HIST 284 - History of Hawai'i: Research Process

The Research Process in a very small nutshell requires you to look for secondary and primary sources about your topic.

• Use reference sources, such as encyclopedias, to get familiar with your topic and discover new keywords.
• Use the Library Catalog and Google Books to find books about your topic
• Use the Hawai'i Pacific Journal Index & Google Scholar to find scholarly articles about your topic

• Figure out what kinds of Primary Sources you need
• Look for those primary sources using the Primary Sources tab of this subject guide
• Look for more primary sources by visiting local archives that have collections relevant to your research

Hawaiian History is such an exciting field to research because there are so many opportunities to write original scholarship that can change the way WE see and understand our past. A lot of the Hawaiʻiʻs common history that has been written is primarily from English-language sources and a canon of translated Hawaiian texts.

We are at a time where historians and young scholars like yourself are diving into rich collections of primary sources, like the Hawaiian-language newspapers, uncovering facts that are changing the story, changing Hawaiʻiʻs common history.

In Hawai'i, historical research is even more crucial in that for many of us, it is our lifelines and connections to the stories and kuleana of our kūpuna, whose shoulders we stand upon.

Time to start your research!