Humanities Resources

1. Humanities Resources LIS413 Brendan Rapple Simmons College Summer 2009

2. Information Explosion No longer just a 4 walled library The world of global material

3. Information Produced by Academic Institutions Research universities and colleges are major producers of knowledge. • Information Produced in the Private Sector commercial newspapers magazine and book publishers film and television industry corporate laboratories business research firms

4. Print Material in Libraries For most research papers in most disciplines, it is still necessary to come to the physical library and consult some traditional print material. Print still lives!

5. Different Types of Journals, Magazines etc. • Scholarly Journals • Substantive News or General Interest Sources • Popular Periodicals • Tabloid Periodicals

6. Scholarly Journals Purpose: Scholarly Journal To share with other scholars the results of primary research & experiments.  Popular Journal/Magazine To entertain or inform in a more broad, a more general sense.  

7. Scholarly Journals Authors: Scholarly Journal • Contain articles written by experts/scholars/researchers in the field. • Authors’ names are always listed. • Author's credentials/affiliation often listed Popular Journal/Magazine • Author is usually a journalist or feature writer • Names not always noted.

8. Scholarly Journals = Peer Reviewed Journals How is an article accepted for a scholarly journal? • Professionals from the field, (the author's peers), review the articles to ensure that the information and research methods are correct. Process is very different for a popular magazine: • Writers are often employed by the magazine or publisher; acceptance is based largely on the topic's consumer appeal. 

9. How to Determine if a Particular Journal is Peer Reviewed? • Some databases permit one to limit one’s results to peer reviewed journals. e.g.: Academic OneFile • These limits are not always fool proof, but will help you narrow your search significantly.

10. Check the Following Content of a scholarly journal article: • Often (but not always) a scholarly article follows a certain format: • Abstract • Literature review • Description of the experiment or study (including methods used, target population, etc. if listed) • Results of the experiment or study • Discussion of the results, conclusions • Suggestions for further study • Bibliography/sources/references/citations/endnotes. • Content of a popular magazine article: • Often presented in story format, with anecdotes from other people.

11. Check the Following Appearance of a scholarly journal article: • Basic layout, usually simple black text on white paper • Few, if any pictures, and fewer still in color • Often has graphs, charts, tables • Few advertisements • Generally has a "serious" look to it Appearance of a popular magazine article: • Often printed on glossy paper with colored text • usually accompanying photographs and graphics • many advertisements for a wide variety of general consumer products.

12. If you locate the journal in print format, look at the first few pages. • Journals will indicate their selection and editorial process there. • In addition, you can consult the "Ulrich's Periodicals Directory" which usually indicates if the journal is scholarly. • Still, bear in mind that there are different levels of “scholarly”!!

13. Electronic Journals JSTOR Project Muse and many others

14. Newspapers and News Services • Many different types of newspapers • Scores of national and foreign newspapers are now available online • Check the database PressDisplay

15. Useful Newspaper Indexes, Databases, and News Services LexisNexis Academic: A vast resource of news sources: newspapers, magazines, wire services, newsletters, journals, company and industry analyst reports, broadcast transcripts, and abstracts. Reuters(http://www.reuters.com) CNN Interactive (http://www.CNN.com/) BBC

16. Other News Databases • Boston Globe • NY Times • Ethnic Newswatch • etc.

17. Zines Self-Published Online Periodicals e.g. Quantum Muse http://www.quantummuse.com./

18. Scholarly Books and Monographs A Database Indexing Scores of Millions of Books: WorldCat

19. Conference Papers/Proceedings

20. Working Papers • Disseminate preliminary research results quickly. • Usually issued in series by research institutes and university departments.

21. Citation Indexes Arts and Humanities Citation Index

22. Microforms • One of the most stable mediums used to store information for long periods of time. • Microfilm • Microfiche

23. Bibliographies Why reinvent the wheel?

24. Book Reviews For example: • Book Review Index • Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Humanities Journals • Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Scholarly Journals • Current Book Review Citations • Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities • National Library Service Cumulative Book Review Index • New York Times Book Review Index.

25. Encyclopedias • Atlases -- Many specifically focused indexes, e.g. Atlas of the Classical World.

26. Biographical Information Numerous print and online resources: ONLINE/PRINT Biography Index Biography and Genealogy Master Index Dictionary of Literary Biography American National Biography Current Biography Dictionary of American Biography Who's Who in America

27. Dissertations & Theses ProQuest Digital Dissertations Index to Theses of Great Britain and Ireland

28. Statistical Information

29. Archives and Manuscripts e.g. the database ArchiveFinder

30. Media Sources Visual, Sound Recordings etc. Photographs Advertisements Posters Magazine illustrations Cartoons Films Fossils Museum collections Art gallery collections may all constitute important research materials for researchers/ scholars.

31. Podcasts • Podcasts are increasingly important. • http://www.oculture.com/ is a good site.

32. U.S. Government Agency Data************************************* Legal Sources

33. Other Resources For example handbooks directories registers concordances manuals yearbooks guides digests glossaries companions thesauri gazetteers and, of course, all the Web material

34. Sources Preliminary Primary Secondary

35. Primary Sources The "raw data" of scholarship. Researchers use as many primary sources as possible. Clearly, such sources differ from discipline to discipline. The important role of Primary Sources to many humanists.

36. Literature Original manuscript of Tennyson’s In Memoriam. Contract signed by John Grisham for his novel The Firm.

37. History Book-keeping records of a 1920s small tobacconist; a stone inscription; handwritten will of a nineteenth century farmer; log book of an Arctic explorer; Abraham Lincoln's ceremonial sword; hieroglyphics on the temples of Luxor in Egypt.

38. Other Primary Sources in History • Original Documents • Objects • Oral Testimony

39. Manuscripts Charters Laws Archives of official minutes or records Files Letters Memoranda Memoirs Official publications Wills Newspapers Magazines Maps Diagrams Catalogues Inscriptions Graduation records Bills Lists Deeds Contracts Transcriptions Log books Research reports and others. Original Documents

40. Relics Coins Stamps Skeletons Fossils Weapons Tools Utensils Pictures Furniture Clothing Food Books Scrolls; also Art Objects, such as Sculptures Paintings; also Films Photographs Buildings. Objects

41. Secondary Sources Examples: history books encyclopedia articles prints of paintings replicas of art objects reviews of research and academic articles.

42. Preliminary Sources • An index to secondary and primary sources on a particular topic or field of study. • Sources include bibliographies -- essentially lists of source materials.

43. Intentional Documents Secondary sources such as biographies, memoirs, and yearbooks are deliberately composed to present a record of the past.

44. Unpremeditated Documents For example, novels and paintings created for a particular immediate purpose but not intended to be used for historical evidence at a later date.