History Students' Research Guide and Tools: Historiography vs. Literature Review (VIDEO)

How is a Historiography Different from a Literature Review? from ccsulib on Vimeo.

On Writing EVERY Day (Advice from Twitter)

As a person who follows hundreds of academics across social media, I very frequently see reminders that we should all be writing something every day. Indeed, that was the main reason for making this blog, so I could practice stringing sentences together at least several times a week. But, as anyone who has seen this blog can see, I haven't actually been writing about what I'm researching, only how I'm researching.

The problem is, I haven't known what to write about my topic. I'm researching a number of rather obscure people, groups, and communities, so I don't feel like I have enough information about anything or anyone to write about in any way worth my time quite yet. I did start an annotated bibliography recently, but other than that, I haven't really been "writing" anything yet. Outside of the hundreds of index cards I've been furiously scribbling my notes onto for the past week, that is.

So, during a work break this morning, I shot off the following tweet:

Many academics say it's important to write EVERY day, but what about when you're in the early days of a project, just really starting to take notes and gather information?

I feel like I *should* be writing, but *what* @ this stage? 🤔#twitterstorians #AcademicTwitter #PHDchat

— Ameya Warde (@ameyawarde) March 13, 2018

Now usually, when I ask questions on #twitterstorians or #AcademicTwitter, I almost never get a reply. But, by some magic (and kind RTs from @AcademicChatter, @raulpacheco, & @erin_bartram!) I actually did get a slew of them this morning, and I think they're worth sharing here, too.

Prelim literature review, summaries of works read, essentially annotated bibliography.

— Spring Forward Spice (@errabund) March 13, 2018

In the beginning of my PhD, I wrote a couple of paragraphs summary for each paper I read as in overview why this paper is important for my project. That was quite helpful at a later stage :)

— Mara (@CuriousZebra_) March 13, 2018

That’s when I find my favorite pen and some quality paper and just start jotting down notes or start a mind map. For me, that tactile endeavor is enough in the early stages.

— Daniel Martínez (@dmmartinezphd) March 13, 2018

I like to do literature review when I start a project, to get a feel of where the field of research is at. I also jot down lots of notes/ideas for current (or future) research projects!

— kelsey rose (@kelseyrosemcd) March 13, 2018

Idea dumps are game changers

— Caroline (@carolinecpro) March 13, 2018

I wrote blogs on some of the empirically or theory, or just to explore ideas in a short, low pressure way.

— Professor_of_Power (@Prof_of_Power) March 13, 2018

There were also a number of tweets in support of note-taking itself being considered academic writing:

I count all of that as writing. Early writing just looks different than what you write when your project starts to gel.

— Erin Cassese (@ErinCassese) March 13, 2018

.@ashley_edes @ameyawarde thanks for the kind words! Any sort of written reflection (even "God I don't know where my project goes" IS #AcWri

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) March 13, 2018

My website is temporarily down (hopefully back soon) but here's a blog post on what counts as academic writing (surprise - A LOT) https://t.co/eVTrXjvzTq we can't just count "putting words on the page"

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) March 13, 2018

And I think @HthrLynnJ's points are especially important and worth highlighting:

When I don’t know what to write, I free write about ideas I’m having related to the work, including what I’m finding challenging. I try out different lines of arguments. I make notes on things I’m reading. Idea generating is tough. I write through it to learn and grow from it.

— Heather Johnson (@HthrLynnJ) March 13, 2018

Last semester I tasked one of my PhD students to write to “Notice and Wonder.” As academics, our job is to develop new ideas. When we write, we record how our ideas are evolving. Our papers become contributions by nurturing and growing those ideas.

— Heather Johnson (@HthrLynnJ) March 13, 2018

You bet! Learning to write to learn has been one of the most valuable processes I’ve developed in this endeavor.

— Heather Johnson (@HthrLynnJ) March 13, 2018

Sunday Roundup: 3/11/18

So, I think I might start doing these, if I can remember to add to it throughout the week. I didn't this week and it lead to taking too much time Sunday morning just going through twitter alone to find the link-worthiest links.

So these are all just some of my favorite or worth-sharing-again tweets/links I saw this week.

