 |
Writing
Intensive Classes
|
100 Level Courses
|
200 Level Courses
|
300 Level Seminars |
400 Level & Honors Thesis
| Assessment
| Ethical
Issues
WRITING
INTENSIVE CLASSES
For
a description of basic information literacy skills required of all students
before entering upon work in their major, click
here.
GOALS/COURSES
Faculty
may wish to differentiate among the skills important at the 100-, 200-,
and 300-level, with yet other skills for thesis-level research. For example,
goals for various courses might include the following skills, grouped
loosely around locating information, evaluating credibility, interpreting
arguments, reading closely, learning languages, reporting findings, and
citing works consulted.
HISTORY
100 LEVEL COURSES
Locating
information
- Awareness
of the inadequacies of web search engines for scholarly research
-
Ability to use the Five
College Library Catalog to locate known items, perform basic subject
searches, and access print reserves
-
Some exposure to using article databases
Evaluating
credibility
- Awareness
of a variety of types of historical sources: written documents, audio
or visual material (e.g. FDR’s Fireside Chats), artifacts, statistics
- Differentiating
primary sources from secondary sources
-
Appreciating that different sources carry different levels of credibility
Interpreting
arguments
- Becoming
aware of differing perspectives on a specific historical event and pondering
how those might reflect the authors’ interests
-
Awareness of the variety of historical approaches and methods
-
Learning to understand a historical statement and what evidence supports
or undermines the statement
Reading
closely
- Determining
what constitutes evidence, interpretive contention, or apparent contradiction
in a historical argument
-
Applying questions from an instructor or an editor to a specific text
-
Picking out familiar elements from unfamiliar times and cultures
Learning
languages
- Recognizing
brief, key expressions in English and in other languages
-
Valuing further language study for access to specific sources and broader
cultures
Reporting
findings
- Defending
their own points of view on a question posed by the instructor using
common readings selected by the instructor
Citing
works consulted
HISTORY
200 LEVEL COURSES
Locating
information
-
Locating primary sources available at Smith from references in the secondary
literature
-
Awareness of standard collections of primary sources (e.g. collected
works, Documents of British Foreign Policy, United States
Congressional Serial Set)
-
Identifying scholarly monographs via the Five
College Library Catalog.
-
Locating scholarly articles from core history journals via online databases
such as:
| Scholarly
Articles Databases |
| Humanities
Abstracts 1984+ |
Abstracts
of articles, book reviews, and more from over 465 sources in the
humanities |
| Historical
Abstracts 1956+ |
History
after 1450, excluding U.S. and Canada |
| America:
History & Life 1953+ |
American
& Canadian history |
| JSTOR
|
Back
issues excluding the most recent 2-5 years |
| Project
MUSE |
Current
issues of journals in arts and humanities, social sciences and
mathematics |
-
Awareness of scholarly reference works in the field of history such
as:
| Scholarly
Reference Sources |
Call
Number |
| Encyclopedia
of Asian History (4 vols.) |
ref
DS 31 .E53 1988 |
| Encyclopedia
of American Social History (3 vols.) |
ref
HN 57 .E58 1993 |
| Dictionary
of the Middle Ages (13 vols.) |
ref
D 114 .D5 1982 |
| Cambridge
Economic History |
|
| And
also, reference works from related disciplines such as: |
| Encyclopedia
of Philosophy |
|
| Encyclopedia
of Islam (12 vols.) |
ref
DS 37 .E523 |
-
Searching databases using each database’s controlled vocabulary
and, if available, thesaurus
-
Maintaining a flexible vocabulary so as to alter initial search strategies
that prove unsuccessful
-
Sifting a list of search results for the most promising sources
Evaluating
credibility
- Identifying
the credentials of an author
-
Attending to the publication history of a work, and considering that
context in interpreting it
Interpreting
arguments
- Identifying
key passages from the author’s own emphases
-
Developing independent questions while reading
-
Grasping empirical issues in a specific historical debate
Reading
closely
-
Routinely devoting close analysis to primary sources
-
Extracting from a source information its author was not aiming to convey
-
Moving comfortably between varying perspectives of historical actors
in the same event
