Library Website : History: Historiography: Home

Historiography deals with the writing of history. In the broadest sense, it is the study of the history of history (as it is described by historians). Historiography has several facets, but for the purposes of a researcher trying to situate his work in the context of other historians' work on a particular topic, the most useful thing is the historiographic essay or review article that summarizes changing ideas about and approaches to the topic. A really good historiographic essay will also address why historians' ideas have changed

- Steven Knowlton, History Librarian Princeton University https://scholar.princeton.edu/steven.a.knowlton/

Scholarly Articles Written by Historians

Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Best database for world history. Lists scholarly articles from history journals. Allows you to search by journal name. Each article is summarized. Covers the history of civilization (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present.
ProQuest This link opens in a new window
A multidisciplinary database of over 11,000 titles, with over 8,000 titles in full-text. Subjects covered include business and economics, health and medical, news and world affairs, technology, social sciences and more.
America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
America: History and Life is the definitive index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Contains almost 1,000 full-text journals spanning multiple disciplines. Some journals go to back to the mid-1800's. There is a gap, typically from 1 to 5 years, between the most recently published journal issues and the issues available in JSTOR.
ERIC (Direct) This link opens in a new window
ERIC, the Educational Resource Information Center, contains more than a million records, some of which are available in full-text. This resource links the user directly to the ERIC Institute of Education Sciences database.

Books Written by Historians

WorldCat (OCLC FirstSearch) This link opens in a new window
WorldCat includes records for books, videos, serial publications, articles, recorded books and music, electronic books, sheet music, genealogical references, cultural artifacts, digital objects, Web sites and much more. Contents from Milne Library and other libraries worldwide in over 470 languages.
Google Book Search This link opens in a new window
There are many full-text books available through Google Books. Using the Advanced Search screen, check off ”Full view only” under ”Search”.

Milne Library Books
Click on the available physical materials button to search for books in the Milne library collection

How to Create a Historiography

1.The first step in creating a historiography is finding a topic that has been extensively researched by historians. Finding an exciting topic that interests you will make your historiography more interesting for you and the reader!

2. Creating an annotated bibliography is the next step to creating a historiography. An annotated bibliography is a list of sources with citations and brief descriptions that you will use for your historiography.

3. The third step is forming an argument and identifying the author's historical perspective. Looking at book reviews and other historiographies can be useful ways to understand historians' stances and perspectives.

4. The fourth and final step of course is writing your historiographical paper. This paper should be a concise summation of your previous research and findings. Some ways to break down historian's stances include: chronologically, respective schools of thought, and by regional differences.