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HIST 301: The Historian's Craft (Schechter, Fall 2023)

To paraphrase Braudel, Boolean Comes First.

Be sure to use Caps for AND, OR, NOT when searching.

AND - searches for books and articles containing both terms. Example: "higher education" AND virginia AND history

OR - searches for one of the words. Example: "william and mary college" OR "college of william and mary"

NOT - exclude a term. Example:  NOT "West Virginia"

Parenthetical notes () - excellent for OR or NOT searches. Like a math equation, the database will do this part first.
Example: (Virginia OR "West Virginia") AND "higher education"  
Example: (schools NOT academies) AND women 

Quotation Marks ""- Links words together in the search. Works best for phrases or proper names.
Example: "william and mary"
Example: "brafferton school"
Warning: You might exclude results. A search for "Captain Smith" will exclude all results for "Captaine Smith," which was the original spelling. "Indian boarding schools" will exclude "Indian Schools"

Asterisk * - Allows you to search several word endings at once, without using OR.
Example: Virginia* will give you results for Virginia, Virginian, Virginians. 
Example: wom* will cover women, woman, womens, womanhood.
Example: school* covers school, schools, schoolroom, schoolbook, schoolmarm, etc
Warning: You may get unexpected results. Virginia* will bring up articles on the Virginia opossum. Wom* will include wombat.

Steps when looking for peer reviewed sources

1) Write out your topic

2) Identify key words

3) Identify synonyms

4) write out the search using Boolean

5) After your first search, revise terms

6) Pay attention to official Subject Terms -- these will work in databases, the catalog, and WorldCat. Finding the subject headings for your topic lets  you find nearly every book/article (ex).

