For us history students; methods for studying?

[Ostrinski]

When reading history, either recreationally or academically, how do you best document important facts, take notes, etc?

When I'm reading these giant works sometimes I feel overwhelmed and nervous that I'll forget something important.

Is there any way to circumvent this?

[The Jay]

I agree. Sometimes I read a few pages at a time and have to stop if it is really dense. Also I'm a slow reader.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

I'm not a History Student, but I study a lot of History books (does that make sense?), what I personally do is:
1. Underline things, you read it twice when you underline, and it helps when you have to find it later. If you rather don't write in a book, buy a notebook and write the things you normally underline in there.
2. If you see dates, note them in a notebook or at the end of the chapter. Just the date and event, and I prefer to incude a page number as well.
3. Ask yourself after every page: Did I understand this? Or “Do I remember what it is about?” if not, reread.

That is for the most part how I read History and Marxist literature.

[Sam_b]

What do you mean by studying? Are we talking research bases and methodology or for some sort of project?

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Thread moved to Mutual Aid

[Ostrinski]

Not any immediate project in particular, but I'm planning on going on and getting my phd in history, and I was just wondering if any of our history students on this forum had any advice on being more effective.

[Ostrinski]

That is a good point Negative Creep, about making a note about dates. They are hard to remember sometimes.

Mainly my only notetaking consists of important people, organizations, and other miscellaneous terms that are relevant to the subject.

[Karabin]

I'm not a History Student, but I study a lot of History books (does that make sense?), what I personally do is:
1. Underline things, you read it twice when you underline, and it helps when you have to find it later. If you rather don't write in a book, buy a notebook and write the things you normally underline in there.
2. If you see dates, note them in a notebook or at the end of the chapter. Just the date and event, and I prefer to incude a page number as well.
3. Ask yourself after every page: Did I understand this? Or “Do I remember what it is about?” if not, reread.

Good points. On the part of underlying, I find it helpful that if the teacher gives you a sheet with primary or secondary sources on it that it helps to highlight relevant bits of information with a highlighter, and make notes on the side margins of the page.

I also find using small sticky notes very helpful. When you find something relevant, then just write what it is on the sticky note and place it on the top part of the page so that you can see what that page contains without even opening the book. It also helps to what I call "Actively Study"; if you find a word, quote or excerpt that you do not understand then see if you can find what it means online or by asking your teacher. This way you not only get a better understanding of what you're reading, but by actively getting involved you're doing more than just reading through your documents.

Out of interest, can I ask what history class are you taking?

[Sam_b]

I'm just about to start my PhD in Czech Studies, and I don't do what could be considered 'pure' history but does involve a lot of cultural and historical analysis; so here's what I would say:

- too many people put emphasis on exact dates and other such nonsense. It might make you feel better if you're able to rattle off exact dates of things, but often I see people who are able to do this as doing it in an attempt to appear 'clever' or that they've got their shit together. I know a lot of dates - I know them because they're written in the books I read. If I'm doing a presentation that's another story, but knowing your dates is not history - it's the ability to understand and explain why things happened and the context of such.

- Which leads me onto another thing, which may be slightly contradictory after what I've just said. If you do really want to remember things like dates (which isn't a bad thing, just unnecessary a lot of the time if you sacrifice other things) looking into the real history of the situation will help make this so much easier. Realising exactly why things happened at the time they did is crucial for scholarly appreciation of history - timing is everything. If you realise something happened the way it did and there is a connection there, you can usually put it into a particular timeframe - even without knowing exact dates!

- Reading books does not necessarily make understanding history, young Jedi. Don't read something necessarily to understand, but to critique. I've lost count of how many books i've read that I've either disagreed with, or found other sources which flatly contradict it. I will sometimes staple journal articles together that offer differing interpretations, as often the answer lies something in the middle. Don't be afraid to disagree with a history book - after all, the authors probably did the same degree you did once. On the point of journal articles, get into the habit of highlighting areas and going back to them.
Is it a long journal article? When the big paper or Peer Review is due, are you really going to trawl through a relatively dull 30-pager? I certainly wouldn't. That's why when I read it for the first time I make a document or word file and summarise crucial points and where they can be found in the text (or, as above, have been highlighted). Easy enough to print out and stick on the front of your hard copy.

