Subject and Course Guides: Beginning Your Research in History (Fall 2020): Home

University of Nebraska-Lincoln University Libraries

This guide is designed to get students started with research in history, and it has been revised in light of the hybrid and flexible learning environment for Fall 2020. This guide emphasizes full-text resources that students will have access to electronically.

What brings you here?

I need to figure out a topic or understand my research topic better

Start with dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference resources
Before trying to understand scholarly and peer-reviewed books and articles, get a firm grasp of your topic with definitions, topic overviews, and information written with the learner in mind.

Wikipedia will work okay for some topics, but its coverage is inconsistent and credibility may be an issue. If you start with Wikipedia, be sure to look at the sources in an article. Reputable pages should have multiple citations.

I need to find scholarly articles about my topic

Use these recommended databases and tools
The databases listed here highlight databases that provide full-text access to scholarly articles.
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Remember: there's a difference between scholarly and peer-reviewed. Scholarly is a much broader category and can include books, articles, reviews, opinion pieces, and more. Peer-reviewed refers to a specific process in which a resource is formally evaluated by scholars before it is approved for publication.

I'm looking for books on my topic

Finding Books
The Libraries has access to e-book collections and individual e-books that can support your research in history.

I'm looking for primary sources

Finding Primary Sources
Primary sources are original materials that document historical events and experiences. Through the University Libraries and beyond, you have access to millions of primary source materials--many of which you can access online.

I need help citing my sources

Use these tools for citing sources and managing your research.
We've got many resources and tools to help with organizing and citing sources. For quick citations, I recommend Citation Machine. For more advanced organizing and citation help, Zotero is my favorite.

I'm totally lost and don't know where to start