History – Finding and Using Sources

finding and using sources

in class essays

Engaging in Research for Your Paper

Finding Sources for Your History Paper

History research can seem daunting! There is so much out there–you might ask yourself, “Where do I begin?” This guide can help you start the process of researching a history paper and explain the resources at hand to help you along the way.

Sometimes starting your research can be as simple as going to your professor. Discussing the paper with your professor can give you a better understanding of the assignment and where you should start to look for research. This gives you a solid basis to start from, with a better understanding of what the paper is asking of you and examples of sources that connect to the assignment.

If you already have a grasp on the assignment and want to dive right into research, the sources you have from class will be supplemented by using the library. The library will be the tool you want to use for gaining more sources to further the breadth of your evidence. For many students, finding sources on the library website can seem really daunting, as there is so much information there.

If you are new at research or would like to get an overview of library services and how to find sources in the library, it would be best to look at the Howe Library research guides (new tab).

Research Guides by Class

This will show you a list of classes. Check and see if your history course is included in this list. This can be very helpful because this page will be entirely tailored to your specific history class and can point you in a more narrowed direction for where to find research. If you can’t find your class on the list don‘t worry–the Research Guides by Subject can help you instead!

Research Guides by Subject

Choose History from the list of disciplines, and you will see a list of subtopics in History, such as American Historical Periodicals Collection, British History, History of the Holocaust, Historic Preservation, Historical Newspapers, Vermont and the War of 1812, etc. For each subtopic, you’ll find a list of relevant databases; these databases will help you to locate relevant sources quickly.

Along with this list there is the name of the Subject Librarian who specializes in this department. When looking for research, the librarians are also a great resource. They are an asset when you are looking for more in–depth help on finding sources or have more general questions

To contact a Subject Librarian

Start at the home page of the UVM Library website and under the section Help take a look at the Subject Specialists. Here you will find the full list of library liaisons or Subject Librarians who specialize in certain subjects. Their email and phone number will be next to their name.

To contact a librarian for more general questions:

Start at the home page of the UVM Library website and under the section Help the first link will be Ask a Librarian. This page shows you the many ways of getting in contact with a librarian, including email, phone, text, chat online, and by making an appointment.

A Summary of Useful Places to Find Sources through the Library Website

The UVM Howe library website is a valuable resource for history students. The library webpage is often overlooked by history students, but is incredibly helpful for the research process. Through the library website you can:

Request books
- From UVM
- Or other libraries nationwide
Search scholarly articles using engines such as:
Access government documents and maps
Rapidly sift through hundreds of years of newspapers from the Vermont, the United States, and worldwide. For many of the newspaper databases, you can select a relevant date range, search for keywords, and use other methods to refine your search.
Learn how to properly cite sources (Chicago is the standard for historical writing)

Using Sources in Planning Your History Paper

Primary Sources

What is a primary source?

A document (painting, government paper, letter, film, diary entry, telegraph) dating from the time period you are studying, composed by someone living at the time. It is primary because it occurred at the time you are studying and is a first-hand account. This is ‘living” history because it directly relates to the time. Think of it as an artifact that could be in a museum.

Primary sources are going to be the main backbone evidence of a history paper.

(Sadly they are often difficult to read and understand!) Primary sources are where most of the real historical evidence should come from in your paper. Being able to understand all aspects of the source and apply the source within the context of the times shows a deep understanding of the subject you are addressing in your paper. Using the real historic evidence in the source to prove an argument is needed for a strong paper. Think of the primary source as the clues in a crime show investigation-the evidence is in the documents that you need to prove your case, or in your situation, prove your thesis. Similarly, you don’t start writing a paper, or solving a case, with an argument in mind. You have to use the evidence in the primary sources to form an argument that takes all evidence, and examples (which can often seem contradictory) into account.

Tips for Reading a Primary Source:

Try answering the following questions

What type of source is this? Is it a government document? A letter? A diary?
Who created the source?
When and where was the source produced?
What do we know about the time and place the source was produced?
How does the source’s author fit into the context of the historical situation?
What was the writer’s intent?

The importance of an Author’s Intent in reading Primary Sources

Often times the author’s intent in writing the source reveals a lot about the source and what it means within the context of the times. Understanding that intent can help you understand how truthful and accurate the author’s ideas of the events are, how their descriptions of the time might be biased. Think of this as someone in the future watching a car insurance commercial: are they supposed to just believe as a fact that Geiko is the best car insurance? No! They should notice the producers made the commercial for the intent of selling their insurance. The same goes for looking at historical primary sources-no author is “neutral.”

How to find Author’s intent?

