Remember that the most important thing you can learn today is that you CAN ask for help! Please contact me if you are having any challenges or difficulty finding sources for your historiography.
Resources on Writing a Historiographic Essay
The websites below provide good background information on what historiography is as well as advice and guidance on writing a historiographic essay.
From the McLaughlin Library at the University of Guelph in Canada
Tips on Doing Research
Keep a running list of words and phrases that relate to your topic. (Ukraine, famine, Great Famine, holodomor, Stalin.)
Add alternate words and spelling variations to your lists (Ukrainian, Soviet, USSR, Eastern Europe, genocide).
Make sure spellings are exact matches. (King Philip's War not King Phillips or King Philips)
If you search and get too much, try again with one or two specific keywords.
If you search and get nothing or not much, simplify and use only one or two generic keywords.
Don't expect search boxes to auto-complete what you are thinking.
When you get results, pay attention to types of resources and the dates of publication.
Take notes on what you find as you go along
Search often and early -- the searching process may seem like it's easy but it's going to take longer than you think it will. Make 2-3 hour appointments with yourself to focus on it and allow yourself to go down the paths the research takes you!
The Chicago Manual of Style Online
The one, the only...make sure you bookmark this link:
The Chicago Manual of Style Online is the venerable, time-tested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format. And it is THE rule book to how your professor wants to see you cite your sources in your bibliography.
