• John’s twitter is jstew511.
• Come to the brown-bag discussion Friday 8/30 at noon in the Collections (calendar).

Galileo’s signature on this collection’s copy of the Sidereus Nuncius serves as the banner for this blog. If you would like to know more about this landmark book, I encourage you to look it up on Wikipedia or Google it, which amounts to the same thing. It may surprise you to find out that the article you will read (Sidereus nuncius) is largely the work of OU astrophysics senior Jodi Berdis.

In my History of Science to the Age of Newton course this past summer, I asked Jodi and her classmates to identify Wikipedia articles related to the history of science that needed improvement and to revise them. They edited a diverse array of articles including biographies ranging from the Greek philosopher Cleostratus to the 17th century German female astronomer Maria Clara Eimmart. The students also updated articles on Iatrochemistry, Psychology in medieval Islam, and Kampo, a Japanese adaptation of traditional Chinese medicine. By working with Wikipedia to publish their descriptive research essays, the students shared what they learned in my class with a worldwide audience.

My class was the first at the University of Oklahoma to use Wikipedia’s Education Program package. Despite its capabilities for knowledge creation and sharing, Wikipedia has been met with ambivalence from many professors. The articles lack the forms of authorship and peer-review standardized by academic journals and presses. As a reference tool, the articles can lack the context and sophistication of an academic text. Misuse by students is also a concern. In a particularly infamous case from 2006, sixteen students in one University of Oklahoma history of science class plagiarized material for the final exam, nine of them copying sections from Wikipedia (OU Daily).

In response to this 2006 case, Assistant Provost Greg Heiser said, “I think that since the beginning of the Internet as a research tool, we have seen a dilution of the idea of what writing should be” (OU Daily). However the lecturer in the 2006 case took an alternative lesson from the episode. “‘The university needs to do more formally to teach its students about information literacy,’ said Katherine Tredwell” (OU Daily).

As with the media revolution sparked by the printing press, the internet has diversified the “idea of what writing should be.” My approach to teaching writing across the curriculum is to move beyond the rigid academic paper to include an element of media literacy. Students tweet and text and read the internet more than newspapers or academic monographs, so I want my course to contribute to what the Center for Media Literacy calls a “framework to access, analyze, evaluate, create and participate with messages in a variety of forms — from print to video to the Internet.”

In their case studies from former classes, Wikipedia notes five learning objectives common to their course assignments:

1. Writing skills development;
2. Critical thinking and research skills;
3. Collaboration
4. Media literacy; and
5. Wiki technical and communication skills.

The first two learning objectives mirror those for any descriptive essay, but the last three provide the argument for the pedagogical value of a Wikipedia assignment.

In my class, students collaborated both with each other and with the broader community of Wikipedia editors. One student made a minor edit to the article on Newton, only to have it deleted in less than six hours. However, using the talk board for the article, the student and the other editor discussed the changes and agreed upon a revised version of the student’s information (related to Newton’s aether theory) and a detailed citation. Watching the student take ownership over his research and collaborate with someone completely unrelated to the class confirmed my hopes for the project and provided the class with a valuable learning experience about the expectations of the Wikipedia community.

Publication to a worldwide audience also has obvious advantages over the traditional term paper and its audience of one. Collaboration and exposure provided an external motivation for students to produce an article that they could be proud of. Jodi’s article on Sidereus Nuncius has received more than fifteen hundred page views a month (stats). This article, as an exercise in knowledge creation in the classroom and knowledge sharing beyond it, offered a potential self-efficacy unrivaled by more traditional college writings.

In evaluating the quality of existing articles and actively making edits, students learned to analyze the production and consumption of knowledge. Learning the language of Wikipedia demystified the coding of a particular website and at the same time provided insight into the authority of online information. In participating in an edited encyclopedia project and researching with more traditional secondary sources, the students utilized multiple forms of media. This active engagement with academic publications, an edited online encyclopedia, and unedited online sources is invaluable for media literacy, an essential skill that our students must learn as they make their way through the height of the Internet Age.

—–

• Cf. Kerry Magruder, “Wikipedia: Ready reference vs. Research literature“: “Why not incorporate group activities to improve Wikipedia into class assignments for undergraduates? If you show your students how to leave their mark on Wikipedia, you will inspire them to change the world.” Thanks, John, for changing the world!

• The Visit Us page provides contact information and directions.
• To request a tour or to reserve the Harlow Room, the Gaylord Room, or the Exhibit Hall, consult with Outreach Coordinator Carilyn Livesey by completing the tour request form.
• The Harlow Room Logistics page provides important background information and describes the available technology.
• See the History of Science Department Events Calendar for colloquia, public events, and guest speakers.

