History of the Health Sciences Research

http://ebling.library.wisc.edu/historical/students/

• Introduction
• Terminology
o Part 1
o Part 2
• Starting Your Research
o First Step
o Second Step
o Third Step
o Fourth Step
 UW Resources
 Other Resources
• What Databases To Use
o Top Picks
o More History Based Databases
• Print Resources to Consider
o Books
o Journals
• IndexCat Demystified
o Tutorial
• For More Help

Introduction
Writing a research paper on a history topic can be a daunting task if you are unfamiliar
with historical research. This resource guide was designed to get you started.

After using this guide, you will understand the difference between primary and secondary
resources and will be familiar with some of the databases and print material you will use
to conduct your research.

Writing your paper:

Most History papers have three main parts: Introduction, Body, and Conclusion.
To gain a better understanding of how to put a research paper together once you are
ready to write it, our friends at California State University, Fullerton created a great
 online tutorial called “The Historian’s Toolbox.” Unit 5 describes writing a research
paper. http://guides.library.fullerton.edu/historians_toolbox/unit5/Unit5.htm

Terminology - Part One

Historical Research Terms Defined

 Primary Resources: Journal articles, books, diaries, photographs, reports, etc.,

created or written during the time being studied.
For Example: If you are writing on the history of TB treatment in the 1920s,
the books and journal articles written by health professionals between 1920
and 1930, as well as the brochures from TB sanitariums published between
1920 and 1930- would be primary material.
 Secondary resources: Works written after the original time period that interpret
or analyze an event, theme of subject.
For Example: A book entitled, The History of Tuberculosis in Wisconsin
1870-1930, is a secondary resource that used primary sources, like letters,
journal articles and newspaper articles, to find evidence for its story.
 Historiography: Historical scholarship done on a subject.
For Example: Until the late 1970s, early 1980s, there was little on the subject of
blacks or women in the history of health care. As new sensibilities or new
resources come to light, the historiography on a subject may change.
 Historicism: Application of one's own sensibilities to a historical topic.
For Example: When reading racial epitaphs voiced in the 1950s the reader must
appreciate the times in which the language was used. While it does not excuse the
behavior, it does add context to how a pattern may have developed and what
lessons it can teach us about today's climate in health care, politics, economics,
etc.

Terminology - Part Two

Some other terms that might be useful...

 Database: An online resource that provides citations to journal, magazine and

newspaper material. They often provide the actual article as well, which is called
Full Text.
 Bibliographic citation (often simply called citation) consists of the author, title
of article, title of newspaper, journal or magazine, volume and pages. This citation
can be used in your paper's footnote, if you use the material as evidence within
your paper. The citation will link either to FIND IT or to a PDF.
 FIND IT will indicate an online full text version, or link you to MadCat to see if
the original journal or newspaper is on campus. You would then go to the library
to get the material and scan or copy the article.
 Evidence: Sources that provide facts, background, commentary on the person,
theme or period you are studying. When you have a line of inquiry, like, "The
Role of Public Education in Stemming the Tide of Tuberculosis," newspaper
articles that talk about a campaign in the schools to educate people regarding
hygiene would be evidence for your study.
  Resources/Material: Generic terms librarians/historians use to describe all the
books, journals, newspapers, databases, sheets of music, plays, and videos- the
"stuff" needed to write a research paper.
 MadCat: The UW-Madison online library catalog. MadCat is for primary and
secondary books or journal and magazine titles in the UW system. MadCat does
not contain journal or magazine content. Databases (see above) may contain
content.
 WorldCat: WorldCat links to books, journals and magazine titles in libraries all
over the world. If the resource you need is not in the UW system, you can
interlibrary loan it using Library Express.

Starting Your Research

First Step: Construct an overall line of inquiry, a theme or question
"How do I come up with an idea?"

 Especially if this is your first historical research paper it helps to springboard

from an event from your own family's history, perhaps your great grandmother
survived the 1918 Influenza epidemic.
 Ideas can come from a current historical study that does not explore in depth a
specific part of an issue. A chapter on the history of home birth leaves out
discussion of how women may have learned about their birthing options in the
1970s.
 Comparisons on similar issues between different countries or varying time periods
are often instructive. Did Canada react differently to the AIDS crisis then
America?

Second Step: Fine Tuning Your Question

"I want to do something on venereal disease."

 What era? Late 18th century, mid 1800's, WWI, post 1950s...
 What population? Children, women, men, immigrants, military, the elderly...
 What region? United States, Milwaukee, Europe, Germany, Asia, South Africa...
 What clinical aspects of the disease? Transmission, epidemiology, treatment,
diagnosis, mortality...
 What social aspects of the disease? Education, economic, health care
administration, politics, patient compliance, public health restrictions...
 What cultural aspects of the disease? Quarantines, racial aspects, psychological
concerns...
Third Step: Questions to ask as you collect evidence

Your working title is: "Oversexed, Overpaid, Over Here: Prevention vs. Abstinence in
British and American Anti-VD Campaigns"

When looking for secondary resources that will help contextualize the subject OR for
primary material that will provide evidence for your narrative, these would be some
themes to consider....