History:

• Please buy me (and @FernRiddell) this hat.
• @DigiVictorian reminds us that etiquette is bizzaro
• @VictorianHumour shared some old timey clapbacks
•  and also this terrible pun
• Scientists finally say that they definitely found the bones of Amelia Earhart... probably
• @ZinnEdProject reminds us of the anniversary of Bloody Sunday
• @ZaneSelvans tweeted about the likely trans man and British surgeon James Barry (1789-1865), very interesting, I'd never heard of him before! 
• @thehistoryguy posts an excerpt of some 16th century #FakeNews... I can't tell if I want to laugh or cry at how very human such BS seems to be...
• @LizCovart shared the post How Native American Slaveholders Complicate the Trail of Tears Narrative, and I really liked this line: 'Smith went one step further, likening the ugly truth of history to a “mangy, snarling dog standing between you and a crowd-pleasing narrative.” '

Academia, etc:

•  @CDSLeeds announced their support (along with other Unis and @chron_ac) of the Ableism in Academia Conference on 23 March. It will be live-streamed!
• @SFdirewolf signal-boosted a call to save Intro to Disability Studies at Standford
• @einterview alerted me to the SAGE Research methods "Open House" going on now-- So much Methods material free for download!!
• @RaulPacheco shared a helpful thread on the color-coding scheme he uses while marking up the papers he reads
• he also wrote a thread on why he writes (such great and SUPER useful) posts about the 'mechanics of doing academic research'-- Since I am "home grad schooling" myself, I rely HEAVILY on Dr. Pacheco-Vega's blog, and I wish more academics would write posts like this, too! (raulpacheco.org)
• Oh, and this thread on how he outlines a paper!
• @alicetiara reminds us to thank the authors of academic work we appreciate- I am going to start doing this, it's only polite! 
• @prabhbob points out the need for people to stop writing the clunky and outdated "his or her", etc and switch to "they" instead -- Agreed!
• @LDBurnett connects the recent attacks on the liberal arts/humanities to the kick-ass theatre/debate/civics/public speaking students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school that have taken America by storm since the tragedy they experienced
• @barunlz posted me in meme form

Important miscellany:

• @debreese shared an excellent list of kid/teen books written by Indigenous Women!
• @rahaeli points out why people making fun of Uber Health are missing the point, and ignoring the needs of the disabled in particular (As someone who takes Lyft to all my doctors appointments, I completely agree)
• @sesmith makes an important challenge to editors & everyone who uses words to switch out ableist terms like 'idiotic', 'moronic,' 'insane,' 'imbecilic,' etc (I would add "dumb" to that list) for better, less offensive, and more describtive words 
• and @elle_em reminds us that G*ypsy is a racial slur, and to stop using it unless you're Romani/Roma.
• while @thalestral calls out those who use "triggered" as a joke or a synonym for "offended" when it is neither of those things, and is an actual psychological phenomenon related to PTSD.
• And Marjory Stoneman Douglas student @davidhogg111 posted this gun control script from Everytown for Gun Safety for calling our representatives

And finally:

• I can't stop thinking about this. Why? I think it has broken me, too. And i'm trying really hard not to make it my new social media cover picture...

Research Methods Virtual Open House @ SAGE Research Methods

SAGE Research Method's "Virtual Open House" is going on now. Free access to a TON of online research methodology articles, chapters, ebooks, etc. I've just lost several hours of my day to collecting some really great resources over there!

Free access runs until March 18.

Learm more: Research Methods Virtual Open House: Doors are Open!

#AcWriChat 3.9.18 - Building a network through blogs & social media

I just happened to catch my first #AcWriChat on twitter this morning! Today's chat was about 'Building a network through blogs and social media.'

I'm not really in a 'build a network' stage yet, but I'm glad I attended. @TextandAcademicAuthors shared a lot of great resources, including lists which included some academic bloggers I wasn't following yet! (I love finding new blogs to follow!)

I'm now going through the #AcWriChat archives and I wanted to make note (/link) of some of the other chats that I'm finding useful:

#AcWriChat 12/15/2017 - Imagining

This #AcWriChat event focused on imagining your writing project: thinking about the writing project, reflecting on insights, and looking for ways to interpret and explain findings

 #AcWriChat 12/29/2017 - Organizing (part 1)

This week we will begin to look at the organization of a writing project, specifically gathering ideas from existing literature, prioritizing content for inclusion in the new work, and outlining the thematic structure of the manuscript.

There are more chat archives over at: TAA #AcWriChat re-caps on getting organized, writing productivity, and more!

School Supply Wish List!

Wow. I burn through index cards QUICKLY.

Yet another reason why I was so hoping to find a good digital alternative!!
Sigh.

To help me keep track of what I'm using and what I need, I just made a list on Amazon (as I do for everything), and I figured it only makes sense to also post it here, just in case any generous person with a few bucks to spare ever happens across the link and wants to contribute a pack of note cards or something. 😉👼💓

 My Home(Grad)Schooling Supply (Wish) List!