The BL5 Room Calendar below may help you anticipate scheduling conflicts, but be forewarned that these spaces may not be available on a given date and time, even if they appear available on this calendar.

Two online guides for the History of Science, Technology & Medicine, prepared by Librarian JoAnn Palmeri, are now available on the OU library website:

• “History of Science, Technology and Medicine: Guide to Searching”
• “History of Science, Technology and Medicine: Guide to Resources”

About the Guides

The main purpose of these guides is to support research and teaching in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine at OU. The content of each guide is summarized on its opening page.

The “Guide to Searching” provides basic instruction on how to use the OU library website to find materials useful for research and study in HSTM. It includes tips on using the online catalog, finding books and journals, and searching for primary and secondary sources in OU’s many databases.

The “Guide to Resources” provides catalog links to key resources in the field, including reference materials, introductory works, notable series, and primary sources. The different sections of this guide showcase the variety of materials available for research and study in the field. These materials serve as an introduction to the field for newcomers and a foundation for ongoing study for all levels of researchers. For the most part, items listed in the pages of this guide are books held in the History of Science Collections, Bizzell and other OU libraries, or books accessible through OU’s databases. A separate internet page illustrates the range of online sources available beyond OU.

Scope of the Guides
Beyond showcasing examples of core resources, important critical editions, and classic texts, these guides include tips on the use of particular types of resources (for example, reference works), and include strategies for searching for specific materials (for example, works by scientists).

Sections of the two guides are listed below to highlight features undergraduates may find useful:

Guide to Searching:

1. “Finding and Borrowing Books Beyond OU – Worldcat & ILL”

2. “Selecting Databases to find Articles (Secondary Sources)” and “Selecting Databases to find Historical Materials (Primary Sources)”

3. “Catalog Search tips – Limit Your Search by Location, Date, or Format”

4. “eJournals for HSTM Research – A Select List“

Guide to Resources:

5. “Researching with Reference Works”

6. “Bibliographies of the Secondary Literature”

7. “Primary Sources – Scientists’ Writings”

Sample pages from the “Guide to Resources” are listed below to illustrate the range of materials it includes.

1. Page featuring award-winning books

2. Page featuring notable and advanced series

3. Page featuring microform holdings related to HSTM

4. Page featuring primary source readers

5. Page featuring guides to finding primary sources

6. Page featuring information about HSTM and History disciplines, including links to the Isis Focus section and thematic readers.

7. OUhos.org page includes section with links to History of Science Collections blog and posts for items such as incunabula, manuscripts, and the online galleries.

Other OU Guides
Keep in mind that other guides are available on the Guides home page of the OU Libraries website. Links to many of these guides are included in the two History of Science Guides. The History and Related Areas guides created by Laurie Scrivener (History and Area Studies Librarian) are likely to be particularly useful to you.

Suggestions Welcome
Please contact JoAnn Palmeri: I welcome suggestions that would make theses guides more helpful in the support of research and teaching in HSTM at OU. In particular, your ideas and contributions to the creation of topical research guides and class-specific guides would be most welcome. Please see me to discuss this if you are interested in collaborating on such guides.

The Department of the History of Science offers a colloquium series in the Harlow Room many Friday afternoons throughout the fall and spring semesters. See the Department website for a colloquium and special events calendar.

The Digital Humanities Working Group at OU offers a brown-bag workshop in the Harlow Room on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of many months.

To reserve the Harlow Room, the Gaylord Room, the Bass Lobby/Exhibit Hall, or to schedule a special event, consult with Outreach Coordinator Carilyn Livesey or complete the form on the Visit page. The calendar below may help you anticipate scheduling conflicts, but be forewarned that these spaces may not be available on a given date and time, even if they appear available on this calendar.

Instructors:

• Caveat: The Harlow Room is scheduled at the discretion of the Dean of University Libraries. It is not a centrally-scheduled classroom, but is used for special events. Classes and events scheduled to meet in the Harlow Room are subject to cancellation. We will try to provide at least several weeks notice when a scheduled class or event must be pre-empted, but please keep a back-up plan ready.
• Scheduling: To request use of the room for a class, contact the Outreach Coordinator of the History of Science Collections, Carilyn Livesey. Many classes request use of the Harlow Room both as a regular meeting place and for special class visits; it may not be possible to approve all requests. For use as a regular class meeting place, priority will be given to classes that make frequent use of special collections materials and which concern the mission of the special collections. Instructors must note the caveat above. We particularly urge instructors of classes which meet for several hours, only one time each week, to maintain a backup location to use in the event of cancellation, or to arrange for another room to use regularly and meet in the Harlow Room only on those days in which they will actually be using special collections materials.
• Policies: Please acquaint your students beforehand with the policies and procedures listed on this handout.