- Finally, the most crucial thing is to create a culture of writing. If you keep writing, then you keep reading, you keep comparing, yadda yadda; and anything you write is a good base for many future reviews, essays or presentations. For instance, last year I wrote a 'brief' 5,000 word piece on technique and message in Wajda's War Trilogy (http://kinokinomozi.wordpress.com/2011/12/01/wajda-and-the-polish-resistance-depictions-and-message/) which was heavily based on a piece I wrote about Ashes and Diamonds some two years before while studying in Prague. Keep a hold of all you write! Critiquing myself and looking back meant I could effectively look at the historical accuracies and content by having a solid base work already to refer back to.

I guess the tl;dr version of this is not to 'study' but to actively engage with your sources and make them dynamic. It's not a chore to remember things when you're engaged with it.

Good luck in your studies. If you need advice about your PhD or Masters etc, feel free to PM me.

[Ostrinski]

That is a great post sam b, very insightful. I have it bookmarked and I will keep you in mind when I have questions.

To answer your question, Karabin, I actually just started college, so I'm not even in the history program yet :lol:. I didn't mean to give the impression that I'm that far along. Though I've been a history geek since I was a kid and I made my decision back when I was still in high school. I'm well acquainted with my history professor at the moment, and I've already met with the head of the department of the specialty I plan on going into at the university I plan on transferring (planning on specializing in labor history).

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

I think if you're looking to go towards a PhD in History, you should already have pretty advanced skills in skim-reading to find the important facts in large documents that you need.

I iamgine that, at PhD level, it's your research skills that you should really want to be tip top. A lot of Marxist historiographers struggle because their grand theories are often not backed up by primary evidence. Karl Marx was able to access vast amounts of primary sources because of Engels' backing. If you can, i'd take a course in econometrics and get very used to archives and understanding parish registers, the pre-census methods of documentation (anglican records of baptisms, burials etc.).

I'm sure you probably know all of this, just adding my two cents :)

[Ostrinski]

What are some good tips for being able to recognize important facts? I often find myself just paraphrasing every single sentence, which defeats the purpose of taking notes and takes a long time.

[Ostrinski]

Also, if I'm wanting to become a labor historian, and I'm reading about, say, the Spanish Civil War, do I onlyneed to be concerned with the labor/communist/anarchist perspective of things, or should I be memorizing everything about it, including background, etc.

[Solidarity]

Read the vitally important areas, and skim over the areas that aren't as important as much. When you take notes summarize the text. Wright them in your own words so you can understand the text. Thats all I got. Hope it helped :)

[Os Cangaceiros]

When I was a history student going to college, I was pretty bad about actually reading the course material. Instead I just went to all the lectures and took really meticulous notes. My logic was that the important information in the book would be covered in the lectures anyway. Probably not the most responsible logic, but it worked, as I got really good grades in every one of my history classes. The only time I'd really take time to read the material was when I needed specific information for reports.

I guess you can't half-ass it like that if you're aiming for your masters or Ph.D, though.

If you're not squeamish about damaging your books, then just underline them and write in the margins. I've bought quite a few used history books that have some anonymous person's notes in them, and actually I find it helpful, bizarrely. I know a lot of people find it annoying, but often it clues me into insights I may have missed. If you don't want to damage the book then just write stuff down in a seperate notebook. Basically what negative creep said.

[Sam_b]

Read the vitally important areas, and skim over the areas that aren't as important as much

In history, how does one separate the so-called ''vitally important areas'' and those which "the areas that aren't"?

[Invader Zim]

Well. There is a lot to say here. But here are some tips from my own experience as a history PhD student that have served me well over the last few years. Much of this advice goes for both primary source work as well as mastering the secondary literature, and just trying to get your head around stuff in general.

1. Research is a tricky process, what works for one person doesn't necessarily for anybody else.

2. It is really important, while taking any kind of notes, to have a basic familiarity with the topic before you begin. That means, before you hit the heavily packed monographs, familiarizing yourself with the debates and issues within the historiography. So, look for primers or surveys of the historiography (often contained within literature reviews).

3. Taking notes is very important. Do not do it on paper. Notebooks can be lost, are not easily organised, can not be easily edited, etc. Try to do your note taking on computer. Create documents which correspond to individual books. That way you can keep everything ordered, you can add stuff, amend it and even add electronic links to other works which discuss similar issues or where you spot a link, etc. I really debated whether I could afford to (or should) shell out for a really budget laptop (which is all you need) but believe me, it was money extremely well spent. In fact, it was the best decision I have ever made with £200 and worth every penny and more. The thing is a piece of shit, but I would be lost without it. I guess in retrospect it has also been value for money given that I got it in 2008 and I use it pretty much every workday as a basic trade tool and have done for four years.

