history [n.]

[pl. histories] 1. the study of past events. 2. the past considered as a whole. 3. the past events connected with someone or something. 4. a continuous record of past events or trends. PHRASES - be history - informal, be dismissed or dead, be finished; the rest is history - the events succeeding those already related are so well known that they need not be recounted again.
- ORIGIN Greek historia ‘narrative, history’, from histor ‘learned, wise man’.

Oxford Dictionaries

This page provides links to information and resources for units and topics covered in this subject at a range of Australian universities. It does not attempt to include all these. Be aware some units/topics have different titles in different universities, even though content may be the same or similar. Australian information is supplied wherever possible.

They are at undergraduate level and listed in alphabetical groupings for ease of access. Some information may be useful at a higher level.

In addition, there are journals, search engines, databases, primary documents, reference material and other general information where these are seen to be relevant.

All standard Glossaries are now found on this page, listed alphabetically.

Additional unit material will be included as time permits.

This page requires further development. This will be done as soon as time permits through the addition of further topics and a strengthening of those that already exist.

If you are aware of any worthwhile information which is not included, suggestions or additions are welcome and will be given every consideration.

A - F

Critical Thinking & Selection

In other words, don’t believe everything you see or find !

• A Guide to Critical Thinking About What You See on the Web
  ‘Sometimes, it takes special skills just to find something on the Web. To use the Web well, however, you need to do even more. I offer for your consideration the following six suggestions when examining Web pages’.
• Welcome to the Internet for Historians
  ‘A Free, teach yourself tutorial that lets you practise your Internet Information Skills’. How to search, key internet sites for history, what to trust, how to get the most from the Internet. Oxford University.

Civilisation & Culture

• Art History Resources
  While art, it clarifies culture and beliefs over time.
• Castles on The Web
  Castles, abbeys and churches. Graphics, children’s section, more.
• Collapse : Why Do Civilisations Fall ?
  Several civilisations that died out and it asks why. Civilisations include Mayan, Mesopotamia and Mali.
• World Cultures
  Exhibits, reviews. University of Pennsylvania Museum. Covers many history periods.

Exploration

General sites covering exploration throughout the ages.

• The Mariners’ Museum
  Links to explorers and explorations from Ancient civilisations to James Cook. Includes areas not commonly covered : Polynesia, Arabic exploration, related sections.
• Voyages of Exploration
  Thinkquest site. Great explorers wend their way to new places. Information on why and work on the results. Very interactive. Allows teachers to follow student progress.

Top of Page

G - L

History Journals

Some have details only [D], some abstracts [A], others provide full text [F] articles. Som compiled lists.

• Chronicon
  ‘Freely available electronic journal devoted to History - ancient, medieval and modern - with a particular focus on Irish History’.
• Current History
  [A, F].
• Directory of History Journals
  Compiled by the American Historical Association. All eras and areas.
• Historical Journals Online
  Long listing, compiled by an American University.
• Historical Research
  ‘Since 1923, Historical Research has been a leading mainstream British historical journal. Its articles cover a wide geographical and temporal span : from the early middle ages to the twentieth century’. Online, plus PDF downloads. Archives have been digitised. [A, F].
• History in Focus
  ‘Original articles, book reviews, links to historical resources. Previous issues available, information regarding future issues.
• History Journal Websites
  Compiled by Spartacus.
• History Today
  [D, A]
• Journal of Contemporary History
• Journal of MultiMedia History
• List of History Journals [Wikipedia]

History News

• Discovery News - History News
• History & Culture News
  National Geographic. Specific topics covered, e.g. Ancient Humans in Asia Survived Super-Eruption.
• History in the News
  ‘History in the News continually updated from thousands of sources around the net’.
• History News Network
  Latest history news.
• History News Service
  ‘Informal syndicate of professional historians who seek to improve the public’s understanding of current events by setting these events in their historical contexts’.
• History Today
  ‘Delves into the deeper, historical issues that lie behind the headlines’.

Top of Page

Original Documentation

Access original [primary] documentation, posters and audio files of events, speeches and writings.

Audio

• History and Politics Out Loud
  Searchable Archive Of Politically Significant Audio Materials.
• The History Channel : Speech Archives
  Listen to speeches by people as diverse as Albert Einstein and Thomas Alva Edison to Neil Armstrong and F W deKlerk.