• We encourage you to send your students this link before the first class:
  http://ouhos.org/2010/08/21/guide-for-classes-meeting-in-the-harlow-room/
• You may rearrange the tables and chairs and foam cushions as best fits your class, but before the students leave please ask them to help you return the room to the same configuration as you found it. Make sure all sticky surfaces are clean, if there were drinks or food.
• The data projector is equipped with an AppleTV. Connect the AppleTV to the data projector with an HDMI cable (provided). Then the data projector will project video mirrored to the AppleTV from your MacBook Pro or iPad. That is, you may project wirelessly, from anywhere in the room, from an iPad 2 or later, an iPhone 4s or later, or a Mac with Mountain Lion or later. The wireless projection has several advantages, including:
  • Teach untethered, with unhampered mobility. You’re not restricted to the podium, but can range among individuals or small groups and meld projection with active learning experiences.
  • Share the screen with students who have their own compatible devices. Projection need no longer be instructor-centric.
  • The new smartboard: Since what you see on your Mac or iPad is what everyone sees on the big screen, the AppleTV is more versatile than smartboards. Seamlessly switch between web pages and apps as needed. Think outside the PowerPoint box: it’s no longer necessary to package everything that shows on screen into a presentation app. When an AppleTV-equipped projector is used in conjunction with simple notes and drawing apps, the combination is as easy to use as a chalkboard, while being more versatile than a smartboard. The next two points give two examples of presenting with apps.
  • With a simple drawing app like Penultimate or Notability, the projector becomes a more versatile chalkboard. Change color, erase, undo with the touch of a button; when finished, email the “chalkboard” to all the students directly from the device. Inquire about available styli at the front desk.
  • Use FaceTime or Skype for impromptu videoconferencing, since audio is sent along with video to the Apple TV.

  Ask at the front desk for the Apple TV password; to share the screen, you may give out this password to your students.

  Here’s a video demonstration of wireless projection from a Mac (first video) and from an iPad (second video):

  
  Note: At this time, wireless projection is only compatible with recent Apple devices. If you do not have a compatible device, you may, of course, still connect your laptop or device to the projector using cables, as in the past. (HDMI and VGA cables are provided; please bring your own DVI-to-VGA or DVI-to-HDMI adapter, if needed.) To schedule an appointment for a demonstration and training, call the Collections and ask for Brent Purkaple.

• iPads: 14 iPads are available for use anywhere on the 5th floor. Classes may also check out the iPads for use in the Harlow room, but we need at least a day’s advance notice. Route requests for iPad checkout through Carilyn Livesey, Outreach Coordinator, who will first make sure that they are not needed by a class tour in the Exhibit Hall.
• Exhibit Hall activity: If you are bringing a class, consider splitting your time between the Exhibit Hall and the Harlow Room. One effective activity with the current exhibit is to ask students to find a display case that interests them; then read in the iPad exhibit guide about each book in that particular case and discuss it with others at the same case. Then have each student choose one book from their particular case to share back with the entire class. This activity may take 30-45 mins, depending on the number of students.
• An Elmo TT-12 document camera is particularly useful for sharing close-up views of books and texts on the projected screen.
  

  Connect the document camera to the data projector using the provided HDMI cable. The TT-12 camera features 12x optical zoom, plus an additional 8x digital zoom, which can enlarge images up to 96 times to display minute details. The TT-12′s 3.4 megapixel image sensor captures text and shaded drawings in 1080p HD, 30 fps, projecting in real-time. Raise, lower or rotate the adjustable camera arm to focus attention from above or from the side. Turn the zoom dial to zoom in and out. Control the Document Camera from across the room with the remote, and mask or highlight specific areas of the screen. Bring your own SD card or USB flash drive to record photos or videos for later use (e.g., to compare with the next book). (For capturing still pictures, think of its image quality as presentation quality, rather than print quality. For the latter, use a dedicated scanner.) Watch the Elmo Basics video for a quick orientation. Cf. other Elmo training videos at youTube: Remote; Operating Panel, Set-up. To schedule an appointment for a demonstration and training, call the Collections and ask for Brent Purkaple.


Elmo Document Camera inputs/outputs

• The Harlow Room has a phone jack to facilitate teleconferencing. The number is written above the jack. Teleconferencing equipment may be arranged with sufficient advance notice; please inquire.
• Vanity Fair caricatures: To encourage your students to examine the Vanity Fair portraits on display in the Harlow Room and the adjacent hallway, feel free to reproduce the following brochure (pdf).

