Resources for Students
This section provides posts for students on matters not necessarily covered in departmental or module handbooks.
Posts covering aspects of learning at undergraduate and postgraduate level include:
- Glossary of useful terms in higher education and educational jargon
- theoretical problems relating to the study of History
- user-friendly resources to help you to make the most of your learning opportunities
- advice on use of archives for beginners
- tips for writing a dissertation
- use of social and digital media
- guides to historical sources and archives for non-historians
- navigating the challenges of masters and research degrees
- guidance to postgraduates beginning to lecture and teach
- the relationship between history and other forms of activity such as the heritage industry.
Browse the Resources
‘Historical Research in the Digital Age’, Part 2: ‘Tools for the Trade: And how historians can make the most of them’
In this post we continue our new series -- 'Historical Research in the Digital Age' -- which explores historians' use and understanding of the digital tools and sources that shape modern research culture. The series explores the impact and implications of...
Historical Research in the Digital Age – Part 1: ‘We Are All Digital Now’
With this post we begin a new six-part series -- 'Historical Research in the Digital Age' -- which explores historians' use and understanding of the digital resources and sources that shape modern research culture. The series is hosted by Professor Ian Milligan...
Studying history in a secure environment: legacies, challenges, opportunities
In July, Rosalind Crone was awarded this year's Royal Historical Society's Innovation in Teaching Prize, for the creation of Exploring the History of Prisoner Education, an open online course for the Open University which launched in October 2022. The 8-session...
New to Teaching History 2022: An Interactive Workshop, Part 7 – ‘Coordinating Large Classes in History’
In September 2022 the Royal Historical Society, in partnership with History UK, hosted 'New to Teaching, 2022': an online Workshop in which 8 university lecturers provided seminars for those new to teaching History in UK Higher Education. The Workshop explored...
Working with History outside HE: a Guide to Professions beyond Academia
About this event ‘Working with History outside Higher Education: a Guide to Professions beyond Academia’ is is part in the Royal Historical Society’s series of online training events designed for early career historians. This session was held online in...
Applying and Interviewing for your First History Lectureship
About this event ‘Applying for your First Job: a Guide to Preparing and Interviewing for a History Teaching Post’ is part in the Royal Historical Society’s series of online training events designed for early career historians. This session was...
Ten Tips for Getting Published in Academic Journals
On Wednesday 21 July 2021 the Royal Historical Society hosted the first in a new series of training workshops for Post-Graduate and Early Career Historians: 'Getting Published: a guide to first articles and journal publishing'. The event brought together journal...
Teaching the Tudors on a two-way street
Dr John Cooper was runner-up in the 2020 RHS Jinty Nelson Award for Inspirational Teaching and Supervision in History. Here, he reflects on the importance of open dialogue in teaching: between undergraduate year groups, who've much to teach one another, and between...
Data Protection and Historical Research: The Basics
Recent data protection laws, implemented across Europe in 2018, have implications for academic researchers. The Royal Historical Society recently published a set of guidelines to help researchers navigate the legal requirements around data protection. Here, Dr...
Making sense of your research
In this post, Dr Andrew Foster offers guidance to PhD research students about how to make sense of their research during the PhD process. His guidance offers to encourage students through the highs and lows of research, and poses a series of questions to support...
Funding and Fellowship Opportunities in Historical Studies
There are many funding opportunities for history researchers to apply for in the UK and internationally, including research and travel grants, and library fellowships. Funding grants and fellowship opportunities are advertised across the year, although some have...
Archives and Research Libraries in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland
This is a list of archives and research libraries in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The list is divided into sub-categories to make it easier to find which archives or libraries you are interested in visiting, including cathedral libraries, private...
Working in Archives
In this post, Dr Mary Morrissey, Associate Professor in Early Modern English Literature at the University of Reading, offers advice to those who are beginning to work with historical archives. Mary explains how to locate archival information, understanding how...
Tips on Using Bibliographic Software
Linda Robertson, who has extensive experience working as a librarian, offers her views on the advantages of using technological aids for bibliographic research. In this post, she gives a detailed analysis about how to use the bibliographic software EndNote as a useful...
Finding historical sources for the first time
In this guest post, Dr Mary Morrissey, Associate Professor in Early Modern English Literature at the University of Reading, offers some starting points and advice to those who are using historical sources for the first time. She points the reader to some online...
The Anatomy of a Thesis
In this post, historian Dr Andrew Foster provides research students with a general guide about the main elements of writing up a PhD thesis. The advice Dr Foster gives is based on years of discussions with research students in seminars and workshops about the...
The Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH): A Guide for Teachers and Students
The Bibliography of British and Irish History (known as ‘BBIH’) is the most comprehensive and up-to-date record of what’s been published in British and Irish history. It currently includes records of 620,000 books, journal articles, edited collections, book chapters...