Home: History: Historiography

General Information about Historiography

"Historiography is concerned with historical interpretations and representations of the past—put another way, the writing of history as opposed to history itself" and "involves consideration of the broader cultural, social, economic, and political forces that shape historical writers and their writing" (The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods).

Topic Page: Historiography (Credo)

General Considerations

Who are the major historians for your topic?
How can these historians be organized into schools of approach or methodology?
How has the historiography of your topic evolved over time?
How did the various historians explore the topic through a political, social, or economic lens?

Articles

Example searches:

historiography AND Australia
historians AND "Slave Tade"
“historiographical-evolution” AND Aztecs
"school of thought" AND "Civil War"
Other terms: "historical schools", interpretations, "historical writing", "historical account"
Additionally, conduct searches on the topic (e.g., "French Revolution").
- Note the works cited in the bibliography.
- Explore scholarly book reviews during different time periods for books on the topic.

Selected Journals

Ebsco search for History
Search across the following databases:

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
A total of more than 900 full-text scholarly journal titles in an online archive beginning with the first issue of each title. The archive includes nine JSTOR Arts and Sciences Collections.
- In JSTOR, there is usually a time lag in full-text content. Use JSTOR in conjunction with our current online databases and print holdings.
- Since results may contain articles that are not peer reviewed, search for the journal title using the A-Z Journals by Title list to verify the journal's peer-reviewed status.
Note: AND, OR, NOT must be entered in all uppercase. (See further details.)
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
A multidisciplinary resource providing the largest aggregated full-text database in the market today totaling more than12,665 titles - with over 9,745 titles in full text. Covers more than 160 subject areas, including business and economics, health and medical, news and world affairs, technology, social sciences and more. Provides over 400 full-text U.S., Canadian and international newspapers; nearly 30,000 full-text dissertations in the areas of business, psychology, physical sciences, health, education; and nearly 9,000 market reports for business information for 43 industries in 40 countries.
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
All journal titles in Project MUSE are peer reviewed, scholarly titles. Project MUSE covers the fields of literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics, and many others.

Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
- Click on the Full-Text@Emmanuel at the right of articles or the more option below the item record.
- Search for the journal title using the A-Z Journals by Title list to verify the journals peer-reviewed status.

Books

Example searches:

historiography AND "French Revolution"
historians AND "Mao Zedong"

Open Library, Internet Archive
Books are available to one borrower at a time using controlled digital lending.
To access the books, you will need to Sign Up for a Free Account.
- See also the Internet Archives Book collection
Boston Public Library
Access to the Boston Public Library (BPL) databases are available with either your BPL library card or BPL e-card.