History Senior Thesis Resources

This guide provides resources to help you with research and writing for your senior thesis in history. In this guide you will find: 

• Resources to find background information on your topic
• Places to find books in print and online
• Databases for locating scholarly and peer reviewed journal articles
• Databases and other suggestions for locating alternative press and publications
• Search tips for searching the library catalog and databases
• Resources for citing your sources and writing
• Databases for locating scholarly journal articles and suggestions for finding appropriate databases for your topic in CLIO 
• Research tips to help you with refining or expanding your research focus and organizing materials for writing once you find them
• Information and reference material about correct use of formatting styles and citation management

If you need assistance identifying additional resources, search terms, or strategies, please schedule a research consultation. 

Image: Vue d'une Ville des Foulis et de ses plantations. Antoine-François Prevost d'Exiles: Histoire generale des voyages ou nouvelle collection de toutes les relations de voyages par met et par
terre..., Paris: Didot 1749–1758. From Wikimedia Commons.

With your thesis, you'll be bringing your unique perspective on the topic you choose. You should consider your work as something that will be contributing to the existing scholarship on a particular topic, if only on a small scale. It's important to consider that you'll be influenced by your own background and your interests, and these things will shape the questions you ask about a particular topic. It's also important to remember that the sources you uncover can sometimes affect how you, as an historian, interpret information. All of this may seem, obvious but it's important to remember as you embark upon the experience of writing your thesis.