History: What is historiography?

Historiography defies simple definition but implies a concern for the examination of all aspects of historical scholarship, especially writing 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 Library Search to find historiographical works about your topic.

Library of Congress Subject Headings (or LCSH) are assigned by cataloging librarians to book records. Headings often indicate the type of work described (e.g., historiography). In this example, historiography is appended as a subdivision 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 Library Search. Make sure historiography appears in the subject field:

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

Find below a list of secondary book series recommended by TCNJ historians. Titles published within each series, when viewed as a group, help students to identify historiographical debates and trends. Titles will be authored by historians  rather than journalists, an important consideration in scholarly communication.

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 book series. Blackwell companions in particular offer high-quality historiographical essays, which take the form of short chapters of about 10-to-25 pages. These are reference (or tertiary) works. Their main purpose is to lead researchers to high-impact secondary histories.

• Blackwell Companions
• Oxford Handbooks