Meeter Center Launches New Web-based Resource for Reformation and Post-Reformation Studies

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (October 31, 2009) —
A newly-available research tool,
sponsored by the H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies and the
Hekman Library at Calvin College and Seminary, promises to aid the work
of scholars from around the world. The Post-Reformation Digital Library
(PRDL) is a select bibliography of primary source documents focusing on
early modern theology and [...]

Zotero

A few weeks ago I blogged here about citing sources. Well, I found something better than EndNote. It’s my new obsession: Zotero.
Zotero is a FREE web-based citation organization system developed by historians. Among other things, you can add sources from an online library catalog with one click, insert auto-formatted footnotes or bibliographies into a Word [...]

Citing Sources

Every historian knows the importance of citing all your evidence. Footnoting or endnoting can be a harrying process, nonetheless. Here are two things I use to help:
1) The Chicago Manual of Style Online has a listing of how to cite different kinds of sources. It’s not quite as exhaustive as the print version, but very [...]

Tip: Save Every Paragraph, Print Every Page

This may seem like overkill, but I was sorely reminded today of the volatility of computers when my froze up with three of my dissertation documents on the screen and unsaved.
I don’t hold to quite this extreme, but I have taken to saving everything on a jump drive before closing my computer for the day. [...]

AHA Dissertation Advice

The American Historical Association posted an aricle in 2006 giving “Practical Advice for Writing Your Dissertation, Book, or Article.”
Here are the basic points:
1. Set up a writing schedule.
2. Create a dedicated workspace.
3. Write daily in a dissertation journal.
4. Distill your argument into a single sentence.
5. Visualize your ideas.
6. Fuel your mind with exercise, nutrition, [...]

H-Grad

The H-net website has a group specifically for graduate students.  This is a good way to connect into a large group of people and hopefully find others with your interests:
“H-Grad is part of the Humanities OnLine initiative (H-Net) and is designed to provide graduate students with a safe, graduate student only forum for discussing a [...]

Tip: Never Finish a Section

Do you find yourself having trouble getting started on your thesis or dissertation writing each day?
Try not finishing the section on which you’re working.  That gives you something easy to start with the next day.  Or, you can try starting with the footnotes or endnotes to a few pages, to get you back in the [...]

Tip: 15 Minutes

It might not seem like much, but it adds up.
When you get to the actual writing phase of your thesis or dissertation, make it a goal to write 15 minutes a day.  That makes almost two hours of writing each week if you do it every day.  Especially if you have a full time job, [...]

Tip: Google Scholar

If you’re not  yet aware of it, Google has a “Scholar” search engine.  You can type in key words that will yield results for books, articles, and academic presentations.  Some items are full text.  For others, you can use the citation to find a source at your library or through Lexxus-Nexus (or something similar).  Google [...]