James G. Harlow, Jr. (1934-1996), served as president of Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) and chair of the board of trustees of the OU Foundation. A $1 million James G. Harlow, Jr. Chair in Business Ethics and Community was established at OU in 1997. Jim and his wife, Jane, played a founding role in the establishment of the Bizzell Library Society for the support of OU Libraries.

The more than 1,000 volumes of the James G. Harlow, Sr. Collection in the History of Science Collections include a 1513 edition of Boethius, De philosophiae consolatione.

The Commons:
The Commons is located in the non-public area of the Collections and is available for registered researchers to converse, work together, read the latest print journals, or practice presentations using the data projector and Apple TV.

Epson Data Projector inputs/outputs

• Department of the History of Science
• B.A. History of Science, Technology and Medicine degree checksheet
• history of science undergrads @ ou
• hsci/med/tech undergrads & alumni @ ou (facebook)
• undergrads at the collections

The OU History of Science Collections are making available, through the efforts of Robert D. Cody, enhanced ePub versions of historic texts in geology, including works by Hutton, Playfair, Smith, Lyell, Darwin and others. Self-guided exhibit tours are in development using the immersive, multimedia ebook format produced by iBooks Author.

Why ebooks?

Most publishers now offer ebooks as an option for many of their titles. Amazon and other retailers report that ebook sales have already surpassed the sales of hardcover books and of paperback books.

“Amazon began selling hardcover and paperback books in July 1995. Twelve years later in November 2007, Amazon introduced the revolutionary Kindle and began selling Kindle books. By July 2010, Kindle book sales had surpassed hardcover book sales, and six months later, Kindle books overtook paperback books to become the most popular format on Amazon.com. Today, less than four years after introducing Kindle books, Amazon.com customers are now purchasing more Kindle books than all print books – hardcover and paperback – combined.” Amazon news release, May 19, 2011

Update 5/2012: Pew Research Center, “The Rise of E-Reading”; summarized visually by Online Universities (at bottom of this post).

Book reader of the future (1935); Smithsonian

Finding ebooks

Millions of free ePub books, including thousands of primary sources in the history of science, are available from the following non-commercial sources:

• Project Gutenberg
• Google
• epubBooks.com
• The Online Books Page
• Feedbooks
• Internet Archive – Texts
• ManyBooks.net
• More free e-books

New to ebooks?

Read ePub books in ebook software for various ereader devices:

• Adobe Digital Editions for PC or Mac
• iBooks app for iPad, iPhone, iPod touch; iBooks Author for Mac
• Sony ereaders
• Barnes & Noble Nook
• Stanza for iOS devices and Mac
• Calibre an ereader, editor and format converter for Windows, Mac and Linux.
• Various other ereaders

All the devices listed above use the ePub format, the open standard for ebooks. For the Amazon Kindle, see note below.

Want more information?

• Try this review of ePub readers.
• Here’s a peer-reviewed, article-length analysis of ebooks and the publishing industry: “Non–traditional book publishing,” by Jana Bradley, Bruce Fulton, Marlene Helm, and Katherine A. Pittner. First Monday, Volume 16, Number 8 – 1 August 2011.
• For a general introduction and discussion of ebooks, check out Michael Pastore, 50 Benefits of Ebooks: A Thinking Person’s Guide to the Digital Reading Revolution (Zorba Press, October 2010), available in paperback, pdf and ePub formats ($3.99 from the iBookstore).

ePub features

ePub is much more than taking your favorite ebook with you to the pub; rather, ePub is the most popular non-proprietary ebook format (readable by every ebook device except the Kindle). Each ePub text is comprised of a bundle of XHTML files, which ensures that the ePub standard is a long-term, sustainable format.

Enhanced ePub texts may support the following features:

• Hyperlinked tables of contents, footnotes, indices
• Text search
• Bookmarks
• Highlighting
• Marginal comments & annotations
• Embedded images (color and black & white)
• Resizable text, changeable font
• Customizable background color and adjustable brightness
• Hyperlinks to the internet, a dictionary, or Wikipedia
• Embedded audio, video
• Embedded metadata

Be on the lookout for enhanced ePub texts to become more common as publishers begin to take advantage of the ePub’s inherent support for these methods of content enhancement.

Some ePub readers, such as iBooks, also offer additional conveniences such as pdf support; instant on; automatic sync between devices; opening to the page last viewed.