-
Picking out unfamiliar elements in familiar times and cultures
Learning
languages
-
Recognizing significant contemporary terms that appear in primary sources
-
Recognizing discipline-specific vocabulary that occurs in secondary
sources
-
Developing sufficient fluency to read a short primary source (a poem
or a newspaper article, say) in the original language
Reporting
findings
-
Developing an independent interpretation
-
Sustaining an argument over the course of a ten-page paper
Citing
works consulted
-
Routinely using sources appropriately and ethically
-
Knowing when to cite sources consulted, using a standard
citation format (e.g. Turabian, Chicago)
-
Compiling an annotated bibliography
HISTORY
300 LEVEL SEMINARS
Locating
Information
-
Routinely searching for primary sources for historical research
-
Consulting major journals for the sub-discipline. For example, is studying
the history of Japanese women, consulting journals such as:
| Journal
Title |
SC
Neilson Per 2nd floor/Link |
| Journal
of Japanese Studies |
Per
DS 801 .J7 / online |
| Journal
of Women's History |
Per
HQ 1101 .J67 / online |
| Monumenta
Nipponica: Studies on Japanese Culture |
Per
DS 821 .A1 M6 / online |
| Past
and Present |
Per
D1 .P37 / online |
| U.S.-Japan
Women's Journal |
Per
HQ 1101 .U538 / online |
-
Familiarity with the existence of professional book reviews and review
articles—and how to locate them in databases such as:
-
Familiarity as well with citation databases, such as:
-
Locating scholarly monographs not only via the Five College Library
Catalog, but also by using such tools as WorldCat, review articles,
and scholarly bibliographies:
-
Expanding their selection of scholarly articles by using more specialized
history databases and databases for allied disciplines or area studies
such as:
-
Locating and working with unique sources on campus such as:
| Resources
Unique to Smith |
Description |
|
Sophia Smith
Collection |
Internationally
recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and
other primary sources in women's history |
|
Mortimer
Rare Book Room |
Covers
the history of printing from the fifteenth century to the twentieth |
-
Tracking down evidence from outside sources in support of their own
critiques of assigned readings
Evaluating
credibility
-
Attending carefully to the apparatus of a scholarly work (footnotes,
bibliography, etc.)
-
Evaluating an author’s credentials for expertise, and for what
they reveal about the author’s intellectual orientation
-
Routinely weighing the credibility of multiple conflicting sources
Interpreting
arguments
-
Routinely using secondary sources advancing conflicting interpretations
-
Understanding theoretical issues in a historical debate
-
Identifying historical approaches and methods independent of the specific
subject matter (e.g. liberalism, Marxism, feminism)
-
Recognizing similar debates across multiple settings and courses
Reading
closely
-
Questioning the composition of a source (how a contract was negotiated,
how a text was redacted, how a graph was calculated)
-
Treating as agents historical figures described in documents by others
(e.g. a criminal from the judge’s speech at sentencing, natives
from accounts by explorers)
Reporting
findings
-
Presenting work in progress verbally and through effective handouts
or electronic media in class
-
Sustaining an argument over the course of a twenty-page paper
Learning
languages
-
Taking initiative to understand special vocabulary of the period under
study as well as the scholarly language of the topic
-
Developing sufficient fluency to read a scholarly article or chapter-length
primary source in a language other than English
400
LEVEL INCLUDING HONORS THESIS
In
addition to working with a faculty thesis advisor, all Honors thesis students
are required to schedule a research
appointment with a reference librarian/archivist/curator. Via the
research appointment and consultations with the faculty advisor, the Honors
student should have all of the skills identified above. In addition, she
should:
-
Be aware of a variety of resources
-
Understand the structure of knowledge and its communication within the
thesis discipline
-
Develop an effective search strategy
-
Appreciate the time required to acquire resources – and the need
to create a reasonable timeline for the research process
-
Be aware of the need for a balance of publication formats, dates, and
perspectives in the works consulted
-
Understand the limitations of full-text access to sources.