 Was the Red Cross involved with education?

 Were the governments involved?
 What were the methods of education? Posters, lectures in camps, radio
announcements, songs?
 Were the methods different in American training camps then in British training
camps?
 Did either country involve the local health care practitioners wherever the base
was located? Were there translation services for local material published in a
foreign language?
 Was the same educational material used overseas used on the home fronts?
 Did they enlist the help of prostitutes?

Fourth Step: "How do I find primary and secondary resources; collect

evidence?"
Using UW Resources

1) Use databases like those found in What Databases to Use. These databases consist of
bibliographic citations that sometimes link to the Full Text of the article, sometimes not.
If not, FIND IT will take you into the MadCat record to see where the journal is held on
campus. Go to that library, get the resource, and make a copy of the article. The
newspaper databases are particularly useful. They are Full Text and tacitly put you right
into the time period being studied. Be sure you take advantage of the date/year limits that
are available in the various databases.

2) Use MadCat to find primary or secondary books.

Tip #1: When looking for primary from, say the 1940s, put venereal disease in the
Guided search field. Get the results of over 300 titles. Limit Results-from 1935-1950.
You will notice a number of journal titles (not the content of those journals), some
government documents, a couple of books. All those resources should lead you to other
resources, either through their footnotes or bibliographies.

Tip #2: When looking for secondary sources about WWII, etc., put venereal disease in
the Guided search field, and history in the second field. A number of them look
applicable, including the social history by Allan Brandt, that might include WWII and
Prostitution, Race, and Politics : Policing Venereal Disease in the British Empire that
might include a chapter on WWII-in either case, the footnotes might lead you to further
resources.

3) Use the Historical Pamphlet Collection in the Historical Reading Room, or checking
out the webpage. There might be a government or privately issued pamphlet during the
time period you are studying-which would serve as a primary resource.

What Databases to Use

M & M's Rave Faves

P= Primary: A source from original time period: i.e., an article on Civil War surgery in
an 1863 medical journal.

S=Secondary: A historical interpretation of that time period: i.e., an article written in

1994 on the history of Civil War battlefield surgery.

Database: A computerized bibliography that lists the author, title, source years and pages
of various magazines, journals and newspapers, in various disciplines, like history,
medicine, and law.

Years Included: Years the database covers on the individual publications.

Full-text: Yes, No, Some.

• Yes: the original article has been scanned and is available in a PDF or other
format. This is also called “full text.”
• No: the original article is not available online.
• Some: Some databases have some newer articles scanned, but nothing scanned
before 1995-some databases have older material, but not the last year. Some, like
JSTOR have both older and newer material.

***In all 3 cases, the database will display a FIND IT function which goes either
directly to a copy of the original through an electronic resource-or into MadCat to see
if the original is on campus. You would then get the journal at the library and scan or
copy the article.

Subjects: Subjects covered by the database

Comments: Any exceptional features.

***When looking at the list of “More History Based Databases” online, click the + sign
to learn what subjects or additional comments are associated with each database.

The UW Library’s E-Resource Gateway lists dozens of databases that may be useful to
your research. While they may not all be full-text, these databases with the variety of
subjects and amount of both primary and secondary resources should not be overlooked.
 Years
P or S Database Full-text
Included
P & S ProQuest Newspapers 1995+ for some titles 1989-Present

P & S JSTOR Some Varies

SUBJECTS: Variety
P NewspaperARCHIVE.com (1759-2005) Yes 1700s+
COMMENTS: Many small towns
P Palmer's Full Text Online 1800-1870 1790-1905
SUBJECTS: The London Times
P American Periodical Series Online Yes 1741-1900
SUBJECTS: Magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines
P & S Readers' Guide Retrospective 1994+ for some titles 1890-Present
SUBJECTS: Interdisciplinary COMMENTS: US popular magazines

More History Based Databases

Details P or S Database Full-text Years Include

African American Biographical
+ P&S Yes 1790-1950
Database
+ S America : History and Life Some 1964+

+ P American Periodical Series Online Yes 1741-1900

+ P&S Business Full Text Some 1982-Present

+ P&S CINAHL Plus Some 1931+

+ P Defining Gender Yes 1450-1910

Environmental Sciences and Pollution

+ P&S Some 1981-Present
Management

+ P Ethnic News Watch Yes 1959+

Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender

+ S Some 1994
Index (c. 400-1500)