4. When taking notes always make sure you include the full reference, including page numbers. If you don't you will constantly be leafing back through the book trying to find important bibliographical/reference details.

5. Precise material, do not write it in full, unless you are sure that you want to come back to it later in detail and will require the unamended original. This will save you a lot of time.

6. While writing notes always make sure you place any material you have jotted down you have written separate from your own comments. If you don't you can come unstuck later when you confuse what you have written with what the author has written.

7. Where possible photograph, digitize or photocopy material. It is much easier to have a photocopy with the relevant passages highlighted, and with notes in the margins, than writing everything else out yourself. If that is not possible, see point three.

8. When using original documents, and collect a direct image copy of it, write out everything you need in full - including anything that has been added to it in the margins, crossed out, etc. This stuff can prove vital later.

9. When approaching complex literature, make liberal use of the index, contents pages, chapter introductions and conclusions. These usually spell out the main points being made and give you pointers to vital information.

10. Book reviews are really handy, reviewers precise material and often note areas of quality, errors, and link the work into the major debates in the field.

11. Practise precising work. Find books that are short, easy to read, and then read them a few times. Work out exactly what they are saying, and then, in 500 words, write it out entirely your own words. This is a really useful skill. It forces you to be economical with the material, jettisoning extraneous detail and capturing the essence of the piece. It also makes you far better, in time, at recognizing the key issues.

12. Swiftly come to terms with the fact that you only have to seriously read a few books - everything else, unless absolutely key, can be relegated into the 'for reference' category. Life is too short to read all 14 volumes (or however many it is) of E. H. Carr's History of Soviet Russia. You need to prioritize your time.

13. It depends on precisely what you are trying to achieve, but in many instances I have found that, contrary to what Sam says, dates are sadly important. I have found time, and time, and time, again that I haven't noted a date, and when you come to write your PhD your supervisor will immediately point out your failure to make the chronology of the history you are describing clear. And if they don't, do you really want to risk that your examiners will? I don't remember them either (in one ear and out the other usually), but you do have to have a note of them to add clarity to your piece.

14. If you are having a huge amount of trouble with something, do not slave away at it. Stop. Have a break, get a snack or a coffee, mull it over, sleep on it, read something else entirely - however long is required - and then come back to it. Somethings are really tricky to get your head round, or the prose is difficult or the data really compact. Making your brain numb trying to figure it out in one go is pointless. In fact, sometimes it is necessary to totally leave something completely and work on something else. Sometimes it seems that your mind will actually solve a problem without you even realizing. It is hard to count the number of times I've been struggling with something, left it alone for a day or two, and then been in the shower, in bed, or some entirely mundane activity, and the solution or connection just arrives in my head.

On that same note, it is also worth reading other material on the same issue. You may not get what author X is saying, but author Y might make some entirely unexpected or passing comment which sheds light on the issue you hadn't got while reading X and the whole thing becomes clear.

15. make use of bibliographical essays and edited/annotated bibliographies. These are really useful, again, in explaining key issues so you can come to a text pre-armed but also for pointing you in the direction of other work which, if the text if proving hard to master, might shed invaluable light on the subject.

16. If you are finding a book hard to read, then take half an hour to read this essay (https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm), and it will make you feel better and understand that it isn't your fault.

17. Deposit libraries, in particular very large ones, typically do not allow you to browse the shelves. You cannot borrow books, you are subjected to their often limited opening hours, and in many cases you have no photocopy access. In these instances you must make sure that you have preordered much of the material you will require. It can often take over an hour for material to be dredged up by the librarians, which is time you could be better spending elsewhere. And make sure that you order a lot. Even if you don't get through it all, it gives you the opportunity to at least give stuff a serious once over, which is often enough to know if you ever need to look at it again. Furthermore, it also aids point 14.

You also need to research this kind of institution before you go, you may well find that archives, and a fair few major libraries, will require a letter of introduction before they allow you to do research there. It is also very handy to know precisely what they have in their catalogues.


------

Doubtless, there is plenty more to say. But, I guess I've already started going too far beyond what you wanted. But this is all stuff that has served me well, or that I wish I knew when I started. Good luck. PM me or whatever if you want to know more about PhD work and stuff.

[ckaihatsu]

When reading history, either recreationally or academically, how do you best document important facts, take notes, etc?

