HTST300

The first resource that a student at the University of Calgary should consult when preparing to write a paper for any history course is the Department of History's The History Student's Handbook:  A Short Guide to Writing History Essays.

Historians use the Chicago Manual of Style for citing primary and secondary resources.  The library has two copies of this style guide available in the reference collection on the 1st floor of the Taylor Family Digital Library at call number:  Z253 .C44 2010.  We also provide access to the electronic edition, The Chicago Manual of Style Online for students, faculty and staff of the University of Calgary.

The library also has dozens of works on how to do historical research, interpret sources and write history papers.   You can do a subject search in the catalogue for "history research" or try browsing the library stacks on the 4th floor of the Taylor Family Digital Library starting with call number D16.

The Student Success Centre  provides support for writing papers including workshops and a large number of online resources.

Bibliographic or citation management software enables you to organize and format your citations.  In conjunction with your word processing software, you are able to import your citations and produce bibliographies.  Using bibliographic software you can format your citations in hundreds of different citation styles.

Libraries and Cultural Resources has a subscription to a citation management software called RefWorks.  As a member of the University of Calgary community you are able to use this software at no charge.  Go to the RefWorks LibGuide to find out more about the software, how to log in and set up your personal account.  Our RefWorks subscription now includes access for alumni so you will be able to retain access to your bibliographies after completion of your degree.

There are a variety of other citation management software packages available on the market.  In addition to training on the use of RefWorks, Libraries and Cultural Resources also provides training for the following packages:

• Endnote -- This software is available for purchase from the vendor's website, please note that prices are in US$
• Mendeley -- Freely available on the web

Another citation management software that is freely available on the web is Zotero and there are many more alternatives.