+ P&S The Gerritsen Collection, Women's Yes 1543-1945

 History Online

+ S Google Scholar Some Varies

+ P HarpWeek-the Civil War Era Yes 1857-1865

+ S Historical Abstracts Some 1450-Present

+ S History Cooperative Some Varies

History of Science, Technology and

+ S Some 1975-Present
Medicine

+ S Humanities International Index Some 1975-Present

Antiquity-
+ P&S IndexCat No
1950

International Index to Black Periodicals

+ P&S Some 1900-Present
Full Text (IIBPFT)

1700s-1800s,
+ P Internet Library of Early Journals Some
varies

+ S International Medieval Bibliography No 1967-Present

+ P&S JSTOR Some Varies

+ P&S LEXIS/NEXIS Some 1980s+

1827+, vary
+ S Magazine Stacks No
by title

NewspaperARCHIVE.com (1759-
+ P Yes 1700s+
2005)

1700s-1800s,
+ P&S 19th Century Master File (1800s-1920) No
varies
 P&S Old Medline; See PubMed No 1950-1965

+ P Palmer's Full Text Online 1800-1870 1790-1905

Poole's Index to Periodical Literature

S (1806-1920); See 19th Century
Masterfile

+ S Project Muse Yes 1990-Present

1995+ for
P&S ProQuest Newspapers 1989-Present
some titles
ProQuest Historical Newspapers:
+ P 1849-1985 1849-1985
Chicago Tribune

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Los

+ P 1881-1985 1881-1985
Angeles Times

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New

+ P 1851-Present 1851-Present
York Times

+ P&S ProQuest Research Library Some 1989

+ P&S PsychINFO Some 1972-Present

+ Pubmed Some 1950-Present

1994+ for
+ P&S Readers' Guide Retrospective 1890-Present
some titles

Social Sciences Citation Index; See

S Some 1981-1985
Web of Knowledge

+ P Times (London) Digital Archive, The Yes 1785-1985

+ S Victorian Database Online No 1945-Present

+ S ViVa: Bibliography of Women's 1995-Present

History in History and Women's
 Studies Journals

+ P&S Web of Knowledge (Web of Science) Some 1970-Present

Print Resources to Consider

Books

Unless otherwise noted, these items are located in the History of Medicine Reference
Collection. To learn more about any of these titles, just follow the links to the MadCat
record.

 Index-catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office (U. S. Army),

Authors and Subjects (SEE: IndexCat Demystified)
 Companion Encyclopedia of the History of Medicine
 Cambridge World History of Human Disease
 Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence
 The Oxford Medical Companion
 Dictionary of American Medical Biography
 History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction
 Subject Catalogue of the History of Medicine and Related Sciences

These bibliographies list the primary and sometime secondary sources that make up the
literature available on a particular subject. They are especially useful when researching a
broad topic.

 Bibliography of the History of Medicine

 Garrison and Morton's A Medical Bibliography: An Annotated Check-List of
Texts Illustrating the History of Medicine
Covers classic texts in clinical medicine, as well as primary journal articles.
Includes some public health and has a section on the British Isles.
 The History of the Health Care Sciences and Health Care 1700-1980: A Selective
Annotated Bibliography
Indexes books and articles written about the history of medicine and health
sciences (hospitals, mental health, women's issues, etc).
 ISIS Cumulative Bibliography (A Bibliography of the History of Science)

Journals

These journals are located in the Ebling Library Periodicals section. Use MadCat to see
what is available online.

 Bulletin of the History of Medicine

 Current Work in the History of Medicine
 Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences
  Medical History
 Nursing History Review
 Social History of Medicine

IndexCat DeMystified
IndexCat is a bibliographic database based upon the Index-catalogue of the Library of the
Surgeon General's Office (U. S. Army), Authors and Subjects. IndexCat contains
citations to health science literature from the late 19th century to the late 1950's. The
catalogues are separated into four series, each covering a different time period.

* 1st ser.: 1880-95

* 2nd ser.: 1896-1916
* 3rd ser.: 1918-32
* 4th ser.: 1936-50, Covers A - Mn only; 11th volume (Mh-Mn) includes literature
through 1949.
* 5th ser. (suppl.): 1959-61, 3 v.; Books only, periodicals not indexed

Please see Micaela for more help working with IndexCat.

For More Help...

...contact a librarian!

Historical Services staff works closely with faculty and students from the History of
Science, Technology, and Medicine and the Medical History and Bioethics departments.
We also work with students from the medical, nursing, and pharmacy schools, as well as
other departments across campus.

Please call or email for an appointment if you need help:

Micaela Sullivan-Fowler, Curator

msullivan at library.wisc.edu
(608) 262-2402

Mary Hitchcock, Librarian

mhitchcock at
library.wisc.edu
(608) 263-9332