5 Tips That Will Help You Stay Current With Scholarship

Do you struggle to keep up-to-date with new historical research? Anyone who writes about history knows that it can be a challenge to keep up with the latest scholarship.

In this post you will learn about the 5 methods I use to stay current on historical scholarship.

Method 1: Academic Journals

Journals will help you stay current on the latest scholarship.

They provide a wealth of information even if you lack the time to read every article (most historians do).

Open a journal, read its table of contents, and read/skim the articles and book reviews that interest you and/or apply to your research. This technique will help you stay informed.

Here is a list of the academic journals I read/skim.

General History American Historical Review

Journal of American History

Reviews in American History

Early American History

The William and Mary Quarterly

Journal of the Early Republic

Early American Studies

Journal of Early American History

Common-Place

History of New York

New York History

Hudson River Valley Review

Method 2: H-Net

H-Net “creates and coordinates Internet networks with the common objective of advancing teaching and research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.”

Through H-Net you can subscribe to over 100 different e-mail lists that focus on different aspects of history. H-Net lists are a great way to learn about history-related jobs, conferences, fellowships, and research. They also provide access to a global network of historians. Historians use H-Net to pose, answer, and discuss questions about scholarship, sources, and interpretation.

H-Net is in the process of transferring to a new, more versatile platform called H-Net Commons. If you can’t find a list for your topic of study on H-Net be sure to check out H-Net Commons.

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Method 3: Blogs

Blogs about history will also keep you abreast of scholarship. Some blogs read like newspapers about history and scholarship, others discuss the minutiae of research.

I subscribe to a number of blogs, which I check each morning.

History Organizations

AHA Today by the American Historical Association

History News Network

History @ Work by the National Council on Public History

History Publications

The Journal of the American Revolution

New York History Blog

Archives, Libraries, & Museums

The Past is Present the American Antiquarian Society Blog

The Beehive: The Official Blog of the Massachusetts Historical Society

Smithsonian Magazine

Historian Blogs (I subscribe to over 35 blogs written by historians. This list comprises the most active blogs. I have listed them in alphabetical order by historian/blogger.)

Boston1775 by J.L. Bell

Jacksonian America: Society, Personality, and Politics by Mark R. Cheathem

The Last Campaign: Legislative Branch, Presidential Legacy, and Related Matters by Anthony J. Clark

The Way of Improvement Leads Home by John Fea

In the Words of Women, a group blog kept by independent historians who study women’s history

Keith Harris History by Keith Harris

The Junto Blog: A Group Blog on Early American History

Historiann: History and Sexual Politics, 1492-Present by Ann M. Little

American Studier by Ben Railton 

That Devil History by Jared Ruminski

To Breathe Your Free Air by John D. Wilsey

Method 4: Twitter

Many historians tweet information about their work as well as links to articles about new scholarship.

Method 5: Conferences

Try to attend at least one history conference each year.

Even if you can't make it to a conference, peruse the conference program. Conference programs contain paper titles, which will provide you with a good idea about the different research projects historians are working on.

What Do You Suggest?

How do you keep up with the the latest historical scholarship?

Which history blogs do you read?

Leave a comment, send me an e-mail, or tweet me.

Network Better: 5 Tips for How You Can Meet More People at a Conference

In honor of the upcoming American Historical Association annual meeting, December will feature tips you can use to get the most out of attending conferences.

Why Go to a Conference?

In order to produce great work, historians must keep abreast of new projects, arguments, and methodologies.

Scholarly journals showcase these developments, but they do not allow for a live, peer-to-peer discussion of them.

Conferences do.

Conferences also provide a great opportunity to meet new people.

People open doors to knowledge, friendship, and opportunity.

So, how can you meet more people at a conference?

Project Confidence.

In this post you will learn 5 Tips for how you can project and use confidence to meet more people at conferences.

5 Tips for How You Can Project Confidence & Use it to Meet More People

1. Recognize Your Gifts & Achievements

Be confident in your intellectual achievements.

Whether you have studied on your own or in pursuit of an advanced degree, you are an expert in your field.

In fact, you may be the expert of your specific niche.

Be mindful of your expertise and carry that knowledge with you because it will help you realize that you have something valuable to offer and that you are a person worth speaking to.

2. Participate

Participate in conference panels or sessions either by presenting a paper or by asking questions.

Use your experience to inform your questions.

Some of the most interesting questions occur when people ask speakers to draw a comparison between the ideas a speaker has discussed and an occurrence the question poser has seen in their own work. (These questions work best when well thought out and when the periods of the panelist and question poser are similar.)

Attend receptions, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.

Conference-goers attend extra before- and after-hours events to see old friends and meet new people.

The casualness of food and drink creates a social atmosphere that increases a person's openness to conversing with someone new.

3. Be Outgoing & Positive

It can be intimidating to introduce yourself to someone new.

But, you must go to the people you want to meet because they will not be looking for you.

Start the conversation by introducing yourself and telling the person about why you wanted to meet them.

Comment on something they said or an issue they raised during the conference.

