History Subject Guide

Where do I start my research?	What are some good Web sites?
How do I find books on my subject?	How do I cite and manage my sources?
How do I find journal articles? (Databases)	Past exams
For help: Email:MML.Reference@utas.edu.au Phone: 6226 2226 Email:Ltn.Reference@utas.edu.au Phone: 6324 3139	Go to: Morris Miller Library Launceston Campus Library School of History and Classics
Contact: Roger Carter, Liaison Librarian, Hobart Susan Bell , Liaison Librarian, Launceston

Looking for Classics? See the Classics Subject Guide

Where do I start my research?

A good way to start your research is to define your topic by using subject dictionaries and to find background information in encyclopaedias. The following is just a small sample of the type of material available in our reference collection:

Companion to Tasmanian History Online	Morris Miller Ref DU191.C66 2005 also online
Dictionary of historical terms	Morris Miller Ref D 9 .C67 1998 Ltn Ref 903 C771d 1991
Dictionary of contemporary world history from 1900 to the present day	Morris Miller Ref D 419 .P32 2003
Times atlas of world history	Morris Miller Ref G 1030 .T54 1993b Ltn Ref 911 T583 1978
Encyclopedia of world biography	Morris Miller Ref CT 103 .E56 (many vols) Ltn Ref 920.003 E56 1998
Encyclopedia of historians and historical writing	Morris Miller Ref D 14 .E53 1999
Chronology of European history	Morris Miller Ref D 11 .C48 1998
Chronology of the medieval world	Morris Miller Ref D 118 .S855 1994 Ltn Ref 902.02 S884c 1973
Medieval France : an encyclopedia	Morris Miller Ref DC 33 .M44 1995
Middle Ages: a concise encyclopaedia	Morris Miller Ref CB 351 .M565 1989
New Catholic encyclopedia	Morris Miller Ref BX 841 .N44 1967
Encyclopedia of the Renaissance	Morris Miller Ref CB 361 .E52 1999 Ltn Ref 940.2303 E56 1999
The History today companion to British history	Ltn Ref 941.003 H673 1995
Oxford Dictionary of national biography (UK)	Morris Miller Ref DA 28 .D47 (many vols) Ltn Ref 920.041 D554 Also online
Britannica Online	Full Encyclopedia Britannica - good background on almost any topic. Links to selected academic journal articles full-text from each topic
Australian dictionary of biography	Morris Miller Ref DU 82 .A9 (many vols) Ltn Ref 920.094 A938 Also online
Oxford companion to Australian history	Morris Miller Ref DU 90 .O94 1998 Ltn Ref 994.003 O98 1998
The companion to Tasmanian history The companion to Tasmanian history online	Morris Miller Ref DU 191 .C66 2005 Ltn Ref 994.6 C737 2005 also online
Cyclopedia of Tasmania	Morris Miller Ref DU 185 .C9 (3 v.) Ltn Ref 994.6 C995 1900
Dictionary of American biography	Ltn Ref 920.073 D554
Encyclopedia of American cultural & intellectual history	Ltn Ref 973.03 E56a 2001
Credoreference	Search a huge range of dictionaries and encyclopedias, full-text, including many history sources

How do I find books on my subject?

To find books on your subject you can:

search the Library Catalogue using the 'subject keyword' or 'general keyword' option.
OR
browse the bookshelves using these call numbers:

Morris Miller Library, Hobart

CB	History of civilization
CT	Biography
D	History: general and old world
DA	Great Britain
DC	France
DS	Asia
DU	Oceania
DU 80-398	Australia
DU 182-198	Tasmania
E-F	History: America
E 151-	United States general history
F 1-975	United States local history
F 1001-1140	Canada

Launceston Campus Library:

930 - 939	History of ancient world
940 - 999	History of modern world
940	History of Europe
940.1	Medieval European history
940.2...	European history 1453 - 1914
940.25	Enlightenment
940.3 - .4	World War I
940.53 -.548	World War II
941	History of British Isles
942	History of England & Wales
944	History of France
944.04	French Revolution
947	Russian history
968	South African history
973	History of United States of America
994	Australian history
994.46	Tasmanian history
270.6	Reformation and Counter-reformation
302.4209	Feminist history
382.09	Commercial and Trade history

How do I find journal articles?

The Library holds journals in both print and electronic formats. The best way to find journal articles is by using the databases listed below. When you find an article you want to read, use the Library Catalogue to see if we either hold the print journal or have access to a full-text electronic copy. Some databases have direct links to the full-text article.

Newspaper resources at UTas are described fully in our Newspapers Subject Guide.

Historians may be especially interested:

The Times Digital Archive featuring facsimile images of every issue of The Times (London) from 1785-1985. Link from our Newspapers Subject Guide. (Requires State Library of Tasmania membership).
Australian Newspapers. National Library project (in process) to digitize major Australian newspapers from 1803-1954
British Newspapers 1600-1900. Full text searchable database.

A List of History E-journals available to UTas clients. ( Remember to check the Library catalogue for the many other journals we hold in print format).

Subject-specific Databases | Multi-discipline databases | Related Databases | Journal title abbreviations

History Databases:

Historical abstracts (Choose: "Click here to access your subscription" to enter the database)	Abstracts over 2000 academic history journals, and covers world history (excluding USA and Canada) from 1450 to present. Also includes around 3000 citations annually to books reviewed in the abstracted journals.
International Medieval Bibliography (Choose: "Enter databases", then "Go" to start IMB)	An interdisciplinary bibliography of the Middle Ages, covering Europe, the Middle East and North Africa in the period400 - 1500. Over 300,000 articles derived from 4500 periodicals and 5000 other volumes (conferences, essay collections, Festschriften and exhibition catalogues). 1967+
British History Online	Very impressive array of primary and other historical resources. Includes full text of the prestigious Victoria History of the Counties of England and much more.
MEMSO -Medieval and Early Modern Sources Online	Extensive and growing collection of British and colonial source documents, calendar rolls, state papers and much more, all full-text and fully searchable.