What is emphasized in the source?
What language does the creator use to communicate to the reader?
Who was the source addressed to? Was there an audience? Who would have seen this source?
How might others in the time reacted to the source?

Questions to ask yourself when considering a source for a paper

What does the source reveal about issues of the time?
How does the source relate to others in the time? Is this a trustworthy source?
Are there are contradictory ideas in other sources of the time?

Secondary Sources

What is a secondary Source?

A secondary source is a document addressing a historical issue that was written at a later date. Your secondary sources will often be other historians’ analyses and interpretations of a historical event. Often we reference secondary sources in making our own arguments, either relating our own ideas to the previous historians’ idea or using their ideas to help defend our own.

How to think of the relationship between primary and secondary sources:

Historical Figures/Events (Primary Sources) = Sport Athletes Playing the Game
Historians (Secondary Sources) = Sports Commentators

Think of the relationship between primary sources and secondary sources as similar to that between a sports game and sports commentators. Take, for example, baseball. The historical figures and events that are occurring IN history are like the sports athletes playing IN the game. What they feel and say in the game is a primary account, the same way what was said, written and drawn by historical figures is a primary document. Secondary sources are like sports commentators. Historians, like the sports commentators, are professionals; they know the rules of the game, the players, their batting averages, and the previous records. The historians in secondary sources, like the sports commentators, are giving their opinion and analysis of history and are tying in the historical events within a specific argument and context. Sports commenters are not actively playing in the game, just as historians who write secondary sources are not living and participating in the times they write about. Instead they comment on and share their opinions and observations. Each historian has their own unique perspective and ideas; just as different commentators have different perspectives and biases.

Tips for Reading a Secondary Source:

Remember that the events the source talks about occurred at a later date.
Remember that the source’s author is usually trying to prove their own ideas or argue for their beliefs about the events that have occurred.
Often the source assumes you know a little bit about the time period.
Secondary sources often contradict each other because historians do not always agree.
The lenses through which the author views history in general also differ; this is called Historiography.

Using Sources to Plan Your Papers

The main point of a history paper is having a clear argument that is defended logically with evidence. Creating the argument or the thesis is the most crucial step in planning a paper. The argument has to rely on the historical evidence from the documents.

Tips To Craft An Argument

The argument made in a history paper should be based on all the evidence presented and found in primary and secondary sources. Your thesis should incorporate the different elements of each source and draw a conclusion. Your argument should not be created without looking and analyzing all the evidence. Approach a history paper argument like a crime scene: you can’t walk in with a preconceived idea about the crime, but rather should search for and look carefully at all of the evidence, weighing all contradictory evidence and imagining different scenarios that would explain the evidence. Apply that same concept. Sometimes this is overwhelming because it is complicated- it requires looking at history as a web of interrelated events and ideas instead of a linear progression. Since there are often so many forces in play, it is important to be able to understand the connections in order for form an argument. Here are some useful ways to approach considering the different type of evidences and how to apply them to form an argument.

For visual learners: Write down the main points from the primary and secondary sources scattered on a piece of paper with a bubble. Use arrows to connect the points to each other and try to connect to the events that were happening at the time.

For kinesthetic learners: Write down the main ideas/quotes on flash cards or sticky notes, lay the flashcards on the table and physically move them around in different orders, chronologically, thematically, or otherwise For visual/kinesthetic learners: Write down the different ideas on flash cards and color code them with highlighters according to theme and group them in different ways to see how they connect

For students who need help with organization: Create a structured outline format. Write out topic sentences and concluding sentences, and mark where the evidence belongs.

Common Points of Confusion When Dealing With Sources

Contradiction: Since, like today, people in the past had different ideas and opinions, often primary sources contradict and argue with each other. That is okay! History teachers want to see you understand why these contradictions occur. Historians often disagree as well! There might be two historians writing very different opinions about the same event.

Causation vs. Correlation: Just because one event followed another does not mean that the first event caused the second. Often multiple factors are in play to cause an event to occur. Instead, try to think of events working within a web of events that all are layered on top of each other rather than as a linear progression.

Standards of Times: Often students get confused because they impose their own cultural ideas on the period they are studying. It is easy to dismiss certain key social points if we hold historical figures to the same ethical, moral, and cultural standards we have today. Consider the society that the figures and events were occurring in. For example, often when dealing with minority and feminist issues, students are quick to disregard any historical progress or open mindedness because it does not compare to the tolerance we have today. They are holding people in the past to our modern standards of sexism and racism. We have to put ourselves in the shoes of someone at the time, EVEN if it means dealing with sometimes uncomfortable ideas and situations.