Most people love to talk about themselves and their work.

Smile.

Smiles broadcast a positive, fun attitude that will help attract people to you because positive people are more fun than boring or sad people.

4. Project A Professional Persona

Look the part.

Dress professionally in all aspects of your attire from shoes and clothing to briefcase/handbag.

Act the part.

It is important to be yourself, but you should project and embody the best version of yourself at a conference.

Be your most social and confident self by remembering that you already share a lot in common with other conference-goers: you are passionate about history and you are attending the same conference.

5. Invest In Business Cards

Buy high-quality business cards.

Moo.com has great looking, professional business cards. They are a bit pricey, but totally worth it.*

Be strategic: Design your card around your personal brand.

• What colors do you use (or plan to use) on your website? What are your school colors? Use those colors for fonts or backgrounds.
• Does your website (will your website) have an image? If so, use that image on the back of your card.
• Name your position under your name. Unaffiliated? Use “Independent Scholar” or something more descriptive such as “Historian of Ancient China” or “Historian & Writer” as your title.
• Do you have a masters or doctoral degree? Consider using M.A. or Ph.D. at the end of your name. It shows gravitas and, after all, you earned them!
• List your website/blog URL.
• List your email address and phone number.
• Be social. Provide your Twitter handle or the address to your favorite social media site homepage.

Need an example? Here’s my card.

As you can see, I incorporated the colors of my website and banner image into my card.

I also added round corners for a nice, non-traditional touch that reflects my non-traditional career choice.

People pay attention when they see the quality and feel the weight of my business card because its shows that I am serious about what I do.

Conclusion

Being mindful of your expertise and participating in a conference will help you feel like you belong at the conference.

Participation will also help other attendees recognize that you are a member of their intellectual community and that you are someone they may want to know.

Looking the part will also help you feel like you belong, which in turn might help you feel more outgoing. Also, people are attracted to others who look and act like them.

Finally, good business cards will help others remember your name and show that you are serious about and invested in your work.

Use these 5 tips and you will network better and meet more people at your next conference or seminar.

What Do You Think?

How do you make the most out of your conference experiences? 

*The link to Moo.com is my "refer a friend" link. If you decide to buy business cards from them and use my link, I will earn money towards my next set of business cards.

Wanted: Guest Bloggers

Dear Reader, Are you a historian? A writer? Do you have publishing experience, writing techniques, historical research, or tips for historical research that you would like to share?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above questions, please consider becoming a guest blogger for Uncommonplace Book.

I started Uncommonplace Book as a place to share my passion for early American history, writing, and the historian’s craft.

I want the blog to be a useful resource, which is why I try to focus on the ins-and-outs of working as a historian.

I would also like Uncommonplace Book to be a forum where historians and writers can come and share their knowledge about how they work, write, and overcome the challenges of obtaining paid work, fellowships, and access.

My knowledge and experience only go so far, and while I still have advice to share on how to “Get Access” to digital records, improve writing, and tips for book/research project management, I would LOVE to extend the discussion.

Therefore, I invite you to share your advice, tips, tricks, and experiences for how to work better as a historian and/or writer with others at Uncommonplace Book.

If you are interested in sharing your expertise, please send me an e-mail at lizcovart [AT] mac [DOT] com.

My inbox is always open, so please feel free to contact me anytime you have a suggestion for content or features that you would like to see addressed in or added to Uncommonplace Book.

With sincere appreciation for your consideration and continued readership,

Getting Access: JSTOR JPASS

Welcome to Getting Access, a series devoted to helping you obtain the digital records you need.

JPASS

On September 19, 2013, JStor introduced JPASS, an individual access plan to its database. A subscription service, JPASS allows subscribers “unlimited reading access and limited downloading” privileges to the articles contained in JSTOR. JSTOR bills JPASS as “an expansion of our ongoing efforts to reach individuals…[and to] continue JSTOR’s mission of helping people discover, use, and build upon trusted scholarly content.”

Content and Limitations

JSTOR grants JPASS subscribers access to “roughly eighty percent” of its archive. JSTOR specifically excludes “current journals, books, and primary sources” from its JPASS subscription. This exclusion is not unlike those experienced by users who access JSTOR through their local libraries. Here is a list of the JPASS History Journal Collection.

Subscription Plans

JSTOR offers 2 JPASS subscriptions, monthly and annual.

Monthly

Cost: $19.50/month

JSTOR designed the monthly JPASS plan for scholars who need JSTOR access for a short period of time. Monthly subscribers can read an unlimited number of articles and download up to 10 articles per month. Subscribers can roll over any unused downloads into their next monthly subscription period if they renew their plan prior to the expiration of their initial month.

Annual

Cost: $199/year

JSTOR designed its annual plan for scholars who need frequent JSTOR access. For their annual membership fee, subscribers can read an unlimited number of articles and download up to 120 articles per year. JSTOR will roll over any unused article downloads to the next year if subscribers renew before their year ends.

Subscription Comparison

Although JSTOR offers 2 JPASS options, the two plans are not all that different. Both plans allow users to read an unlimited number of articles during the subscription term and download a maximum of 120 articles per year.