Multi-discipline Databases:

APAFT (Australian Public Affairs Information Service) and other Informit databases	Humanities and social sciences indexwith full-text., including most Australian history journals from 1978+. Many other Informit databases also contain useful history material.
ANZ Reference Centre	Academic and popular journals, newspapers, biographies and even images in all subjects. Most articles are available full-text. Australasian bias, but good coverage elsewhere.
Index Islamicus	Indexes literature on Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Covers all subjects. 1906+.
JSTOR (Collections i-iv)	Full text archival backfile for hundreds of major humanities journals. JSTOR Description
19th Century Masterfile	The largest resource for pre-1925 studies online, with more than 60 indexes to periodicals, books, newspapers, patents and US/UK Government Documents. NCM is a vast 'index of indexes' to the entire output of pre-1925 Anglo-American publishing--books, periodicals, newspapers and government publications. Includes full text archival backfile for hundreds of major 19th C humanities journals.
Web of Science	Citation database of core academic journals in all subjects. Incorporates Arts and Humanities Citation Index, 1975+
ProQuest	Good starting point to many full-text journal articles. Includes references to and some full-text articles of popular and academic journal articles. Good history coverage. (Time coverage varies per journal)
Project Muse	Full-text access to 150 top academic journals in the humanities and social sciences. Good coverage of history. (Recent years only)
Bibliography of Asian Studies	Indexing book chapters and journals on all subjects (especially in the humanities and the social sciences) pertaining to East, Southeast, and South Asia published worldwide from 1971.
British Humanities Index	Abstracting and indexing tool for research in the humanities. 1962+.
Libraries Australia	Combined catalogue of Australia's most important libraries. Requires a password - link to the database from the passwords page.

Related Databases

FAMILY and Society Plus	Abstracts and full-text. Covers family, family life and social change in Australia, marriage and divorce, the aged, child development, family economics, family law, population studies. Articles, book chapters, conference papers, annual reports, bibliographies, theses, research papers, government documents. 1988+.
FEMINAE (Medieval Women and Gender Index)	Covers journal articles, book reviews, and essays in books about women, sexuality, and gender during the Middle Ages. Advanced search feature. Comparable, in its field, to Historical abstracts or International Medieval Bibliography. Recommended.
Sociological abstracts	Good coverage of books, journals conference papers and dissertations. Includes topics such as Art History , Economic History , History of Ideas, see Intellectual History , History of Sociology , Intellectual History , Life History , Oral History , Political History ,Social History , Womens History. 1974+
Philosopher's index	Includes abstracts of articles on the history of ideas, and the Enlightenment. 1940+
Worldwide political science abstracts	Abstracts of international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including historical topics.1975+

Journal title abbreviations:

History Journals Abbreviation Guide	Web pages that list journal title abbreviations.
Periodical Title Abbreviations	Comprehensive list arranged by full title and abbreviated title. Held at library reference desks

Useful Free Web Sites

Web site directories | Guide to using the World Wide Web

Web site directories:

General

Intute: History (Highly recommended!)	Search or browse the database of History resources which have been selected, evaluated and described by subject specialists. From the UK for academic audiences.
WWWVL The World Wide Virtual Library History: Central Catalogue	Comprehensive portal to academic history
Internet History Sourcebooks Project	Extensive collections of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts. All periods, topics and geographical areas.
History Guide /InformationsWeiser Geschichte	History gateway from a German academic and library consortium. Very good Australian content.
Australia's Oral History Collections: A National Directory	Search for Australian oral history collections geographically and by subject.
Australian History: Selected Websites	From the National Library of Australia
Old Bailey Proceedings Online	Searchable digitized collection of the Proceedings from 1674 to 1913. Many extra relevant links and additional historical information related to criminal trials in the OB.
UK Hansard Online	Searchable Parliamentary proceedings. Hansard, the Official Report, is the edited verbatim report of proceedings in both Houses of Parliament. Coverage: 1803-2005.
Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts	Scholarly database of over 10000 ms in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek and the Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum. Multilingual and multisubject. Fully searchable
Histpop- Online Historical Population Reports (UK)	Complete British population reports for Britain and Ireland from 1801 to 1937. A wealth of textual and statistical material which provide an in-depth view of the economy, society (through births, deaths and marriages) and medicine during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Late Antiquity and Medieval Studies. Byzantium and early Christianity Late antiquity Medieval	Excellent resources for late antiquity, byzantine and medieval studies
Sources in the National Archives for research into the transportation of Irish convicts to Australia (1791-1853)	From the Irish National Archives

How do I cite and manage my information resources

Below are guides to citation styles and other aspects of presentation. Students should always check with their teacher or supervisor if there is any doubt about which style to use.
Personal bibliographic software (e.g. Endnote) may be used to manage your sources when undertaking in-depth research. The Library provides training in EndNote for staff, honours and postgraduate students.

UTas History Essay Writing Guide	Guide for undergraduates
Citation styles for online resources	This site includes examples of citing sources from the Web using Chicago and other styles. Chicago includes a footnoting style useful for history publications.
Library holdings of citation style guides	This list includes guides to citation and other issues of style and presentation.
EndNote Introductory Guide	An introduction to using the most popular bibliographic software package.

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