History: Historiography

Historiography defies simple definition but at its core implies a concern for the examination of all aspects of historical scholarship including especially the writing of history and the methods of historical research. The term can be applied to a single scholarly work or body of historical literature. Search WorldCat or the library's discovery service (i.e., main search) to find historiographical works about your topic.

Library of Congress Subject Headings (or LCSH) are assigned by cataloging librarians to the records that describe library-held books. Headings sometimes indicate the type of work described, in this case "historiography." In the following example, "historiography" is appended as a subdivision (or sub-heading) to the main heading for WWI:

• World War, 1914-1918 — Historiography

Though useful once known, this heading is not intuitive. Why not use First World War, World War I, or even WWI? What to do? Perform an Advanced keyword search in the library's discovery service. Make sure historiography appears in the subject field:

• ("First World War" OR "World War I" OR WWI) AND [SUBJECT=] historiography

Find below secondary book series. These books are authored by historians, an important consideration when exploring the historiography on your topic. Examine titles in a particular series to understand trends and historiographical problems confronting scholars.

Africa:

• New African Histories

Ancient:

• Transformation of the Classical Heritage

Europe:

• Series in Russian and East European Studies

United States:

• America in the Nineteenth Century
• America in the World
• Historical Studies of Urban America
• Politics and Society
• United States in the World

Find below two important reference book series. Blackwell companions in particular offer high-quality historiographical essays, which take the form of short chapters of about 10-to-25 pages. Again, these are reference or tertiary sources that, among other purposes, lead researchers to influential historians and secondary histories.

• Blackwell Companions
• Oxford Handbooks