WRPR 101: Finding a Voice (HC)

Miguel Cabrera, Casta painting of a Mexican family, ca 1763 ("From male Spaniard and female Amerindian, Mestiza")   

(Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

Companions and handbooks are a publication type that has flourished in the last decade.  The goal is for leading scholars to provide a thorough description of the subject matter of a field while also giving the most current interpretations of key questions.  Each essay in a companion reflects an important subject facet and identifies the books and articles which are crucial for a greater understanding.   Companions for history include:

          Blackwell Companions        

          Oxford Handbooks                                                                                  

Literature reviews are a particularly useful resource when doing research.  They address the issues involved in a specific question and the debates among scholars.  They map out the intellectual terrain succinctly and give you the major landmarks in terms of key authors and significant titles for greater understanding.  It is one of the best places to find discussion of issues that are unresolved or in contention.

Subject librarians make research guides for individual classes and for topics.  Browse for information on different subjects.  See this introduction to research guides video for more information.  Research guides for courses in History include:

          HIST 114: Origins of the Global South

          HIST 118: Introduction to the History of Science

         HIST 291: Indigenous Women: Gender and Ethnicity in Latin America