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The Flow of Information

The Historical Context...

... surrounding something that happens or develops determines the amount, types, and availability of information that is generated over time and made available to you today.

Consider the following:

When and where an event happens or develops.
What impact it had or has on society or within a discipline of study.
Who caused or was affected by it.
Why and how it occurred or developed.

Sample topics...

Sample topic 1: The election of Nelson Mandela as the President of South Africa on May 9, 1994.

Historical Context: Look for specific facts about the political environment that made this election significant, such as the following: 1) He was a black man of the majority race in a country that had been run by the minority white population for a very long time. 2) This was the first democratic election in South Africa that allowed the black majority to vote. Much of this information can be found in either reference sources, such as encyclopedias and handbooks, or in general historical books on South African politics.

Book: Lemon, Anthony. Apartheid in Transition. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1987.

Journal Article: Giliomee, Hermann."'Survival in Justice': An Afrikaner Debate Over Apartheid." 36 Comparative Studies in Society and History (no. 3, 1994): 527-548.

Encyclopedia: articles on "Apartheid," "South Africa: Government," "Mandela, Nelson," etc. in the Encyclopedia of Africa South of the Sahara. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1997.

Sample topic 2: Zen Buddhist meditation in contemporary American culture.

Historical Context: Find the historical roots of the particular idea or movement. In this case, the researcher needs to understand what Zen Buddhism and Zen Buddhist meditation are. Much of this information can be found in either reference sources, such as encyclopedias and handbooks, and in general books on Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, or Zen Buddhist meditation.

Book: Watts, Alan W.The Way of Zen. New York: Pantheon, 1957.

Encyclopedia: several articles on Buddhism in the Encyclopedia of Religion. New York: Macmillan, 1987.

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