The Yale University Library Program for History Majors

In a November 2007 article in New Yorker magazine, Future Reading: Digitization and Its Discontents, Princeton historian Anthony Grafton discussed the new world of digital research and the challenge it posed to historians. According to Grafton:

The supposed universal library . . . will be not a seamless mass of books, easily linked and studied together, but a patchwork of interfaces and databases, some open to anyone with a computer and WiFi, others closed to those without access or money. The real challenge now is how to chart the tectonic plates of information that are crashing into one another and then to learn to navigate the new landscapes they are creating.

The Yale University Library and the Yale history department have created a two-part program to ensure that Yale history majors have the skills to navigate the increasingly complex world of print and digital library resources. Participation in the program is mandatory for undergraduate history majors, and the requirement is fulfilled by completing the following two components:

Library Orientation for History Majors
Using archival materials from Yale repositories such as the Beinecke Rare Book Library and the Manuscripts and Archives Department of Sterling Memorial Library, this hands-on class focuses on skills essential for history students, from performing literature reviews to finding and analyzing primary sources. This 90-minute session is not a general introduction to the library, and we suggest that students take a library tour before attending this class so that they understand the organization of the Yale library system, and are able to order books through Borrow Direct and Interlibrary Loan. The history department requires students to complete this requirement by the third week of their junior year and/or before they can pre-register for a junior seminar.

There are no more classes during the Spring 2009 semester. Classes for Fall 2009 will be announced in the summer.

Senior Essay Library Colloquium

Every fall the library matches seniors essay writers in the Yale Department of History with a subject specialist librarian, curator, or archivist who will offer guidance on how best to tackle the research component of the senior essay.  Using students' statements of intent as a guide, subject specialist librarians, curators and archivists are drawn from throughout the Yale University Library system and matched with students who are working in their areas of expertise.  Library staff meet with their assigned senior essayists either individually or in small groups to come up with a specific research plan for each student's project. Although students are required to meet with a member of the library only once, these initial meetings are often followed up with e-mails, telephone calls, and personal appointments throughout the senior essay writing process.

For more information about the senior essay colloquium, go here.

© 2009 Yale University Library This file last modified 04/23/09 Send comments to Gregory Eow. Research Services and Collections, Sterling Memorial Library.