Simson HIST 1111 Assignment

There are a few students requesting help finding primary documents for Dr. Simson's World History to 1500 class. This assignment is similar to the one for Modern World History in that students will be required to interview their families to learn where the family roots are. Then students will look for primary sources related to that area of the world from before 1500. It's harder for such early time periods, especially since Dr. Simson wants the sources to be writing (in any language) or maps.

Dr. Simson explained the assignment in class. The project proposal is due next week. The following snips from a rubric evaluating the project will give some idea of the research required.

Please remember that you can get some help from the HIST111 LibGuide.  I've also had some luck doing pre-research in Discover GALILEO on "indigenous people" (country name) history, then using the names of tribes or individuals I discovered to search in other databases or repositories.  Dr. Simson wants the students to experience the challenges and rewards of historical research!

Simson History 1112 Assignment

Dr. Simson has an assignment in his Modern World History class asking students to link events in their own families to events in world history, along the lines of several themes.  For the assignment, students need at least 2 primary sources, a reference in their textbooks, an additional book, and a related article.  The primary documents can be interviews, personal photographs, letters, etc.  In other words, students may look in the family attic or memorabilia for primary sources, as well as finding published primary sources from the era related to their family's story.

It has been a challenge for students who come from outside the U.S. to find primary sources.  There are some books with eye witness accounts from other countries, but our collection is not deep in that area. Beth had good luck using Discover GALILEO with the country name as subject, then limiting type to primary source documents.  You may also have some luck using LexisNexis to find news articles from the country of origin at the time family lived there.

A scan of the assignment appears below.  Part 2 will be a 5-6 page essay on the intersection between family and world history.

Primary Document Research

It's prime time for assignments, and students in history classes are on the hunt for primary documents.  Here are some of the great reference sets on our shelves:

• Milestone Documents of World Religions    BL74 .M56 2011
• Daily Life through World  History in Primary Documents     CB69 . D35 2009
• Milestone Documents in World History     D5 . M54 2010
• The Annals of American History     E173 .A793
• Milestone Documents in American History     E173 .M63
• Milestone Documents of American Leaders     E173 .M632
• Milestone Documents in African American History     E184.6 .M55 2010

Several databases also have good collections of primary documents.  In the following databases, it's possible to execute a search and then narrow results to primary documents:   Ancient and Medieval World History; Modern World History; Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Salem History. In the History Reference Center, it's possible to use "Primary Source Document" as a pre-search limiter when using Advanced Search. And remember that American History in Video has many primary sources in non-print form. Preselect interview or newsreel in the advanced search.

Faculty are increasingly guiding their students to excellent online archives on the deep web. Some of these are easily browsed.  Some are a trip down the rabbit hole, with wonders in store for those willing to take the journey.  You might enjoy exploring a few of the following:

• American Memory Project   http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
• Internet History Sourcebooks (Fordham U)   http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ 
• National Archives   http://www.archives.gov/index.html
• National History Day US History Primary Sources   http://www.nhd.org/USHistoryPrimarySources.htm 
• National History Day World History Primary Sources   http://www.nhd.org/WorldHistoryPrimarySources.htm
• Perseus Digital Library http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/

There is an amazing research guide from Newton Gresham Library on US History at http://shsulibraryguides.org/usprimary  and one on World History at
http://shsulibraryguides.org/worldprimary

If you have some other great resources to add to this list, please send them and we'll have a "Part 2."