Examples

 
  • Opportunities and Agency for women before, during, and after the Revolutionary War
    • Opportunities, agency, women, revolutionary war
      • "american revolution" instead of revolutionary war
        • (Agency OR opportunit*) AND women AND ("american revolution" OR "revolutionary war")
  • Comparing stories/fears with what actually happened; European/colonial cannablism; projecting their fears onto others OR comparing the freedom female pirates attained vs those who stay behind
    • Cannibals, stories, fears, colonies
      • cannibals, cannibalism, stories, myths, fears, folklore
        • Cannibal* AND (stories OR myth* OR folktale* OR folklore) AND America*
  • Law, policy, interactions between colonial authorities and the British government/crown
    • interactions, "British government", colonial authorities
  • How memory of the revolution has been used for political purposes ( Revolutionary veterans, Shays' Rebellion, how the revolution has affected American culture)
    • American revolution, memory, politics, culture,
      • "american revolution" OR "Revolutionary war"
        • ("american revolution" OR "Revolutionary war") AND memory AND politics
        • ("american revolution" OR "Revolutionary war") AND (memory OR legacy) AND (shays OR veterans)
        • ("american revolution" OR "Revolutionary war") AND (memory OR legacy) AND ("american culture")
  • capitalism shaping music, music as a political tool, women and music in the 19th century
    • capitalism, music, politics, women, 19th century
      • markets, antebellum, influence
        • music AND women AND (politic* OR influenc*) AND (19th OR nineteenth OR antebellum)
        • (market* OR capital*) AND music AND women AND (politic* OR influenc*) AND (19th OR nineteenth OR antebellum)
        • music AND women AND (19th OR nineteenth OR antebellum)
  • What was the difference in experience between a regular soldier and a militia soldier in the Revolutionary War
    • regular soldiers, militia soldiers, revolutionary war
      • "american revolution" instead of revolutionary war, minutemen
        • (militia* OR minutemen) AND (soldier* OR regular*) AND ("american revolution" OR "revolutionary war")
  • Vermont, impacts on local communities during American Revolution
    • Vermont, local communities, american revolution
      • "american revolution" instead of revolutionary war
        • ("american revolution" OR "revolutionary war") AND vermont
        • ("american revolution" OR "revolutionary war") AND vermont AND (local OR impact OR communit*)
  • either a- indentured servitute: compare to slavery, expectations vs reality b- revolutionary war in florida and birtish rule over florida?
    • Florida, British Rule, Revolutionary war
      • British administration, british governance, "american revolution" OR "revolutionary war"
        • British AND Florida AND ("american revolution" OR "revolutionary war") AND (govern* OR admin* OR rule OR loyalist*)
  • Maritime legal codes, privateering, probably going to be pre-revolution
    • maritime, legal codes, privateers
      • privateering, privateers, maritime law
  • Indentured Servants -- treatment norms around abuse, interactions between neighbors, court cases
    • Indentured Servants, treatment, abuse, neighbors, court cases
      • community, law
  • Yellow fever, social class, capitalism based on immunity, slavery, the spectrum of freedom, trade
    • yellow fever, capitalism, slavery, social class, trade
      • disease, market forces, market economy
        • ("Yellow fever" or disease) AND (market* OR capitalism)
  • rewards for runaways, how were the women described in said ads
    • slavery, women, runaway adverts
      • enslaved
        • (slave* OR enslaved) AND women AND (runaway OR fugitive) AND advert*
  • varying African presence/social status in Europe
    • Africans, social status, Europe
      •  "africans in europe" OR "European africans" OR ("black people" AND europe)
  • investigating history of sex work, legal history i think? over time?
    • legal history, sex work, women
  • bottom up history, how people understood rights in society, how this perspective may have changed throughout Revolution,  Legal Literacy and Understanding Rights
    • revolution, legal literacy, rights, perspective
      • ("american revolution" OR "revolutionary war") AND ("legal literacy" OR "legal rights" OR "personal rights" OR "civil rights")
  • How women used religion to gain more autonomy/ power, with a focus on enslaved women and/ or Quaker women
    • women, religion, autonomy or power, enslaved women or quaker women.
      • women AND religi* AND (power OR influence OR autonomy) AND (quaker OR enslaved)
  • Development of slavery and race relations in South Carolina, how/why system transitioned from more equality in condition/labor to form of slave society most often associated with South Carolina, period in mind is from 1670 founding to mid 18th century
    • south carolina, development of slavery, 1670-1750
      • "south carolina" AND slavery AND (introduction OR development) AND 17th
      • "south carolina" AND slavery as subject searches 
  • Comparison of New England, Middle, and Southern colonies,  Leisure & Entertainment
    • Leisure, Entertainment, New England, Middle, and Southern colonies
      • (Leisure OR Entertainment OR amusements) AND ("new england" OR "atlantic colonies" OR "middle colonies" OR "southern colonies")
      • (Leisure OR Entertainment OR amusements) AND (america* AND ("colonies" OR "colonial"))
  • Looking at religion and funerary practices in early america. Possibly looking at the culture and popular opinion surrounding deaths of major figures.
    • religion and funerals in early america, possible focus on famous figures
    • Mourning customs, funeral rites
  • indigenous relations to slavery and bondage before and after contact with Europeans, Indigenous culture
    • indigenous experience with slavery before and after contact
      • (indigenous or native or "indians of north america") AND (slavery OR enslavement)
      • (indigenous or native or "indians of north america") AND (slavery OR enslavement) AND ("Before contact" OR "precontact" OR pre-contact OR "pre contact")
      • (indigenous or native or "indians of north america") AND (slavery OR enslavement) AND european*
      • Limit to a specific sections, like (indigenous or native or "indians of north america") AND (slavery OR enslavement) AND 17th
  • Religious networking of early America; including missionary work, censorship, and wartime aid ( Letter Writing & Religion)
    • religious networks and missionary work, censorship, early america [may need to focus on a specific group]
  • Study the rise of the economics behind slavery
    • slavery and economics [will need to narrow]
  • How Indigenous Americans navigated settler colonialism by using the "middle-ground" system of bartering, conflict, and diplomacy prior, during, and after the 7 years war to better ensure their survival
    • indigenous peoples, settler colonialism, middle ground, trade, diplomacy, after 7 years war.
      • native americans, indigenous peoples, '
        • (indigenous or native) AND "middle ground"
        • (indigenous or native) AND (barter* OR trade) AND colonialism
  • What firearm owership and maintenance looked like under the Articles of Confederation and during the adoption of the Constitution
    • Firearms ownership, articles of confederation, early republic, constitutions