United States History: Tools for Researchers

Historical Research and Writing Guides

• Guide to Using Sources -- Harvard University
• Learning to Do Historical Research: A Primer for Environmental Historians and Others – William Cronon
• Annotated Bibliographies -- Purdue OWL, Purdue University

How to Write a Historiographical Essay

• Historiographical Writing Workshop Video -- UCSD
• Historiography for Beginners -- Princeton University

Dissertation Preparation

• The Dissertation: From Beginning to End. Peter Lyons and Howard J. Doueck. (2010).
• Writing the Winning Thesis or Dissertation: A Step-by-Step Guide. Randy L. Joyner, William A. Rouse, and Allan A. Glatthorn. (2013). 
• Challenges in Writing Your Dissertation: Coping with the Emotional, Interpersonal, and Spiritual Struggles. Noelle Sterne. (2015).  
• Before the Dissertation: A Textual Mentor for Doctoral Students at Early Stages of a Research Project. Christine Pearson Casanave. (2014).  

• EndNote: The University at Buffalo Libraries provide EndNote™ citation management software to UB's academic community under the terms of a site license funded by the UB Libraries and the student technology fee. Please see our guide to EndNote for more details.
• Zotero: Zotero offers free, web-integrated citation management software.  While Zotero is not supported or generally taught by staff at UB Libraries, it remains popular with many users. Please see our guide to Zotero for more details.
• Citing Sources: This research guide, prepared by UB Libraries, offers solid guidance and orientation for using most of the major citation styles.
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (Purdue OWL): The Purdue OWL offers a comprehensive, easy-to-use, and detailed guide to academic writing, from argumentation to citation style.