Bloomsbury History: Theory and Method - How to Use
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What is Bloomsbury History: Theory and Method?

Bloomsbury History: Theory and Method is an educational resource dedicated to historiography and the examination of historical theory and methods using a global approach.

On this platform, discover 286 exclusive articles written by authors from 25 different countries across five continents that explore key concepts, thinkers, debates, methods for analyzing primary sources, classic and cutting-edge theories, schools of thought and overviews and excerpts from scholarly works which shaped the discipline. Additionally, users can explore 80 academic eBooks on historiography and methods and Historiography: Critical Readings, a four-volume major reference work on the global history of historiography.

Read on to find out how to browse, search and discover exciting new content on the Bloomsbury History: Theory and Method platform.

Homepage

Navigation Bar

The navigation on the top of the homepage provides a variety of options to access content on the site.

Explore By

This button provides options to access the content by People, Types of History, Place, Period or Topic.
  • Clicking on any option leads to an alphabetical list for browsing.
  • The numbers in brackets next to each term show the amount of content aggregated under each term.
  • Clicking on any term will lead to a results page for all the content on the site that has been tagged with the term.
  • The results page offers further filter options in the left-hand column.

Content Types

Browse Contents offers options to browse eBooks, Timeline, World Map, Essays on Theory, Method and Historiography, Key Thinkers, Using Primary Sources, Key Concepts, Classic Texts in Context and Critical Readings on Historiography.
  • Critical Readings on Historiography brings users to Q. Edward Wang’s unparalleled four-volume major reference work, Historiography: Critical Readings. The volumes examine – Ancient and Medieval Traditions / Transition and Transformation / Scientific Models: From the West to the World / Challenges and Criticisms: From the 1990s to the Present.
  • Essays on Theory, Method and Historiography, brings users to a wide selection of essays written on vital topics which are fundamental to the history discipline.
  • Key Thinkers leads to a page of key thinkers listed in alphabetical order. Click into thinkers’ names to read scholarly articles and overviews about individuals who have had an important bearing on the history field.
  • Using Primary Sources presents an alphabetized list of primary source types, like Folklore, Fashion, and Museum Objects. Each article includes methodology and best practices for using and analyzing the sources in scholarship.
  • Key Concepts provides an alphabetized list of concepts which are of key significance to historians. The articles provide valuable gateway overviews, with concept examples including Agency, Class and Equality.
  • Classic Texts in Context leads to an alphabetized list of extended and contextualized classic text excerpts which introduce landmarks styles, approaches and voices in the history of historical writing.
  • eBooks leads to a page where all of the eBooks are listed in alphabetical order. Click into the title or cover to view the eBook.
  • Timeline leads to an interactive timeline on the platform. Spanning the 18th century to the modern age, the timeline provides a contextual framework through which to explore the platform’s themes and major historical events. Clicking into a specific event will lead the user to an eBook chapter or article outlining the topic
  • World Map leads to an interactive World Map. Digging into different regions, it highlights the global scope of History: Theory and Method.

About

  • Featured Content showcases routinely updated free content highlighting articles and eBooks grouped thematically with images and title breakdowns.
  • Editors' Note explores the themes, goals, and benefits of Bloomsbury History: Theory and Method written by the platform’s editors. Topics covered include overcoming Western-centrism, the connection between historical theory and the practice of history, and the reasoning behind Bloomsbury History: Theory and Method’s launch.

Librarians

The Librarian section provides useful information on the Benefits for Subscribing Institutions, MARC Records, Promotional Materials for the platform, as well as Help and Contact Us information.

Search

The basic search bar appears below the main navigation for quick and easy searching across the site.

Where to Start

Providing an extensive collection of content, Bloomsbury History: Theory and Method offers students, researchers, and scholars an unprecedented insight into this diverse field of study. Discover the broad range of content on offer by clicking on the tiles as outlined above.

Inside the Platform

Search

To search, type your search term in the Search bar at the top of each page. Clicking the magnifying glass button or pressing return will take you to the results page.

The search page will show image results and text results in order of the most relevant and can be reordered by title or date, ascending or descending. The standard text results page shows 10 results and can be adjusted to 5 or 20 results. The search results will show the article or chapter title, author(s), reference or eBook title, and content type, with a preview snippet of text that includes the search term appearing in bold.

Search results can be refined by filtered options.

Navigate to the desired results by clicking on the item title at the top of each result.

Advanced Search

To the right of the search bar, click on the Advanced Search button.

Enter your search term in the search bar with the option to refine by Title, Author/Editor/Creator, Summary/Abstract, Category, or Identifier. Enter additional search terms using ‘Add Field’ with search functions of ‘AND,’ ‘OR,’ and ‘NOT’ and the same options listed above.

Further refine results by Date range by year and Content Type.

Use the same search results functions on the search page to refine results further and access results.

Books pages

Navigate to a specific eBook or article. Book pages show the title of the book, author(s)/editor(s), copyright information, DOI, ISBN, edition, place of publication, and date published online in the left-hand column and the cover.

Below the copyright information is a search bar for searching within the book, followed by the table of contents with links to jump to specific sections and chapters of the book. Pagination in the table of contents matches the print edition of books.

Chapter pages

The left-hand column of the chapter page displays the book cover, author(s)/editor(s), copyright year and imprint, and the Search Book function, followed by Subject information and extensive Related Content links.

The main right-hand column shows the chapter title, DOI and page range of the chapter, followed by a linked table of contents for easy movement to chapters within the section, followed by the full text of the chapter. Hovering over the chapter text will show the corresponding page numbers at the appropriate breaks to match the print edition of the book.

Search within books

Searching within the Search Book function from the book or chapter page will bring up all references to the search term within the book.

Related Content

On each content page, including book chapters, the left-hand column of the page will show Subject information, including Content Type, Period, Place, and Topic. All content on the site is tagged using these terms and clicking on any of the listed links will lead to all content tagged with that term.

Under the Subject section, a Related Content section will appear. All content on Bloomsbury History: Theory and Method is organized as part of a powerful taxonomy. The taxonomy informs the links that appear in this section, showing content that is similar, allowing users to discover new and related content organically while using the platform.

Personal Account, Saving, and Folders

Create a personal account using the Sign Up function to save content and searches in folders. Create an account by clicking ‘Log in’ in the top right-hand corner of the site above ‘Librarians.’ At the bottom of the pop-up window, click ‘Sign up now.’

After signing up or logging in to your personal account, you can save searches and content to folders. To save a search, click the ‘Save this Search’ button from any search results page, which appears on the top right side of the page.

To save content, locate the ‘Save’ icon in the top right-hand corner of any page of the content (directly under ‘Advanced Search’) that you wish to save. Clicking on ‘Save’ will enable you to save the URL of the relevant page into a folder. You can create multiple folders and save different content into each.

Access folders from ‘My Content’ under the welcome message in the top right corner of the site.

Cite

APA, MLA, and Chicago citations are available for all content on the platform. Click the ‘Citation’ button next to the Save and Print links. This will bring up a pop-up window with citation information that you can copy to clipboard or export as an RIS file.

Social Sharing

Clicking the ‘Share’ button on any content page will bring up a form with options to share content via email, Google plus, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, with options to personalize the message before posting or emailing.