Using professional forums to assess historians' e‐resource needs

Abstract

Purpose This article seeks to suggest that pedagogical forums published in two major professional associations' publications can contribute to the literature on collection for academic historians. Design/methodology/approach The author surveys the literature on historians' information needs and surveys articles published in the pedagogical forums for what they reveal about historians' use of electronic resources. Findings The forums provide useful bibliographic information regarding e‐resources for faculty and collection officers alike; additionally, they provide a useful starting point for discussions of desired learning outcomes, leading to better support for teaching/curricular needs. Research limitations/implications Findings are limited to academic historians and are also skewed toward US historians, since more articles on e‐resources appeared in the forum dedicated to US‐historical pedagogy than in the forum encompassing historians of all areas. Practical implications Similar research could be done on pedagogical forums in other academic fields. Originality/value This paper examines a field's pedagogical methodology to draw conclusions about collections management for that field.