Additional nonstandard enhancements to the ePub format are possible for ebooks prepared with the free iBooks Author application for Mac OS X. These books offer immersive, multimedia experiences, along with enhanced features to facilitate student study such as review questions, slideshows, widgets, and capabilities for integrating note taking, flash cards and glossaries (cf. iBooks textbooks). For more information, watch the Apple Education event video (January, 2012).

Note to iOS users:

It’s easy to add ePubs to your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, either from your computer or directly on your iOS device.

1. From your computer:

1. Download the iBooks app from iTunes or the App Store.
2. Go to one of the sources for ePubs listed above and download the ebooks you want to your computer.
3. Drag your downloaded ebooks onto the library area of iTunes (shown right).
4. Sync your device with iTunes.

2. Directly on your iPad or iOS device:
Ebooks opened on a website, from Dropbox, or within an email will automatically be added to a “shelf” in your iBooks app. The iBooks app also includes access to the iBookstore. In the iBookstore, you may search for and download tens of thousands of free ePubs from Project Gutenberg directly to your iPad or iPhone. Additionally, ebooks may be linked to from course pages in iTunes U.

Note to Kindle users:

The Amazon Kindle does not support texts in the ePub format. Although a Kindle app is available for non-Kindle devices (such as the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone), Kindle devices and Kindle apps use a proprietary format and do not read ePubs. You can convert a text from ePub to the Kindle format using Calibre, although ePub enhancements will be lost in the process.

Instructions for converting ePubs to Kindle format.

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Brought to you by: OnlineUniversities.com

1. The History of Science Collections are located in Bizzell Library (BL), room 521. Click “Contact us” in the nav bar above for directions.

2. Your class will be held in the Harlow Room and/or in the Exhibit Hall, which are located inside the History of Science Collections (BL 516). When you step off the elevator on the Library’s 5th floor, the entrance to the Collections will be on your left. Ring the door bell and the attendant at the front desk will release the lock to let you in (a buzzer will sound – no worries, it poses no danger and will not electrocute you). Either your instructor will be there in the lobby to meet you, or the attendant will direct you to the Harlow Room and/or Exhibit Hall as necessary. Be prepared to stow your bag or briefcase, and do not bring food or drinks into the Collections. The Harlow Room is a meeting place for classes that frequently use primary sources from the Collections. Take time to browse the rare books on display in the lobby and the Exhibit Hall. They are treasures, often worth more than a house.

3. The History of Science Collections is a secure, world-renowned research center for the history of science. As with any special collection, there are rules and procedures that must be observed. Download a Harlow Room guide to learn about the special procedures and guidelines for instructors and students using the Harlow Room.

Demand for the Harlow Room is very high. To reserve the Harlow Room or schedule a special event, see the Harlow Room Logistics page.

Whether you are just beginning to explore research topics or you are conducting advanced study in the history of science, technology, or medicine, we have a wide variety of reference sources to assist you.

Biographical, topical, and period encyclopedias can be useful in introducing you to the people, ideas, events, and movements of significance in your area of interest. They can help you conduct a literature search by identifying key books and articles and by providing overviews of how your topic has been previously treated. Working with these resources can help you fine-tune searches in the online catalog and databases. Bibliographies and indexes will familiarize you with the secondary literature and will lead you to relevant primary sources.

Reference resources can be found in the Collections as well as in the Reference Area of Bizzell Library (main floor), and in the branch libraries. Even when held in Bizzell, reference works are typically non-circulating to guarantee their availability to all users at all times. Materials in the History of Science Collections do not circulate (see our hours of operation). However, many works are available as E-books and can be viewed through links in the their OU Library catalog records. In addition, you can access many many E-Reference materials from the “Find Books” link on the History of Science Resources page of the OU Library web site. You need to be logged in with your 4 x 4 to access these E-Resources.

What follows is a select sampling of reference works, illustrating the types of resources available for your research projects. Links to the OU Library catalog record will indicate where a particular resource can be found (online, in Bizzell Reference, Bizzell stacks, and/or in the History of Science Collections). For those of you new to the field and working on undergraduate research papers, you may find it useful to browse through the reference books shelved in the Roller Reading Room in the Collections.