Documents

• CARRIE
  A full-text electronic library. ‘Some of the subdivisions present primary documents, others provide materials that help place the topics into global perspective’.
• Dead Sea Scrolls
• Hanover Historical Texts Project
• Historical Discovery
• Historical Documents
  ‘A collection of documents I have used in teaching my courses over many years. All are available as PDF files by clicking on the author or title’. A wide variety, many with an individual’s viewpoint. Another set of Military Documents can be found here.
• Historical Text Archive
  ‘High quality articles, books, essays, documents, historical photos, links, screened for content, for a broad range of historical subjects [more than 6 500 in all]. Divided into three sections : articles, e-books, links. The article section contains articles, documents, essays, photographs. Dynamic, with regular additions to its contents and its link collection’.
• Internet History Sourcebooks
  ‘Public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly [without advertising or excessive layout] for educational use’. All eras of history.
• Repositories of Primary Sources
  ‘over 5 000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, other primary sources for the research scholar. All links tested for correctness and appropriateness’.
• Spartacus Educational
  Links to historical material able to be accessed by specific title, e.g. Russia 1860-1945, Encyclopedia of British History - 1700-1900, newsletters entitled Education on the Internet and Teaching History Online. additional links at the bottom.
• The Gettysburg Address
  Library of Congress.
• The Göttingen Gutenberg Bible [1454]
  Digital copy of this running to 1 282 pages. Access Illuminations, The Göttingen Model Book [c. 1450], Helmasperger’s Notarial Instrument [1455] and other information
• The Internet Classics Archive
• The Ism Book
  ‘The Ism Book is an intellectual “field guide” that provides brief definitions of theories, doctrines, movements and approaches in philosophy, religion, politics, science, the arts, and related disciplines’. Search or surf the list of isms. Quite extensive.
• The Origin And Deeds Of The Goths

Images

• History and Images Index
  ‘Provides Internet resources on still images, history of images, and on the use of images as historical source. Overlappings and intersections with other indexes are distinctive features of these pages’.
• Images from History
  ‘Offers examples of premodern art and archæology the world over to support the teaching of world history’.
• The Warposters Collection
• Virtual Books
  A collection of “virtual books” of the greatest quality and importance from across the ages. From the British Library. Includes such examples as the Sforza Hours, Lindisfarne Gospels, First Atlas of Europe [Mercator], Golden Haggadah and Luttrell Psalter. several options to view from basic to much higher quality.

Top of Page

M - R

Portals

• 10 x 10
  ‘Every hour, 10x10 collects the 100 words and pictures that matter most on a global scale, and presents them as a single image, taken to encapsulate that moment in time. Clicking on a single frame allows us to peer a bit deeper into the story that lies behind the image’.
• Alternate History
  What if ? Looks at possible consequences if major historical events had not turned out as they did. For example - a Berlin-Moscow axis rather than opposition in WW2 ? Not genuine history, but interesting.
• A Place in History
  ‘A Guide to Using GIS in Historical Research’. 10 chapters describing this in detail.
• Best of History Web Sites
  ‘Award-winning portal for students, history educators and history enthusiasts. Find sites, rated for usefulness and accuracy, that help study or teach topics and periods in History’.
• Cyberschool - History, UQL
  This page opens on the Modern History listing. Covers many areas around the world and links to original texts, images, digitised versions of material, more. Also links to other areas in the Social Sciences such as Ancient History, Political Studies, Geography and others.
• eHistory
  Ohio State University.Multiple sections give access to Origins [full-text journal, primary documents, timelines, online books, book reviews, links, maps & images, more. Strongest on American history, but not exclusive to this.
• EyeWitness to History
  History Through The Eyes Of Those Who Lived It. ‘Your ringside seat to history - from the Ancient World to the present’. Access nominated periods, picture of the week.
• History A to Z
  All the history topics covered by the BBC. Ancient History, archaeology, British History, Recent History, more. Interactive content, timelines, information on historical figures.
• History Channel
  Search a topic, This Day, What’s new ?, quiz, poll, What happened on your birthday ?, more.
• HistoryWired
  Smithsonian. Links to exhibits, listing them under topical headings and cross linking them. Exhibits as small as a coin, as large as a locomotive. Exhibits from 1400 on.
• HistoryWiz Islam
  Links to the history of Islam. Not all sites appear to be linked effectively.
• History World
  ‘The site contains more than 300 narrative Histories, weaving through time and interconnecting’. From Aegean to Zoroastrianism.
• H-Net Discussion Networks
  ‘H-Net’s e-mail lists function as electronic networks, linking professors, teachers and students in an egalitarian exchange of ideas and materials. Every aspect of academic life — research, teaching, controversies new and old - is open for discussion’.
• Intute : History Resources by Heading
  ‘Search or browse the database of History resources which have been selected, evaluated and described by subject specialists. Our target audience is lecturers, researchers and students’.
• Never Lost
  ‘Join us in an exploration of Polynesian navigation, and learn to see the world as the ancient Polynesians saw it’.
• The British Academy
  ‘Directory of online resources in the humanities and social sciences. Designed as an entry point to available resources for those working in higher education and research’.
• The World Digital Library
  ‘The World Digital Library makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world’. Most is in the historical arena.
• Thinkinghistory
  ‘Activities that require history students to think, question and participate. That’s why it’s called Thinkinghistory, not regurgitating, rote-learning, passive history. The core of the site is the Resources section, which provides detailed descriptions of activities, each of which aims to deepen students’ understanding and knowledge, promote wider participation and more constructive discussion and to help students care about the people and situations they are studying’.
• World History
  History charts, timelines, people, events, maps, more.
• World History Compass
  Historical information, specialist areas such as science and technology, Ancient Mediterranean cultures.
• World History Index
  Part of the WWW-VL History Central Catalogue. Link for history information about specific countries.

