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Introduction
"Oriental Cairo" was published in 1911 by British travel author Douglas Sladen. It is a description both of Cairo at the turn of the century and a glimpse of the perspective of the turn-of-the-century British on that city. The work is filled with photographs and commentary, maps and travel suggestions, and allusions to the nature of the Egyptians as well as the British that are sometimes between the lines and sometimes overt. The work is a valuable insight into the ambiguous relationship of the British with Egypt, a nation they occupied without ever officially colonizing.
TIMEA
Oriental Cairo is one of many artifacts and texts that have been digitized and published online by the TIMEA project. TIMEA, or Travelers In the Middle East Archive, is a digital archive of narratives documenting travel to the Middle East published between the eighteenth and early twentieth centuries, along with images and interactive GIS maps. This course contributes to the project by organizing a virtual research project around the electronic text of Oriental Cairo. We use the electronic text as the basis for a case study on conducting historical research and using library resources.
Conducting Historical Research
This module is designed to guide you through a variety of research tasks centered on "Oriental Cairo". It is also designed to introduce a variety of resources available to you through a research library--for the purposes of illustration, we will focus on Rice University's Fondren Library, but the approaches we detail here can be applied at other libraries as well. We will explore "Oriental Cairo" from a number of angles, namely those addressed by the list of questions that follows this introduction. We hope to demonstrate that the types of questions historians ask about specific works often arise, or are refined, during the research process itself. This project is a guided exploration of the research process that will enhance your knowledge of the tools of the trade and your ability to advance your own projects productively.
The following list of questions are some of the basics asked at the beginning of any number of possible research projects. They are also the titles of several modules designed to introduce the preliminary stages of finding answers to the questions their titles ask. Select any of the questions you see to be taken to a short description of the content and aims of the modules they represent. While you are browsing the descriptions, select any of the links in the paragraphs to be taken directly to that section of the module you are reading about.
What else has Douglas Sladen Written?
How does "Oriental Cairo" compare with similar works?
How do I access electronic resources away from the library?
How do I use the online catalog, meta-catalog, and interlibrary loan?
Other questions addressed in specific modules
The following list of questions are addressed through examples contained in the modules related to this project.
What if the library does not own the work I need?
How can I borrow books from other libraries?
How do I find information in periodicals and newspapers?
Who is Douglas Sladen?
In Who is Douglas Sladen we focus on the author as a research subject in order to better understand his work, "Oriental Cairo." We begin by using the online resources at Fondren to identify our author so that we might differentiate the author of "Oriental Cairo" from another Douglas Sladen. We then search for works written by our about him (or both) by searching the online catalog for our library and by searching WorldCat, which gathers together catalog records from thousands of libraries.
Then we move to articles about Douglas Sladen by looking in the online databases for journals and newspapers. We offer some advice on how to choose an online database to search and then explore three; Historical Abstracts, JSTOR, and The Times of London. We then take our list of potential resources and locate the periodicals in Fondren library.
What else has Douglas Sladen written?
In What else has Douglas Sladen written we focus on collecting Douglas Sladen's other works. We begin by compiling a bibliography using WorldCat, , making special note of what to do with the computer files and archival materials that we find there.
We then search for any articles written by Douglas Sladen by exploring the online databases for journals and newspapers, focusing specifically on The Times of London, the main newspaper of record for Great Britain at the turn of the century.
How does Oriental Cairo compare with similar works?
In How does Oriental Cairo compare with other works, we focus on grouping "Oriental Cairo" with similar works for the purpose of comparison. First we locate the designated Subject Headings for "Oriental Cairo" by visiting The Library of Congress. Then we visit WorldCat to make a list of works that share a Subject Heading with "Oriental Cairo."
We narrow our list of works by asking historical questions about the bibliography, such as: How does the work compare with others written in the same time from the same region?, How does it compare with works published in another region? and How has writing on the same topic changed over time?.
How do I access networked resources?
In Accessing Subscription-Based Electronic Resources, we explain why some online resources are restricted to subscribers, then explore two options for connecting to electronic resources outside of the library: using a proxy server or connecting through VPN.
Searching Online Catalogs: WebCat
In this module we offer a brief tutorial on WebCat,, an example of an online library catalog. We offer a description of how WebCat searches for the works you seek and provide a description of the search categoriesyou may use in your search.
We then try some basic searches with quick search, the basic search tool for WebCat. We perform searches by author, title and subject as well as series, and periodical title to give you a basic idea of how the search tool works.
Locating Research Materials Using Meta-Catalogs: WorldCat
In this module we explore how to locate materials held by over 9000 libraries worldwide using a meta-catalog called WorldCat. We begin by showing you how to access WorldCat and then describe how WorldCat searches for the works you are looking for.
Then we perform a Basic Search, noting the most productive keyword combinations for different search options. Finally we perform an Advanced Search, noting the different ways of looking for your subject there. We then show you how to limit your search to the types of media you are searching for.
Borrowing Resources through Interlibrary Loan: Illiad
In Borrowing Resources through Interlibrary Loan: Illiad we focus on locating and borrowing works that are not held by our local library by using interlibrary loan (ILL). We describe Illiad, a system for generating and managing interlibrary loan requests. Then we go through the process of ordering a book.
