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HST 290: World War I Searching for Sources

Improve your research skills for finding primary sources on World War I. Learn to utilize databases, search tips, and library resources effectively. Explore journals, books, and government documents to enhance your understanding of the war.

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HST 290: World War I Searching for Sources

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  1. HST 290: World War ISearching for Sources Dr. Sue McCaffrayMs. Sue Cody

  2. How are your research skills? • Do you like doing research? • Why or why not? • What confuses/frustrates you most about doing research? • What questions do you have about conducting research for this class? • How would you rate your current research skills? • Strong/Satisfactory/Needs improvement/Poor

  3. Our plan for the week • Review Research Guide for this course. • Explore various finding aids. • Learn to identify primary sources. • Become familiar with special services. • Interlibrary Loan • Getting help

  4. How much do you know aboutWorld War I? Where do you plan to start?

  5. Which finding aids are most useful? • For scholarly articles? • For articles written during the time studied? • For books? • For government documents? • For other primary sources?

  6. Database Exploration • Historical Abstracts • Bibliography of British & Irish History • JStor • Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature • Search your topic

  7. Database Exploration • What is the scope? • Subjects • Publication types • Publication dates • Does this database provide access to relevant sources? • Citations, Citations & Abstracts, Full-Text? • How did you modify your search? Did it help?

  8. Search tips • And, Or, Not • And narrows • Or adds synonyms/related • Not excludes (use carefully) • Truncate for word variations • (prison* = prison, prisons, prisoner, prisoners) • Words anywhere or phrase? • “trench warfare” • Field-specific searches • “Lost Generation” in title (look for pull-down menus)

  9. Journal Holdings & Access • Follow the citation trail! • Search your citation • Does the library have it? • What format or location? • What online access?

  10. Finding articles • Sweetzer, A. , “A Diary from the Front.” World’s Work 29 (1915): 350-356. • Moore, Gregory. “The Super-Hun and the Super-State: Allied Propaganda and German Philosophy during the First World War.” German Life & Letters 54 (2001): 310-330.

  11. Finding articles • Foley, Robert T., “The Real Schlieffen Plan.” War in History 13 (2006): 91-115. • Jones, Edgar. “The Psychology of Killing: The Combat Experience of British Soldiers during the First World War.” Journal of Contemporary History 41 (2006): 229-246.

  12. Next Class Library Catalog, WorldCat, Primary Sources

  13. HST 290: World War ISearching for Sources Dr. Sue McCaffrayMs. Sue Cody

  14. Finding Books • Library Catalog • local & UNCP/FSU • WorldCat • 9,000 libraries • Some databases lead to books • Cited directly • Book reviews

  15. Randall Online Catalog – Keyword v. Subject • Keyword - variations • World War I, World War 1, World War One • Computers match character strings (they aren’t smart!) • Arrangement = Relevance • What is the subject heading for World War I?

  16. Keyword/Subject features • Keyword • Finds words anywhere in record. • Look at records to see subject headings. • Search lots of terms, word variations • Subject Headings • Controlled vocabulary • May not be “natural language” but may find more • Hierarchical arrangement helps narrow topic • Searches only the subject field

  17. Searching Personal Names • Keyword searches • Either order • Woodrow Wilson • Wilson, Woodrow • Author/Subject • Last name first, e.g. Lloyd George, David

  18. Online Catalog links • Subjects for related items • Call numbers for related items (usually) • Library of Congress outline • http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html • SuDoc arranges by agency • Cover, summary, reviews • Location maps • Expanding search (UNCP & FSU) • Repeating search

  19. WorldCat • UNCW Holdings • Finds items for ILL requests • Link to ILLiad • Rare items not lent • Rare items may be reprinted & available • Websites included – often w/ free access! • 1 billion records

  20. Primary Sources • Dairies, journals, other writings of “players” • Eyewitness/Observer accounts • Memoirs, autobiographies (written later) • Official documents • Laws, treaties, reports, orders, transcripts of proceedings, addresses, etc. • Images, Artifacts

  21. Primary or Secondary? • Scholarly article on the use of mustard gas during WWI. • Text of the Espionage Act of 1917 • Encyclopedia of WWI. • Book compilation of British soldiers’ letters home from the warfront. • Biography of General Ludendorff. • Government publication from the U.S. Army Center for Military History. • World War I chronology.

  22. Primary or Secondary? • 1997 book by a historian about the involvement of German middle class women in the war effort. • English translation of a memoir by French historian Marc Bloch (1886-1944). • 1915 article from the New York Times. • New York Times articles on the 50th anniversary of the Armistice. • President Wilson’s address to Congress severing diplomatic ties with Germany, found on the Presidential Library website.

  23. Randall Online Catalog & WorldCat • Standard Subheadings • Correspondence • Diaries • Personal narratives • Sources • Treaties • See guide for others

  24. Randall Online Catalog • Search general headings, use indexes • World War 1914 and sources • Search specific headings or persons • David Lloyd George as author • Look for items not tagged as primary source • Primary documents may be included in secondary sources • Eyewitness authors may not be tagged as sources

  25. Newspapers & Magazines • Readers’ Guide Retro • Magazines, mostly US • New York Times Archive • Palmer’s Index to the Times • Index is quarterly • Times is on microfilm • Public Affairs Information Service Archive

  26. Official Documents • British documents (see guide) • Foreign Relations of the United States • Hein Online • U.S. Congressional Documents

  27. Bibliographies • Book-length • World War I Memories • Secondary sources (books and journal articles) • Types • Classified (easiest to find primary sources) • Alphabetical • Footnotes/Endnotes

  28. Digital Collections • World War I Document Archive http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/ • FirstWorldWar.com http://www.firstworldwar.com/index.htm • World War I: Trenches on the Web http://www.worldwar1.com/ • The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century. http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/ • See Research Guide for more

  29. Questions? What will you do when you have questions?

  30. Ask for help – it’s what we do! codys@uncw.edu http://library.uncw.edu/ask

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