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History: HIST A202 Historical Methods Lab: Overview

Course Description, Learning Goals, & Library Support

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course will provide history majors with the basic skills and competencies necessary for advanced work in the discipline.

LEARNING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:

Goal: To provide history majors with an overview of the basic methods of reading, studying, researching, and writing history.

Objective 1: To develop competencies in each of the four areas mentioned in the goal.

Objective 2: To test those competencies via the production of an original essay based on both primary documents and secondary sources.

LIBRARIAN SUPPORT:

Information Literacy Sessions

  • Exploratory Research
  • Strategic Searching
  • Evaluating Sources
  • Citation

Special Collections Session

  • Intro to Archival Research at Monroe Library

Special Collections Session

Learning Objectives:

Students will learn how to

  1. Discover the range of holdings comprising Monroe Library's Special Collections & Archives
  2. Conduct basic archival research using the above collections
  3. Interact with select primary documents from the above collections

Librarian Session 1: Exploratory Research

Learning Objectives: 

Students will learn how to

  1. Use internet and library search tools differently
  2. Explore reference works and multidisciplinary databases
  3. "Read" a bibliography

Librarian Session 2: Strategic Searching

Learning Objectives:

Students will learn how to

  1. Identify resources for primary and secondary historical sources
  2. Craft efficient search strategies for those tools
  3. Use a citation manager to organize the sources they find

Librarian Session 3: Evaluating Sources

Learning Objectives:

Students will learn how to

  1. Describe the authority of sources
  2. Characterize sources' relevance to a research project

Librarian Session 4: Citation

Learning Objectives:

Students will 

  1. Discuss the value of a citation style
  2. Practice writing footnotes and bibliographies