History 253: Modern Japan

Welcome to the Library Research Guide for HIST 253: Modern Japan! It includes information and resources designed to aid you in locating research and managing sources for your assignments this semester.

For research questions:

• Email me at schaez1@stolaf.edu or schedule a research consultation if you have any questions!

For writing help:

• Make an appointment with the Writing Desk for assistance with organizing ideas and improving your writing style.

Slide 1: HIST 253: Library Session

Slide 2: 

Ann Schaenzer
Research & Instruction Librarian for Social Sciences and Data Literacy
schaez1@stolaf.edu

[Image: photo of Ann Schaenzer.]

Slide 3: What are our goals for today?

• Learn how to find and use a variety of academic and primary sources via the library website Catalyst and library databases: 
  • Tertiary (reference) sources
  • Secondary sources (scholarly books and articles)
  • Primary sources (historical sources)
• Learn how to utilize bibliographies and how to conduct a cited reference search
• Use the remaining time available to start finding sources for your annotated bibliography!

Slide 4: Helpful source types for this assignment

Slide 5: 

Reference Sources

• Scholarly Encyclopedia

[Image: Cover of Encyclopedia of Modern Asia.]

Secondary Sources

• Scholarly Journal
• Scholarly Book

[Image: Cover of a scholarly journal and a scholarly book.]

Primary Sources

[Image: the front page of the newspaper Japan Times.]

Slide 6: Ann’s caveat + how to get help

Slide 7: Worktime!

Some suggestions on how to use this time to make progress on your annotated bibliography:

• Utilize a reference source to find background info on your topic:
  • Try Credo Reference, Oxford Reference Online, or Oxford Bibliographies, all linked on the library guide. Search for a relevant entry on your topic from the upper right search bar.
• Find a secondary source:
  • Look at the sources linked on a relevant Oxford Bibliographies page. Click on the FindIt button to check if we have immediate access, and sign in and place a request if you need.
  • Look for a scholarly book or scholarly journal article related to your research topic in Catalyst or a library database listed on the library guide. Look at the bibliography for that source.
  • Use Google Scholar’s Cited by feature to locate more recent academic sources that cited a scholarly book or article you already found.
• Locate a primary source:
• Explore library databases (try the ones on the library guide), Oxford Bibliographies, Catalyst, or the open web to find primary sources related to your topic.