Modern Japan (HIST 588 Fall 2014): Writing Guides

Course guide for students of HIST 588 on how to use the library and find research materials.

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Some sources can be considered as primary sources or secondary sources, depending on how the users treat them.

Primary sources are original objects or documents. They include historical and legal documents, eyewitness accounts, memoirs, letters, autobiographies, statistical data, pieces of creative writing, art objects, etc.

Secondary sources include interpretations of, or discussions/criticism about certain original material. They can be articles in newspapers or magazines, book or movie reviews, or scholarly articles. To learn more about primary and secondary sources, read:

Ithaca College Library. "Primary and Secondary Sources." Undated. http://www.ithacalibrary.com/sp/subjects/primary.

KU Writing Center. "Primary vs. Secondary Sources." Last modified July 2011. http://www.writing.ku.edu/~writing/guides/primary.shtml.

University of California Santa Cruz. "Distinguish between Primary and Secondary Sources." Undated. http://guides.library.ucsc.edu/primarysecondary.

Documentation

"Ethics, copyright laws, and courtesy to readers require authors to identify the sources of direct quotations or paraphrases and of any facts or opinions not generally known or easily checked."

---The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, "The Purpose of Source Citations." 

There are several different style manuals, but HA 505 requires to follow the notes and bibliography style of The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition.

To see Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide, click here.

See the PDF below to see a sample of text with notes and bibliography.

Citaion Tools

Citation management tools allow you to build a database of your references and build your bibliography while writing a research paper. Click here to learn more about citation mangement tools. HOWEVER, please note that these tools are not perfect; you need to manually check to finalize your bibliography.