How to Look
Trace the citations in your readings, because:
- This will lead you to discover relevant primary and secondary sources.
- It will also allow you to gain a broad understanding of what has been written on your topic and identify gaps in the literature.
Avoid general search engines, like Google, and focus instead on the databases to which your institution offers access to, because:
- You can locate relevant resources faster and spend less time evaluating their quality, as many databases give you the option to view only peer-reviewed publications.
- You can narrow your search with different selections, which reduces the number of results you have to look through.
How about Google Scholar?
- Once you feel like you have exhausted the resources available in the databases, you can expand your search beyond what is made available by your institution through Google Scholar.
- Do not rely on the system's filters to determine if a resource is scholarly, make sure to look at a resource closely before using it. Start by looking up the author and the publisher.
- Most often, you will not have full-text access to the desired resource, so reach out to your library to ask if there are any options available to accessing it.
Do not hesitate to ask for help:
- Developing research skills takes practice and your institution's librarians are there to help you along this learning journey.
Identifying search terms:
After you have narrowed down your topic of research, it is helpful to note keywords which you can use to search for resources.
Using search terms:
When combining terms, you can use the Boolean operator AND to narrow the results, or OR to expand the results.
Suggested search terms:
- "World War I" AND causes
- "Alliance System" AND "World War I"
- "Entente Cordiale"
- "Triple Alliance"
- "Old Diplomacy" AND "Word War I"
- "Balkan Wars"
- "July Crisis 1914"
- Nationalism AND "World War I"
- Militarism AND "World War I"
- "Schlieffen Plan" AND WWI
- Imperialism AND "World War I"
If you are looking for a more specific resource, try combining several terms together:
- ("Militarism" OR "Arms race") AND "Europe" AND "WWI"
- Militarism AND Germany AND WWI
- Russia AND "Foreign Policy" AND WWI
Persistency is key:
When searching, finding the right terms usually takes some trial and error. Do not despair ! Every database is organized differently, so you might need to try several combinations before finding the one that gives you relevant results. It helps to start broad and gradually narrow down the results by adding terms specific to you topic.
HINT: Most databases have "help" sections where you can find information about how to conduct advanced searches and use the available features.
Where to Look?
Search for scholarly articles in the following databases:
- JSTORMultidisciplinary digital library of full-text scholarly journals, books, and primary sources. It is particularly helpful to search for articles published in history scholarly journals on this topic.
- Historical Abstracts with Full TextFull-text, indexed, and abstracted articles.
- Wiley Online LibraryMultidisciplinary collection of online resources covering life, health and physical sciences, social science, and the humanities.
- Project MUSE
Scholarly journals in literature humanities, social sciences, mathematics, cultural and gender studies from Johns Hopkins University Press. The journal list is available for browsing.
- Gale Primary SourcesA collection of digitized, text-searchable primary sources.
Primary Sources
The Origins of the First World War by ISBN: 9780719074202Publication Date: 2013-06-26Mombauer's essential source reader translates, cross-references and annotates a vast range of international diplomatic and military documents on the origins of the First World War. This is a valuable resource in locating and analyzing official documents from 1911 to 1914, including many from the July Crisis. It also includes a scholarly introduction which provides a comprehensive overview of the history of document collections on the war's origins.
Primary and Secondary Sources
The World War I Reader by ISBN: 9780814758328Publication Date: 2006-12-01Neiberg has selected a wide array of primary documents, ranging from government papers to personal diaries, demonstrating the war's devastating effect on all who experienced it. In addition to this material, each chapter contains a selection of articles and book chapters written by historians. useful inclusions are a timeline, maps, suggestions for further reading, and Neiberg's introductive overview of the historiography of World War I.
- 1914-1918-Online. International Encyclopedia of the First World WarThis is a multi-perspective, public-access knowledge base on the First World War. It is the result of an international collaborative project carried out carried out by the Department of Modern History at the Friedrich-Meinecke-Institute of Freie Universität Berlin, under the direction of Professor Oliver Janz. Information is arranged, by theme, region and article titles. The encyclopedia provides open access to many scholarly articles. It also contains a bibliography, an index and a timeline. The "Pre-War" theme section is particularly helpful in researching the origins of the war.
- German History in Documents and ImagesThis is a comprehensive collection of primary source materials documenting Germany's political, social, and cultural history from 1500 to the present. It comprises original German texts, all of which are accompanied by new English translations, and a wide range of visual imagery. The most pertinent section on this topic is "Wilhemine Germany and the first World War".
- Europeana Collections 1914-1918Created in 2014, on the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, is a digital collection of material from national library collections of eight countries. The collection includes books, newspapers, trench journals, maps, music sheets, children’s literature, photographs, posters, pamphlets, propaganda leaflets, original art, religious works, medals and coins. It can be a useful resource in location primary sources.