When I'm reading these giant works sometimes I feel overwhelmed and nervous that I'll forget something important.

Is there any way to circumvent this?


- 'Make it your own'.

- Use flashcards to readily quiz yourself on anything you're having a particularly difficult time absorbing.

- Use Okular (on Linux, free) or Adobe Acrobat (or equivalent) to mark-up electronic texts or scans of your material. (You can also use a digital camera to take snapshots of pages for this.)

- Use the journalistic methodology of 'who what where when why and how' to focus-on and pinpoint any event in particular.

Also:


[1] History, Macro Micro -- Precision

http://postimage.org/image/34mjeutk4/

[ckaihatsu]

Also, if I'm wanting to become a labor historian, and I'm reading about, say, the Spanish Civil War, do I onlyneed to be concerned with the labor/communist/anarchist perspective of things, or should I be memorizing everything about it, including background, etc.


[3] Ideologies & Operations -- Fundamentals

http://postimage.org/image/34modgv1g/

[Sam_b]

To be honest these flashcards are really confusing.

[ckaihatsu]

To be honest these flashcards are really confusing.


They're not flashcards, they're informational illustrations.

What aspect do you find unclear?

[Sam_b]

That they are cluttered, with different things overlapping each other; crammed in wheras they could be done over three or four posters, and are thus difficult to read. I have no idea why some parts are in different places, and to me what seems to have happened is that 3D rendering has taken precedence over the actual information that is attempting to be presented.

[ckaihatsu]

That they are cluttered, with different things overlapping each other; crammed in wheras they could be done over three or four posters, and are thus difficult to read. I have no idea why some parts are in different places, and to me what seems to have happened is that 3D rendering has taken precedence over the actual information that is attempting to be presented.


I'm thinking / hoping that it may be due to the image being automatically resized down to fit in your screen....

After you click on the thumbnail to get the image in that stylized frame-window, click it again to see the image plainly on a blank browser page. Then click it *once more* and the browser will un-resize it to display it at its actual, original size -- it will probably not all fit in the browser window at once, then, so you may want to do a right-click on it and save it out to your local file directory. You can then use an image viewer of your choice to freely zoom in and out on it, and to pan around to see particular portions of it as you like.

[Sam_b]

I'm thinking / hoping that it may be due to the image being automatically resized down to fit in your screen....I maximised it out and still had problems reading it I'm afraid, and in general I had little idea of what was going on. Posters or whatever are good but they are only good if they are clean and simple in order to get the points across. This is probably coming from an outsider perspective though, as I wouldn't imagine you would understand the graphs and notes I have either.


For instance in Ideologies you have the phrase 'liberation of humanity from private property' in white covered by a semi-opaque brown letter 'P' over a dark blue background; and a whole bunch of shadowing going on.

[ckaihatsu]

I maximised it out and still had problems reading it I'm afraid, and in general I had little idea of what was going on. Posters or whatever are good but they are only good if they are clean and simple in order to get the points across. This is probably coming from an outsider perspective though, as I wouldn't imagine you would understand the graphs and notes I have either.


Okay, I'll just have to take you at your word on this -- hope you're able to derive *something* from it nonetheless....

I've been thinking of updating these two, so this may be an impetus to go ahead and make some improvements in the direction you're indicating.

[Ostrinski]

Well. There is a lot to say here. But here are some tips from my own experience as a history PhD student that have served me well over the last few years. Much of this advice goes for both primary source work as well as mastering the secondary literature, and just trying to get your head around stuff in general.

1. Research is a tricky process, what works for one person doesn't necessarily for anybody else.

2. It is really important, while taking any kind of notes, to have a basic familiarity with the topic before you begin. That means, before you hit the heavily packed monographs, familiarizing yourself with the debates and issues within the historiography. So, look for primers or surveys of the historiography (often contained within literature reviews).

3. Taking notes is very important. Do not do it on paper. Notebooks can be lost, are not easily organised, can not be easily edited, etc. Try to do your note taking on computer. Create documents which correspond to individual books. That way you can keep everything ordered, you can add stuff, amend it and even add electronic links to other works which discuss similar issues or where you spot a link, etc. I really debated whether I could afford to (or should) shell out for a really budget laptop (which is all you need) but believe me, it was money extremely well spent. In fact, it was the best decision I have ever made with £200 and worth every penny and more. The thing is a piece of shit, but I would be lost without it. I guess in retrospect it has also been value for money given that I got it in 2008 and I use it pretty much every workday as a basic trade tool and have done for four years.