Top of Page

S - Z

Study of History, The

• A Brief Citation Guide for Internet Resources
  In History and the Humanities ‘Derived from the essential principles of academic citation in Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 5th ed. [Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1987]. I have also drawn upon suggestions from some of the works listed in the bibliography of additional materials’.
• A Student’s Guide to the Study of History
  ‘Aid to high school and college students who are either taking history classes or who intend to major in history as undergraduates’.
• History Guide
  ‘To better prepare yourself for your history classes and to make your time in class more enjoyable and proficient’. Check the What is History ? section for ‘a series of quotations about history and the historian’s craft’, which is quite fascinating.
• MHRA Style Guide
  Download an up-to-date copy from this site.
• Theories and Methods in the Study of History
  Open courseware from M.I.T.. Includes reading list, student work examples, lecture notes, more.
• Ehat is History ? [History in Focus]
  Several articles, website links, book reviews, bibliography and research information plus more.
• Why Study History ?
  Article from the American Historical Association.

This Day in History

There is a wide range of This Day in History options available from widgets, as found on the main History page, to software and individual web pages. Many include social/cultural items as well as those which are major historical occurrences. Select carefully to ensure the option you choose satisfies your specific need.

• ANYDAY : Today in History Page
  Concentrate on dates. By indicating date and month, you come up with birth dates, events, etc..
• dMarie Time Capsule
  Enter a date. Generate either automatic or manually selected detail for that date.
• On This Day
  Information from the BBC.
• On This Day [2]
  On this Day information from The New York Times.
• On This Day In History
  Free downloadable program with optional registration. ‘Choose Any Date To Find Out What Events Happened On That Day’.
• This Day in History
• This Day in History [2]
  From The Free Dictionary.
• Today
  The Library of Congress in the US.
• Today [2]
  The History Channel

Timelines

See or create historical timelines.

• African Timelines
• Age of Exploration Voyages
  3 000 BCE to the present. See the voyages on a world map, find out about explorers, their ships and navigation tools. Linked as part of a larger Age of Exploration presentation.
  Highly Recommended !
• AlternaTime
• Chronology of Christianity
• Early Islam Chronology
• How Much Is That ?
  ‘Ask questions of comparative value covering purchasing power, exchange rates, and other variables between the past and today’. Virtually restricted to the US and the UK.
• History of Printing Timetable
  3 500 BCE to the present.
• HyperHistory
  Timelines for periods, showing different aspects of history. Historical events, people, etc., using colour coding. Select time period and print.
• The Modern World Timeline
  1940 →.
• Passage of Time
  Countries & regions.
• Prehistoric Time Line
  National Geographic.
• Renaissance Chronology
  1260-1648.
• The 20th Century
• Timeline of the 18th Century
  Doesn’t look much but contains a wealth of facts. From 1660 to 1800.
• Timelines of World History
• WhoWhatWhen : Interactive Historical Timelines
  1 000 to the present.

Top of Page

© D & B Mann Webmasters. All rights reserved. Last updated - 9 April 2012.
Best viewed at a resolution of 1280 x 800 or greater. We use and recommend Mozilla Firefox as the preferred browser.