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History

This guide supports research assignments for all HACC history classes.

How to use this guide

Historical illustration of an historic battle

Some Things to Keep in Mind...

This guide is designed to provide a starting point for researching topics dealing with history from all times and places.  The resources listed are in both print and online formats.

  • Your professor might ask you to use a "primary source." Check out the "Primary Sources" tab of this guide for some examples.
  • For background information (encyclopedias and other reference books), use the " Reference Resources" tab.
  • For secondary sources, use the "Books" and "Databases" tabs.
  • Books are especially strong sources for many  History topics!

Historical Research and Writing

The Essential Guide to Writing History Essays

The Essential Guide to Writing History Essays is a step-by-step guide to the typical assignments of any undergraduate or master's-level history program in North America.

The Information-Literate Historian: a guide to research for history students

The Information-Literate Historian is the only book specifically designed to teach today's history students how to successfully select and use sources-primary, secondary, and electronic-to carry out and present their research.

The Historian's Toolbox

Written in an engaging and entertaining style, this widely-used how-to guide introduces readers to the theory, craft, and methods of history and provides a series of tools to help them research and understand the past. The tools include documents, primary and secondary sources, maps, and much more.

A Pocket Guide to Writing in History

A Pocket Guide to Writing in History is the concise, trusted, and easy-to-use guide for the writing and research skills needed in undergraduate history courses. Now thoroughly updated to reflect the 2017 Chicago guidelines, the ninth edition ensures that students have the most up-to-date advice and ample instruction for conducting responsible research.

A Short Guide to Writing about History

An ideal complement for any history course, 'A Short Guide to Writing about History' helps you learn how to think and write like an historian.