4. When taking notes always make sure you include the full reference, including page numbers. If you don't you will constantly be leafing back through the book trying to find important bibliographical/reference details.

5. Precise material, do not write it in full, unless you are sure that you want to come back to it later in detail and will require the unamended original. This will save you a lot of time.

6. While writing notes always make sure you place any material you have jotted down you have written separate from your own comments. If you don't you can come unstuck later when you confuse what you have written with what the author has written.

7. Where possible photograph, digitize or photocopy material. It is much easier to have a photocopy with the relevant passages highlighted, and with notes in the margins, than writing everything else out yourself. If that is not possible, see point three.

8. When using original documents, and collect a direct image copy of it, write out everything you need in full - including anything that has been added to it in the margins, crossed out, etc. This stuff can prove vital later.

9. When approaching complex literature, make liberal use of the index, contents pages, chapter introductions and conclusions. These usually spell out the main points being made and give you pointers to vital information.

10. Book reviews are really handy, reviewers precise material and often note areas of quality, errors, and link the work into the major debates in the field.

11. Practise precising work. Find books that are short, easy to read, and then read them a few times. Work out exactly what they are saying, and then, in 500 words, write it out entirely your own words. This is a really useful skill. It forces you to be economical with the material, jettisoning extraneous detail and capturing the essence of the piece. It also makes you far better, in time, at recognizing the key issues.

12. Swiftly come to terms with the fact that you only have to seriously read a few books - everything else, unless absolutely key, can be relegated into the 'for reference' category. Life is too short to read all 14 volumes (or however many it is) of E. H. Carr's History of Soviet Russia. You need to prioritize your time.

13. It depends on precisely what you are trying to achieve, but in many instances I have found that, contrary to what Sam says, dates are sadly important. I have found time, and time, and time, again that I haven't noted a date, and when you come to write your PhD your supervisor will immediately point out your failure to make the chronology of the history you are describing clear. And if they don't, do you really want to risk that your examiners will? I don't remember them either (in one ear and out the other usually), but you do have to have a note of them to add clarity to your piece.

14. If you are having a huge amount of trouble with something, do not slave away at it. Stop. Have a break, get a snack or a coffee, mull it over, sleep on it, read something else entirely - however long is required - and then come back to it. Somethings are really tricky to get your head round, or the prose is difficult or the data really compact. Making your brain numb trying to figure it out in one go is pointless. In fact, sometimes it is necessary to totally leave something completely and work on something else. Sometimes it seems that your mind will actually solve a problem without you even realizing. It is hard to count the number of times I've been struggling with something, left it alone for a day or two, and then been in the shower, in bed, or some entirely mundane activity, and the solution or connection just arrives in my head.

On that same note, it is also worth reading other material on the same issue. You may not get what author X is saying, but author Y might make some entirely unexpected or passing comment which sheds light on the issue you hadn't got while reading X and the whole thing becomes clear.

15. make use of bibliographical essays and edited/annotated bibliographies. These are really useful, again, in explaining key issues so you can come to a text pre-armed but also for pointing you in the direction of other work which, if the text if proving hard to master, might shed invaluable light on the subject.

16. If you are finding a book hard to read, then take half an hour to read this essay (https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm), and it will make you feel better and understand that it isn't your fault.

17. Deposit libraries, in particular very large ones, typically do not allow you to browse the shelves. You cannot borrow books, you are subjected to their often limited opening hours, and in many cases you have no photocopy access. In these instances you must make sure that you have preordered much of the material you will require. It can often take over an hour for material to be dredged up by the librarians, which is time you could be better spending elsewhere. And make sure that you order a lot. Even if you don't get through it all, it gives you the opportunity to at least give stuff a serious once over, which is often enough to know if you ever need to look at it again. Furthermore, it also aids point 14.

You also need to research this kind of institution before you go, you may well find that archives, and a fair few major libraries, will require a letter of introduction before they allow you to do research there. It is also very handy to know precisely what they have in their catalogues.


------

Doubtless, there is plenty more to say. But, I guess I've already started going too far beyond what you wanted. But this is all stuff that has served me well, or that I wish I knew when I started. Good luck. PM me or whatever if you want to know more about PhD work and stuff.Wow, thank you for all this information and the effort you put into it. I'll keep you in mind ifnI have a suggestion.