Broad Overviews

In these types of works you will find overviews and/or critical analyses of the state of research for particular topics. Here are some notable examples:

• Album of Science series
• Cambridge History of Science series (and the E-Book volumes)
• Companion to the History of Modern Science
• History of Modern Science: A Guide to the Second Scientific Revolution, 1800-1950
• Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science
• Reader’s Guide to the History of Science
• Science, Technology, and Society: An Encyclopedia

Biographical Works

Different types of biographical dictionaries are available, emphasizing time periods, disciplines, and/or other specialized topics. The classic
Dictionary of Scientific Biography has recently been supplemented with a new edition. The content of both editions is accessible through an online edition. Examples of some of the more narrowly focused biographical encyclopedias include:

• African-American Firsts in Science and Technology
• Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology
• Biographical Dictionary of Women Healers
• Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science
• Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers
• Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century British Scientists
• Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists

Topics, Cultures, Disciplines

You can find encyclopedias that focus on specific topics, periods and cultures, or scientific disciplines, as shown below:

Topics

• Encyclopedia of Exploration
• Encyclopedia of Science and Literature
• Encyclopedia of Science and Religion in the Western Tradition
• Historical Dictionary of Environmentalism
• Instruments of Science

Cultures

• Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science
• Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures
• Encyclopedia of the Scientific Revolution
• History of Science in the United States: An Encyclopedia
• Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia
• Science in the Twentieth Century

Disciplines

• Companion to the History of Medicine
• History of Astronomy: An Encyclopedia
• History of Physical Anthropology: An Encyclopedia
• Sciences of the Earth: An Encyclopedia
• Geologists and the History of Geology (a bibliography for biographical and topical sources)

Bibliographies

Bibliographies and similar guides are available to assist with all levels of research. Annotated bibliographies include critical commentaries in addition to extensive lists of resources. Keep in mind that many databases do not include citations to works published before the 1970s, so it can be worthwhile to spend time browsing through print guides like:

• Science Across Cultures: An Annotated Bibliography of Books on Non-Western Science, Technology, and Medicine
• A Bibliographical Guide to the History of Computing, Computers, and the Information Processing Industry (see more works in this series).

Here is a sampling of titles from another useful series:

• Air and Space History
• History of Biology
• History of Engineering Science
• History of Geophysics and Meteorology
• History of Health Care Sciences and Health Care, 1700-1980
• History of Modern Geography
• View additional titles.

Bibliographies also provide access to primary source material and the holdings of other libraries and collections. Some examples include:

• An Annotated Bibliography of Ibn-Sina
• Electricity, Magnetism, and Animal Magnetism: A Checklist of Printed Sources, 1600-1850
• English Magical and Scientific Poems to 1700
• Maps of the 16th to 19th Centuries in the University of Kansas Libraries
• Plant, Animal, and Anatomical Illustration in Art and Science: A Bibliographic Guide from the 16th Century to the Present Day

Another important resource for history of science research is the Isis Cumulative Bibliography. This multivolume series includes citations from annual Isis reviews of the literature, from 1914 through 1995. This print work is still useful since not all of the content from these early decades is available in the online edition of the bibliography, the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine database (see our previous post for more info on this database).

Source Books of Primary Sources

These types of works provide the reader with access to the original writings of notable authors. Some examples are:

• Book of the Cosmos: Imagining the Universe from Heraclitus to Hawking
• Defining Species: A Sourcebook from Antiquity to Today
• Literature and Science, 1660-1834
• The Mathematics of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Islam: A Sourcebook
• Source Book in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 1900-1975
• Source Book in Greek Science
• Source Book in Medieval Science. (View more in the Source Books series.)

Research Tools

Many different types of reference materials can assist you with your research projects, including the following:

• Chronology of the History of Science, 1450-1900
• Dictionary of the History of Science
• French Weights and Measures Before the Revolution
• Oxford English Dictionary (and the online edition)
• Short-Title List of Subject Dictionaries of the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Centuries as Aids to the History of Ideas
• Source-book of Biological Names and Terms

Beyond the History of Science, Technology & Medicine

History of Science is an interdisciplinary area of study. Don’t forget to look at general reference works and subject specific resources from other fields. For example:

• American National Biography
• Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy
• Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy
• Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy
• Dictionary of Literary Biography
• Encyclopedia of the Cold War
• New Catholic Encyclopedia
• New Dictionary of the History of Ideas (and the original edition).
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

See also OU Library’s subject resources pages for History and other fields.

Staff Favorites

While some reference sources in the Collections are kept in the Roller Reading Room, most are shelved in a non-public area. To promote awareness of these materials on the part of our own staff and student workers, we conducted the following exercise. We asked everyone to browse our reference shelves and pick three books in response to the following criteria: 1) Most unusual/interesting, 2) Most useful to a particular patron and, 3) The one you wish you could take home. A Dictionary of Fabulous Beasts was the work most frequently selected. View the entire list of staff favorites.

