HIST 300: Find it! Tips for Locating Primary Sources and Images

LIBRARIANS:MW morning class:

Pete Ramsey• 410-837-4275

• pramsey@ubalt.edu

Wed night class: Catherine Johnson • 410-837-4276

• cjohnson@ubalt.edu

Search Assignment• Average grade: 88%– Lenient with mistakes, as long as you tried

• Most Common Mistakes:– Search Statements– Reference Sources– Subject Headings

Review

• Name three kinds of Primary Sources.• What is meant by “authority” when discussing a

journal article?• What is one way Archives protect their

collections?• What is a gazetteer?

• Have you found any interesting history websites lately?

Today

• Finding Primary Sources

• Historic Images– Finding them– Evaluating them

• Wrap up!

Finding Primary Sources: Tips

1. What types of primary materials might have been produced?– Printed materials (documents, letters, photos)– Physical items (art, architecture, textiles)

2. Who would have produced them?3. Who would have used them?

4. When would the primary sources have been produced?

5. Would they have been published, unpublished, or represented in another form (i.e. audiotape of an interview)?

Finding Primary Sources: 2

6. What would historians of that period have used to do their research?

7. Why does this source still exist? Why was it important enough for someone to preserve?

Finding Primary Sources: 3

(See pages 100-109 in Presnell)• Books in the library catalog– Include type of primary source in your search:

(“World War II” OR WWII) AND memoir

• Articles in magazines, journals, newspapers:– Especially for material before radio/TV invented– Use databases and indexes to find these

Published Primary Sources

• Manuscripts– Letters and correspondence– Personal writings

• Archives/Special Collections searching– Search by name for the person– Search library/archive catalogs in the place they lived – Search catalogs near where they worked

• Biographical sources (see pages 128-130)– May list archive where someone’s papers are collected

Other great archive searches: pages 111-113

Unpublished Primary Sources

• Not just federal…state & local documents, too!• Usually organized by government agency, ministry,

or department– May have to search by the organization name

• Foreign documents can be really tough – UN, EU, and UK are easiest (but still hard)

Search resources: pages 115-116Ask Mike Kiel, Reference/Instruction Librarian

Government Documents

• What type of image is it?• What is the social context? Historical context?• What may have

happened before and after the image was created?

• What’s outside the frame?

Evaluating Images: 1

• Any gender, race, or class issues brought up? Has the image creator addressed them?

• How do the people in the image relate to any objects in the image?

• How did the photographer or artist set up the image? (Angle, lighting, focus) How does this change audience perception (then and now)?

Evaluating Images: 2

• Basically:– When was the image created?– Who created it?– Why did they create it? • To express their philosophy or viewpoint?• To convey a message about an event or object?

– What was the context of the image?• Cultural/social context, historical context

Evaluating Images: 3

• In the catalog:– Find a book or two about your topic– In the catalog record, look for the abbreviation

“il.” or “illus.” (means illustration/s)

Finding Historic Images: in books

– OR, limit your search using the subject “pictorial works” (using an extra row on the advanced search screen)

– Also…in the book, look for list of illustrations or image index

• Learn about formats (p. 191)• Learn about copyright (p. 201)– http://search.creativecommons.org

1.Find collections– List of them on p. 186-188 (lots of free ones!)– i.e. New York Public Library Digital Images

Finding Historic Images: Online

2. Search the collection– Make sure the collection will have things on your

topic…don’t search the American Memory collection for British Lords in India

– Be specific…sort by date/time period– Use search tools (NYPL has browse by topic)

Historic Images Online: 2

Searching Image Databases• List of good ones on p. 189– Example: http://images.google.com

• Use the advanced search option– Look at what it has to offer!

• Describe the object in your search• Limit by type of image, if desired

Historic Images Online: 3

• Thanks! I’ve learned a lot doing this.

• Evaluations (I’ll send to Dr. Nix…optional)

• Librarians are here to help! – One-on-one meetings (no grades for those!)– Reference desk any time

Wrap Up

Image Credits• Baltimore postcard

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bobsoldbaltpostcards/1b-h1591.jpg • Baltimore: About 1800

http://baltimorecityhistory.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/balt011.jpg• Baltimore Post Office

http://www.kilduffs.com/Building_174_Baltimore_OldPostOffice_CalvertStreet.jpg • E. A. Poe picture http://www.basicfamouspeople.com/pictures/899.jpg• Baltimore Stamp http://www.zebrapatterns.com/Images/CityStamps/Baltimore%20Stamp

%20PIX%205in%20.gif• Illuminated Manuscript: http://www.nls.uk/supportnls/images/manuscript_detail.jpg • Druid Hill Park postcard: http://reservoirhill.org/eutawplace23.jpg • Patterson Park painting: http://www.ednabarney.com/docs/pagoda.jpg