Annual plan subscribers save $35 a year over their monthly counterparts. This limited savings may mean that users who find $199 for the annual subscription difficult to come by may opt to pay the extra $35 to enjoy JSTOR at a more manageable $19.50/month.

Price Breaks and Alternatives

Savvy scholars may be eligible to save money on JSTOR access.

As part of its “Alumni Program,” JSTOR offers access through participating “Alumni Libraries.” This program allows universities to make JSTOR available to dues-paying members of their alumni association. (Many of the schools in the JSTOR Alumni Program offer their alums additional library access as well. See Getting Access: Alumni Libraries.)

Many big city libraries also subscribe to JSTOR and they often extend access to residents of the same state. In many cases the access offered by these libraries will be just as good or better than what is offered via JPASS and it’s free. (See Getting Access: Big City Libraries for more information on what 'big city' libraries have to offer. Also see JSTOR institutions for a list of libraries with subscriptions.)

Some professional associations offer members a 50% discount on annual JPASS subscriptions. For example, the American Historical Association and the American Anthropological Association allow members to subscribe to JPASS for $99/year.

The Bottom Line

If you need JSTOR access but cannot access it via your public, alumni, or ‘big city’ library, than JPASS is for you. JPASS does not offer complete access to the JSTOR database, but it comes close. Subscription fees are high, but reasonable, especially if you can take advantage of an organizational discount.

What Do You Think?

Have you found any helpful ways for remotely accessing digital records or academic journal articles? If so please leave a comment or send me a tweet.

Some Thoughts on Theory: New Netherland Emerging Scholars Roundtable Takeaway

I do not consider myself to be a "theory-driven" historian. Theory influences the way I read and think about primary and secondary sources, but I don’t write about how specific theories apply to my argument. Or so I thought.

New Netherland Emerging Scholars Roundtable

On Friday October 5, I attended the inaugural New Netherland Emerging Scholars Roundtable. Sponsored by the Dutch Consulate, the Nederlandse Taalunie, and the New Netherland Institute, the Roundtable convened for a full day of discussion about the scholarship on New Netherland by “emerging” scholars.

Eight emerging scholars and eight established scholars participated. The work of the emerging scholars explored the history of New Netherland from the vantage points of architecture, art, objects, ideas, culture, and trade. As the last presenter, I collected nearly 7 pages of notes about the history of New Netherland before the Roundtable turned its attention to my project.

I participated in the Roundtable with the hope that the other scholars would assist me with sources and ideas for how I could study the influence of Native Americans and non-Dutch Europeans on the development of the New World Dutch identity that developed in Beverwyck/Albany between 1614 and 1664. Although I began with this request, conversation quickly turned to my use of "identity" as a theoretical concept.

Roundtable Discussion

Initially, the Roundtable seemed to support my ideas about identity. Participants asked questions about how the concept worked in the 17^th century, whether I had looked at religion as a major influence in identity creation, or if I had studied the contribution of African slaves to the New World Dutch Identity of Beverwyck. As I considered these questions, Walter Prevenier raised his hand: “I don’t get identity.”

I explained that I understood identity to be the way a person understood their relationship with their ethnicity, religion, community, region, and nation. I also explained that the word “identity” was fraught with ambiguity, which is why I avoid using the word in my written work as much as possible. Instead, I use “self-understandings” or refer to specific subjects of my study.

Prevenier pressed further: “How can you tell how the Dutch colonists identified unless they tell you in the written record ‘I identify as Dutch’?”

Great point.

Without intending to, I had latched on to "identity" as a theory and centered the argument of my dissertation on it. Subconsciously I knew I stood on shaky ground, but the urge to make a grand argument that would contribute to the historiography overwhelmed my objections.

REVELATION

Historical arguments do not have to be steeped in theory to be interesting or compelling.

Prevenier’s point seemed obvious. In fact, as soon as he articulated it, I understood his confusion and realized that it mirrored my own, hence why I used the terms “identity” and “self-understandings” sparingly in my written work.

Prevnier’s remarks helped me to admit that I was trying to force a modern-day concept (albeit a popular one) on my historic subjects who would not have understood “identity” the way I do.

Once I stated this realization out loud, I felt free to leave the theory of “identity” behind me.

Book Proposal Tweaks 

The Roundtable scholars supported my decision to abandon "identity." No one advocated a complete overhaul of my project. Instead we discussed different ways I could reframe the argument I want to make, which is something along the lines of "early Americans used cultural adaptation as a mechanism for surviving life in a sparsely-settled frontier, war, intercultural diplomacy, politics, and economic and demographic change."

I am still working on my new 1-2 sentence explanation of my project, but once I have it, I will tweak my book proposal to reflect it.

I am grateful for the New Netherland Emerging Scholars Roundtable participants for their conversation and ideas. They provided me with invaluable insight that will improve my book.

What Do You Think?

What do you think about using theory to make a historical argument? Do you think theory is necessary to answer our questions about the past? Do you think historians overuse theory?