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HIST 200 - The Great War / Schneider, Joanne

Tools and strategies for finding resources on the Great War
Subjects: History Tags: the great war, world war i

Citing Sources

The editors of The Chicago Manual of Style provide a website to support use of their style guide.  Although the actual text of the manual online can be seen only by subscribers, a Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide on constructing some of the most often used types of citations is provided for free.

Purdue University's Online Writing Lab [OWL] makes a more detailed guide to Chicago style available on their website.

Since the Rhode island College History Department uses the Chicago bibliographic citation style in a modified way, the final arbiter of correct usage is your professor.

The Chicago Manual of Style was not created to support the needs of historians specifically.  And so, though it is hundreds of pages long, there are still some unusual items, especially primary sources, which Chicago may not address thoroughly or at all.  Consider consulting Evidence explained : citing history sources from artifacts to cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills in the Adams Library Reference Collection: Ref D5 .M55 2007 for examples of sources such as cemetery records, voter rolls, deeds, etc.

Guides to Primary Sources

"Discovery" of Primary Sources

Although some of the resources listed in this LibGuide are direct access points to primary documents or collections of primary sources, a fundamental concept of historical research is the discovery of primary sources through the use of secondary and even tertiary sources.  The bibliographies, reference lists, works cited, or Notes sections of any well constructed academic monograph or journal article should contain either direct citation of primary sources or secondary source pathways to primary sources.  These constitute ready-made literature reviews for fellow scholars. 

Never let a secondary or tertiary work leave your hands without examining the notes and the bibliography for useful material.  Remember: these academic authors have already combed the literature to a greater or lesser extent.  Capitalize on the work they have already done in your area of interest.

In the spirit of this advice, remember that sources such as the AHA Guide to Historical Literature [REF D20 .A55 1995] or Researching World War I: A Handbook [ REF D522.4 .R47 2003 ] will lead you to key secondary sources which, in turn, will point you to relevant primary sources used by those authors.

Electronic Reference Sources

 
Remember that the ANB and ODNB below will both lead you to key secondary and primary souces about the individuals profiled, but will ALSO allow you to do complete full text searching for all references to particular places, events, or ideas [i.e. conscription, pacifism/pacifists, mutinies, etc.] contained in these definitive, commissioned biographies.