Locating
information
-
Identifying and requesting materials available only through Interlibrary
Loan
-
Preparedness to travel to the site of off-campus sources
-
Routinely perusing multiple reference works, while taking account of
their varying perspectives. For example:
| Title
|
Neilson
Call Number/Access |
| 1911
Britannica |
Ref
AE 5 .E363 / online |
| The
Catholic Encyclopedia |
Ref
BX 841 .N44 2003 |
| The
Great Soviet Encyclopedia |
Oversize
AE 5 .B5813 |
| Encyclopédie
ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers |
Oversize
AE 25 .E534 |
-
Routinely consulting relevant tools (Dictionary of National Biography,
concordances, etymological dictionaries, etc.) on her own initiative
:
| Title
|
Neilson
Call Number/Access |
| Dictionary
of National Biography |
Ref
DA28 .O95 / online |
Evaluating
credibility
-
Tracing the professional reception of scholarly and popular works through
book reviews, review articles, and citation databases
Reporting
findings
-
Revising a research project in accordance with initial substantive findings
and the availability of sources
-
Sustaining an argument over fifty or more pages
-
Deploying quantitative evidence judiciously and effectively
Learning
languages
-
Developing sufficient fluency to read a book in a language other than
English
Citing
works consulted
-
Identifying which citation
style to use and understanding when to cite research materials
-
Evaluating appropriateness of using RefWorks
citation software to manage thesis bibliography; knowing how to gain
access and get help
-
Understanding when copyright
permission is needed for use of materials
-
Being aware that the writer of the thesis holds its copyright and thus
has the right to grant or deny permission for future use of its content
by others
ASSESSMENT
Assessment
of information literacy takes place regularly within the framework of
History courses. Class discussions, examinations, and papers call upon
students to demonstrate interpretive skills appropriate to the course
topic and level. Their performance in this area is one factor directly
and/or indirectly determining their grades. Through formal grading and
informal feedback during office hours and research appointments, instructors
and librarians help students develop critical awareness of their own abilities
and how they are improving.
Assignments
requiring students to demonstrate and take advantage of information literacy
assume varying forms, depending on the skills involved. In general, introductory
courses devote more explicit attention to developing and testing basic
skills, while more advanced courses assume students have already learned
some skills and can deploy them independently.
A
100-level course might straightforwardly include a specific questionnaire
for which students have to examine library holdings both virtually and
in person. Papers at the 100- and 200-level might call for critical comparison
of conflicting accounts of an event. Particularly useful in enhancing
information literacy are readings exposing students to a chain of historical
writings, in which later authors draw on earlier ones or react against
their conclusions. Some 200-level courses assign research papers requiring
students to locate and analyze primary sources. Others pose historiographical
questions for which students must weigh competing secondary interpretations.
Some
200-level courses require the compilation of an annotated bibliography,
either as a task in its own right or as a preliminary to a substantive
investigation. Such a bibliography might, for example, call for the use
of at least one scholarly history encyclopedia, the use of the online
catalog to identify several relevant monographs, and a selection of scholarly
articles identified from Historical Abstracts/ America, History and Life,
J-STOR and ProjectMUSE. Students would be prepared to defend the credentials
of authors cited (both primary and secondary), if asked.
In
300-level seminars, a similar assignment might be undertaken as one step
toward researching and writing a term paper. The student could be asked
to indicate the source of each citation, how she came across the item,
and its relative value to the argument within the paper. The range of
sources could be drawn from the list above. At the 400-level, students’
proficiency in uncovering and evaluating sources is evidenced not only
in their writing and bibliographies, but also in their oral defenses of
their theses.
In
all these cases, library staff are also available to assist students and
faculty members in devising, completing, and assessing such work.
ETHICAL
ISSUES
For
Smith College's policy on the ethical use of information, click
here.
May
15, 2007
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