In this blog we frequently link to Wikipedia for background information on an author or topic in the history of science. This practice is subject to some controversy, so this post will explain why we do so.* (On this website, we mark links to external websites with a special icon () to distinguish them from OU links.)

We will also distinguish between sources appropriate for original research and the use of Wikipedia as a ready reference.

First, external links should not be taken as an endorsement of the content you find at Wikipedia or any other external website. Wikipedia articles are of markedly uneven quality, and even when Wikipedia is at its best, there is a difference between setting context with background knowledge (where a general, non-professional source like Wikipedia is appropriate) and conducting actual research in the history of science. For the latter, reliable professional secondary sources are required such as you will find with the aid of reference works like the Isis Bibliography for the History of Science, the Dictionary of Scientific Biography, and other reference resources. We link to Wikipedia for background knowledge; we will point you to reliable professional sources when you are doing research.

Undergraduate students: Be aware of the following deficiencies in Wikipedia:

• Because articles are not signed, the qualifications of writers are unknown.
• Because Wikipedia allows no original research, articles contain a preponderance of factoids and lack rigorous interpretative context.

These two deficiencies cause many professors to prohibit its use for research purposes.

After 16 OU students turned in final papers for the Spring 2006 semester that were plagiarized from Wikipedia, OU Assistant Provost Greg Heiser cautioned that “the problem with using Wikipedia for research papers is that it stunts a student’s ability to do research. ‘Doing good research is hard, but it is an important skill to master…. It’s almost like thinking you know how to cook because you can get to the nearest McDonald’s.” (Gene Perry and Jarrel Wade, OU Daily, August 31, 2006.)

In a daily newspaper, you expect the articles to present the facts. When you want analysis, you turn to the Editorial and Opinion pages where contributions are signed by known writers who take responsibility for their views. Think of articles from encylopedias like Wikipedia as the former. Original research is like the latter.

Again, most professors will not count articles in Wikipedia as reliable sources for assigned class research papers, for two reasons:

1. Articles that fail to provide author names provide no way of assuring responsibility nor of confirming that the writer possesses direct, first-hand knowledge of the primary sources. In contrast, Wikipedia articles may have been written by someone with far less knowledge than the average student in your classes this semester. Keep in mind as you read any particular article that it might have been written by someone you knew as a not-very-conscientious classmate back in Middle School. Anyone may contribute to Wikipedia; no special qualifications are required other than a self-confidence that may or may not be warranted. Articles may be written by people with little or no expertise. And even when articles are accurate they may not be balanced: some contributors may write with passion for a particular point of view that may not reflect a general consensus of professional opinion.

2. Take to heart the factoid character of Wikipedia, due to the lack of the most current interpretative contexts. This deficiency is due to Wikipedia’s editorial policy of allowing no original research. This is not a criticism of Wikipedia so much as a clear statement of its aim, which should be respected. Wikipedia is not intended to answer every question for every purpose. What this boils down to is that Wikipedia will be of greatest use when you’re looking up matters of fact, on which a consensus among anonymous contributors is easily reached (for example, “In which years did George Washington serve as President?” or “What are the differences between the 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n wi fi specifications?”). On the other hand, Wikipedia is ill-suited to resolve more complex, perspective-dependent questions, particularly those for which definitive answers do not exist and on which an assorted collection of anonymous authors are not likely to agree (e.g., “What were Theories of the Earth?” or “What was the origin of Greek science?”). In the latter case, Wikipedia articles offer, at best, dispassionate summaries of almost up-to-date interpretations. See this illuminating report of how difficult it can be to revise Wikipedia according to current scholarship: Timothy Messer-Kruse, “The Undue Weight of Truth,”, The Chronicle of Higher Education (February 12, 2012).

Wikipedia remains useful for obtaining general background information as a springboard for research (it is not a substitute for research). It is easily accessible, and often the most informative ready reference on the web. Consult it to get your bearings, but then guide your actual research by relying upon the professional literature. Go beyond where Wikipedia leaves off. At a bare minimum, independently verify anything you use from Wikipedia. And as always, if you use it, cite it.

Graduate students: You’re well aware of Wikipedia’s problems with inaccuracy, one-sidedness, and outdated perspectives, so when you see pages that are grievously misleading, why not invest a little of your time trying to improve them? And why not make it a group project with your friends or a class project with a professor? Why not incorporate group activities to improve Wikipedia into class assignments for undergraduates? If you show your students how to leave their mark on Wikipedia, you will inspire them to change the world.

