would be most helpful? Has your instructor specified or suggested particular sources? Most in-depth assignments will require some combination of books, journal articles (what type?), newspapers, and/or government documents.
- Where can the sources from the above question(s) be located? You will probably want to consult TSU’s online catalog, a database (see our list of databases here), or a government website (consult our government documents LibGuide).
- How do you search those sources? Every source is slightly different, so you may need to study the search interface and/or experiment with search strategies. Since language can vary according to time, place, and area of expertise, it may take some trial and error to settle on the best search terms.
What is peer review?
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