Featured Titles
These books offer guidance on how to research, read, and write history. Each title covers historians' methods and sources including how to work with primary sources. Also consider titles in the Routledge Guides to Using Historical Sources.
Top recommendations:
The Essential Guide to Writing History Essays by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780190271169Publication Date: 2020-01-09See Chapter 9, "Primary Source Interpretation."
The Information-Literate Historian: A Guide to Research for History Students by Call Number: D16.2 .P715 2024ISBN: 9780197749869Publication Date: 2024-02-07Authored by the highly regarded History Librarian at the University of Miami, Ohio, The Information-Literate Historian, up-to-date with this 4th ed., is critical to any student who wishes to conduct research like a pro. See especially "The Thrill of Discovery: Primary Sources" and "Advanced Research Techniques for Primary Sources."
The Princeton Guide to Historical Research by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780691215488Publication Date: 2021-04-27See Part III, "Sources," which includes chapters on both traditional and non-traditional primary sources, how to find and interpret primary sources, and archival research.
More best bets:
The Historian's Toolbox: A Student's Guide to the Theory and Craft of History by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780765633262Publication Date: 2015 (3rd ed.)See Part II, "The Tools of History," particularly Section 9: "Sources and Evidence". The 1st ed. is available in print in the General Collection (2nd Floor), call # D16 .W62 2003.
A Pocket Guide to Writing in History by Call Number: D13 .R295 2021ISBN: 9781319244415Publication Date: 2020-09-09See 3c. "Using primary sources."
Pursuit of History: Aims, Methods, and New Directions in the Study of History by Call Number: D13 .T67 2022ISBN: 9780367902469Publication Date: 2021 (7th ed.)See Chapters 4 and 5, "The Raw Materials" and "Using the Sources."
Reading History by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781487523879Publication Date: 2022See chapters 2-6 in Part II: Primary Sources.
Also great:
Although somewhat dated, these titles are still very useful for any student of history:
Reading Primary Sources: The Interpretation of Texts From Nineteenth and Twentieth Century History by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780415429573Publication Date: 2009"How does the historian approach primary sources? How do interpretations differ? How can they be used to write history?" This book answers these questions. It contains chapters on how to interpret the different varieties of primary sources including letters, diaries, newspapers, speeches, and others.
Writing History in the Digital Age by Call Number: open access E-BOOKISBN: 9780472072064Publication Date: 2013-10-28A contemporary meditation on writing history, this born-digital e-book is also available in print, General Collection (2nd floor), call # D16.12 .W75 2013.
Next steps:
Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students (c. 1998) is aimed at undergraduates. It "addresses all aspect of historical research and writing" including how to appropriately engage with primary documents and secondary sources. The books listed below, though published a little while ago, continue to offer sound advice.
Going to the Sources: A Guide to Historical Research and Writing by
Accessible overview to historiographical research methods and sources, but Presnell's The Information Literate Historian is both more comprehensive and up-to-date.
Call Number: D16 .B893 2002ISBN: 0882959697Publication Date: 2002
Student Guide to Research in the Digital Age: How to Locate and Evaluate Information Sources by
See Chapter 4, "Primary Sources: Online Tools and Digitized Collections".
Call Number: ZA3075 .S74 2006ISBN: 1591580994Publication Date: 2005-12-01
Great for any student researcher:
The Craft of Research by Call Number: Q180.55.M4 B66 2008ISBN: 0226065650Publication Date: 2008-04-153rd ed. of a classic handbook on research methodology and writing
Pro Tips
Saint and the Count: A Case Study for Reading Like a Historian by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781487508432Publication Date: 2021
Work w/ Alternative Primary Sources
Online:
History and Material Culture: A Student's Guide to Approaching Alternative Sources (2nd ed.) by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781138928664Publication Date: 2017-09-21The 1st. ed. is available in print, General Collection, call # GN406 .H58 2009.
Print:
Games of History: Games and Gaming as Historical Sources by Call Number: GV1200 .S63 2021ISBN: 9780367358907Publication Date: 2021
History Beyond the Text: A Student's Guide to Approaching Alternative Sources by Call Number: D5 .H556 2009ISBN: 9780415429610Publication Date: 2009-01-12
The Look of the Past: Visual and Material Evidence in Historical Practice by Call Number: D16 .J744 2012ISBN: 9780521882422Publication Date: 2012-09-27
Using Non-Textual Sources: A Historian's Guide by Call Number: D16 .A74 2016ISBN: 9781472505835Publication Date: 2015-12-17
Who Is the Historian? by Call Number: D16 .R229 2016ISBN: 9781442635739Publication Date: 2016-01-01An introduction to history and historians' work including the relationship between historians, archivists, and librarians; non-textual primary sources; digital scholarship; and the behaviors exhibited by professional historians.
Ephemera
Encyclopedia of Ephemera: A Guide to the Fragmentary Documents of Everyday Life for the Collector, Curator, and Historian by Call Number: NC1280 .R52 2000ISBN: 0415926483Publication Date: 2000-11-14