Discussion:

1. What is plagiarism? Do you think it’s easier to inadvertently plagiarize from Wikipedia than from printed sources? If so, why?
2. “He says that research is like an Editorial or Opinion page! That’s odd!” How would you reply?
3. Which limitations of Wikipedia affect your research most?
4. What editorial policy of Wikipedia guarantees that you can always find some other source to use instead?
5. Read the article by Messer-Kruse at The Chronicle of Higher Education. How does it illustrate some of the weaknesses of Wikipedia’s editorial policies when it comes to using Wikipedia as a source for basic research in the humanities?

Read more:

• Wikipedia’s guide for students: “Researching with Wikipedia”
• Wikipedia’s suggestions for professors: “School and University Projects”
• Adrianne Wadewitz, Anne Ellen Geller, Jon Beasley-Murray, “Wiki-hacking: Opening up the academy with Wikipedia” (encourages teachers to use Wikipedia with their students).
• Sage Ross, “Introducing the Public Policy Initiative,” The Signpost, June 28, 2010. Ross, a leading Wikipedian in the history of science and former editor of The Signpost, maintains the ragesoss blog. See also Sage Ross, Professors criticize, praise Wikipedia in listserv discussions.
• Roy Rosenzweig, “Can History be Open-Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past, Journal of American History,” 2006, 93: 117-146.

*Note: This opinion post is written by Kerry Magruder, and does not represent an official viewpoint of the History of Science Collections or the University of Oklahoma Libraries.

Access the Bibliography online:

Online access to the Isis Bibliography, going back to 1970, is provided through the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (HSTM) database.

1. Go to the OU website (www.ou.edu).
2. Click the “Libraries” link on the left side to go to the OU Libraries website (libraries.ou.edu).
3. Log in. Enter your 4×4 and password in the crimson-colored navigation bar near the top of the screen.
4. Click “Databases” in the lower, central part of the page.
5. Click “H” in the browse alphabetically area beneath the search field.
6. Scroll down to “History of Science…” Read the brief description, if you wish, and click the link to open the database. You will see the web page open up, with “HistSciTechMed Basic Search” at the top.
   • Shortcut: Click here to skip steps #1-6 and go straight to the HistSciTechMed database.
7. Imagine that you want to identify an interesting article or two about Newton’s alchemy. Enter “Newton Alchemy” into the Key Word field and click Search.
8. Read through this list of items and decide what you want. Let’s say that you see an article by B.J.T. Dobbs entitled “Newton’s ‘Clavis’: New Evidence on Its Dating and Significance,” published in the journal Ambix. This article is listed as one of the hits, and the Bibliography provides you with a complete citation, including year of publication, volume number, and page numbers.
9. After you have identified what you want using the Bibliography and have a complete citation, then go to the Libraries website to see if it is available, either in print or online. To obtain this article, click the link for E-Journals on the Libraries home page and then type Ambix in the search field. You will see that full-text pdf articles from Ambix are available to logged-in users from several sources, including the IngentaConnect database provided by OU Libraries.

Many journals are available online through the OU Libraries. But if the one you want is not, history of science journals and monographs are available in print format from the History of Science Collections on the 5th floor of Bizzell Library. Use the Libraries’ online catalog to search for the item. But if the item you want is available neither online nor in printed form through the University Libraries, then you may obtain it by requesting it via the OU Libraries’ Inter-Library-Loan service.

Student questions:

1. Go to the online bibliography and find the article by Dobbs described above. What is its year of publication?
2. What is its volume number?
3. What is its page range?
4. Write a complete bibliographic citation for this article:
5. Find the article by Dobbs online, as instructed above (step #9). What is the last word on the second page of this article?

Read more:

In the April, 2010 newsletter of the History of Science Society, Prof. Weldon explains a number of tips and strategies for advanced searching in the HistSciMedTech database: “Searching Smartly in the HistSciTechMed database.”

The bibliography was begun in 1913 by historian of science George Sarton as part of his new journal Isis, and it has been published continuously since then. In 2000 the bibliography office moved to the University of Oklahoma. The Isis Current Bibliography is now edited by Stephen P. Weldon.

The print version of the bibliography comes out annually, and is mailed with the December issue of the journal Isis. Access to the bibliographic data is also available online through OCLC’s HistSciTechMed database, which can be accessed through many libraries in North America and some institutions outside of North America. All members of the History of Science Society have access to this database as part of their membership.

The header for the blog is taken from a 1535 work by Albrecht Dürer held in the Collections. The transformation of a three-dimensional object onto a two-dimensional canvas by means of perspective drawing, depicted by Dürer, suggests our aim to transform the three-dimensional space of the History of Science Collections onto the ethereal “canvas” of this blog.

View additional Dürer images at the Collections’ image galleries.