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Internet History Sourcebooks Project
Help
Although associated primarily with the Internet Medieval Sourcebook, this Help! page is designed to be of use to any user of serious online resources who is looking for more information.
[Upated 2023]
What you can find help on here
Because of the large scale usage of the various Internet History Sourcebooks, I do not have time to answer the ten to twenty emailed requests for help I get each day. This page is designed to answer most of your questions. I have done more than my bit in providing and making information available. Now you need to look elsewhere.I particularly apologize for this response to the various high school students [and their parents] who contact me each day for help with homework. To those who ask me simply to do their homework, let me say, 'Do it yourself!', but to those who want more general help or guidance, again, I simply do not have the time. Still, if you follow the guidelines below you may find something of use to you.
Suggestions for Bibliography and Web Sites
In the early days of this site - the late 1990s - I maintained a list of recommend websites. That is no longer feasible, mainly because such sites ofter turned out to be ephemeral and any hand-maintained list is always out of date. For the middle ages and Byzantium, over 90% failed after ten years the the list of links that used to be kept at:
In the various sections of the Internet History Sourcebooks Project there are pointers to what seem to be reliable and semi-permanent web sites, but the focus of your efforts should be on using Google (or Bing or DuckGoGo) to find current sites. It is also often the case that Wikipedia articles on a topic, which can never be trusted all by themselves, often contain at the end of the article a list of resources that do point to useful web projects and reources.
If I know of a useful or available online text, I link to it already. There is no point in writing and asking me for a text if it is not here! [On the other hand, if you want to scan and edit a text, then I do want to hear from you.]
If you are after books or bibliography suggestions, many libraries are now on the Internet. Even if you cannot access the physical libraries their catalog are often open for digitcal searches. Try search libraries with particularly wide holdings, such as the University of California Library System or Harvard Library.
Many people are interested in their family history and it can be a very interesting way to connect to the past. The best advice here is to use one of the family search comapines - Ancestry.com, or FindMyPast. They often have free introductory offers, and you can retain access to information you gather even if you don't maintain a payed account.
Medieval discussion on the net
If you are engaged in a specific project, or have a particular topic you need to know more about, it makes far more sense to ask many people rather than just one:- you may find real experts, and you may find people who have time to give very specific answers. The best way to do this is to join a medieval mailing list, or access the Usenet groups which discuss such issues.
The Web is vast and now that it contains more, and more diverse information, than any single printed source. This availability of information will only increase and is a truly splendid new tool to help in your research. To use the Web efficiently, the various search engines are essential. It is important to form your query words as clearly as possible. For instance, if you are interested in finding information on a particular musician, do not search for "music", but for a style [eg "jazz" or "gregorian chant"] or even a name ["abba", "charlie parker", "hildegard"]. There used to be many search options. Now there are three main ones.
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of Fordham University, New York. The Internet
Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at
the Fordham University Center
for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the
Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in
providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University. Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not
the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action.
© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 15 February 2025 [CV]