Tools for Historians

THIS IS A DRAFT VERSION. Most of these pages are still empty. If you'd like to comment or contribute, email [email protected] or sign up for a free Notion account to comment on the pages.

This is a wiki-style page designed to bring together descriptions and resources of some of the tools historians use in their work, from managing primary and secondary sources to writing to creating an online archive. This resource is NOT intended to teach you how to use these tools, but rather to give a brief overview and connect you to already existing excellent advice on using the tools.

<aside> 📢 This project is a free, volunteer-run effort to share information among historians. This is just a start, and we plan to add new things all the time. We welcome suggestions, revisions, and additions! We would especially like to hear about your experiences using these tools and their pros and cons. See the suggestions and complaints page to get in touch. For more about this wiki, see the about page.

</aside>

Managing Primary Sources

Tropy

Evernote

Desktop Folders

Google Drive and Photos

OneNote

Working in the Archive

ScannerPro

Adobe Scan

Sourcery

Analyzing, Writing, and Word Processing Tools

Backing Up Research Materials

Managing Secondary Sources/Citation Managers

Digital Archiving and Digital Publishing Tools

Omeka

Mukurtu

Other Resources We Love

The links below will take you to other sites where historians have created additional helpful resources on tools for historians.

The Programming Historian

Data Management for Historians

AHA Perspectives on History article: "Data Management Plans for Historians: How to Document and Protect Your Research"

How Historians Work

Workflow Blog Posts and Twitter Threads

Brad Bolman, a PhD candidate at Harvard, put together this very helpful guide for his undergraduate students, walking them through how he takes a project from research question to presentation, including notes on Google Scholar, Zotero, and Alfred.
Submit your workflow! Are you willing to share the way that you manage your sources and writing process? Email [email protected]. We'll collect and share the processes of historians here, as inspiration (and maybe cautionary tales!) for others. Alternatively, share your story on Twitter using the hashtag #tools4historians, and we'll link to it here.

About Tools for Historians

About

Suggestions and Complaints