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Peer Review

Research Guide for Doing Undergraduate History

Reviewed:
Feb 18, 2003 by History
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 5.0 stars
Content Quality: 5.0 stars
Effectiveness: 5.0 stars
Ease of Use: 5.0 stars
Overview:
The Research Guide to Doing Undergraduate History offers educators and students
a well-organized process on how to use research guides, electronic archives,
history sites and/or popular history sites, and write a research paper and/or
book review and make contacts with professional societies.
Type of Material:
Reference.
Recommended Uses:
As an introduction to any history survey or upper level history course to
prepare students on how to conduct research and write researach papers and book
reviews.
Technical Requirements:
None.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
To acquaint students with the historian's craft for reconstructing the past.
To provide guidelines for researching historical projects and presenting the
findings.
To acquaint students with what constitutes a primary source and how to use
primary sources in conducting research.
To assist students in learning how to review and analyize sources.
To acquaint students with the process of conducting bibliographic sources.
To assist students in distinguishing between good and bad internet sources.
To provide students with the process to write book reveiws and/or research
papers.
To acquaint students with the proper use of secondary sources in conducting
research.
Target Student Population:
High School.
College, undergraduate and graduate.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
None required.
Students should be able to read and to search the web.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:
This is a model website for college history students and anyone wanted to learn
the historian's craft. The site's content covers all aspects of the tools an
historian needs to develope and hone his/her craft. The quality of the advice is
excellent and the writing is clear and concise. The layout, including design
and colors, is easily understood and straight forward. Emphasis is placed on
cultural and social history.
Concerns:
The site should include references to professional journals and societies, and
interest groups in diplomatic, military,a nd political history.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:
The site offers clearly stated learning objectives and provides considerable
pedagogical flexibility and adaptability. The links to the Martha Ballard and
Lizzie Borden sites, case studies using primary sources that show how the
historian undertakes research and writing, are useful, fascinating and excellent
choices. Additional links to the Library of Congress catalogue make the site a
useful tool kit for both historical scholars and students.
Concerns:
None.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:
Easy to navigate, connect to links, and return to the home page. The
instructions are clear and concise for each section of the site. Site is well
designed. A great deal of planning and care went into the development of this
site. The site enables students the starting place on how to learn what history
is, how one goes about learning history, and how one becomes an historian.
Concerns:
None.
Other Issues and Comments:
Links to the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations, the Society
for Military History, and the Society for the History of Technology would be
useful additions to what is already an excellent site.
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