Preparing for CompetitionNeed to know where the competition takes place? Click Here
What do I do first? You need to get to PSU before registration closes (see tentative outline below). Registration is on PSU's campus at a place called the HUB. Anyone on campus will be able to direct you there. NHDNH staff and volunteers will be stationed at all major intersections... don't worry. You will find us. |
The documents below will be provided at registration. Feel free to print in advance.
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Where do I park?
When you drive up High Street onto Plymouth's campus, you will park in lot #304 at the top of the hill. No permit is required. The HUB is just across the street from where you will park. If there isn't anywhere to park in #304, try #301, #214, or #408. See the "NHDNH Registration Maps" above.
What happens at registration? Haven't I already registered? At registration you will close your account (pay if you haven't) and pick up a registration packet. We have packets for Students and Teachers. Parents of home-schooled students are considered "teachers."
What will be in the packet? In your packet, you will find:
Where can I pick up my shirt? If you ordered a shirt or think you want one, visit our T-Shirt booth that will be near registration in the HUB. NHDNH volunteers will have a list of people who pre-ordered shirts and we will have more shirts on a first-come first-serve basis. There will also be the option of ordering more shirts if we run out. We will only accept cash or check. What do the shirts look like? Click Here
What do I do next? Next you wait until it is time to present your project. While you wait, we suggest you:
When should I show up to judging? Not late. Make sure you are 5-10 minutes early. Be sure you locate your judging room way in advance.
What do I do when I'm done? Wait until the Awards Ceremony (see tentative schedule) or have lunch. After lunch the exhibit hall will open up for people to peruse. Documentary and Performance categories have open judging, meaning you can go and watch them.
What happens at the Awards Ceremony? Awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in each category and each division and Special Topic Awards are given out. Only the top 2 from each category and division move on to Nationals.
When you drive up High Street onto Plymouth's campus, you will park in lot #304 at the top of the hill. No permit is required. The HUB is just across the street from where you will park. If there isn't anywhere to park in #304, try #301, #214, or #408. See the "NHDNH Registration Maps" above.
What happens at registration? Haven't I already registered? At registration you will close your account (pay if you haven't) and pick up a registration packet. We have packets for Students and Teachers. Parents of home-schooled students are considered "teachers."
What will be in the packet? In your packet, you will find:
- A schedule of when you need to present your project, or when your students will be presenting their projects
- A schedule of events for the day
- A name tag
- A lunch coupon for use at PSU's dining hall
- A dining guide to restaurants around Plymouth (in walking distance from the HUB)
- A certificate of participation (for students)
Where can I pick up my shirt? If you ordered a shirt or think you want one, visit our T-Shirt booth that will be near registration in the HUB. NHDNH volunteers will have a list of people who pre-ordered shirts and we will have more shirts on a first-come first-serve basis. There will also be the option of ordering more shirts if we run out. We will only accept cash or check. What do the shirts look like? Click Here
What do I do next? Next you wait until it is time to present your project. While you wait, we suggest you:
- Go find where you will be presenting later on in the day so that you know exactly where to be
- Visit our t-shirt competition booth
- Visit PSU's admissions office
- Visit PSU's bookstore
- Visit PSU's coffee shop
- Meet people!
- Play games with your classmates
When should I show up to judging? Not late. Make sure you are 5-10 minutes early. Be sure you locate your judging room way in advance.
What do I do when I'm done? Wait until the Awards Ceremony (see tentative schedule) or have lunch. After lunch the exhibit hall will open up for people to peruse. Documentary and Performance categories have open judging, meaning you can go and watch them.
What happens at the Awards Ceremony? Awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in each category and each division and Special Topic Awards are given out. Only the top 2 from each category and division move on to Nationals.
Tentative Outline for Competition
7:30 – 9:00 Registration in the Hartman Union Building (HUB) Fireside Lounge
Exhibits Exhibit Setup
Docs Documentary Trial Runs
Performances Prop Storage, if needed
Documentaries, Websites, and Performances (OPEN to the public during judging; no public comments)
Enter and exit the room only between projects; through marked doors. Please turn off cell phones.
Please ask students for permission to photograph. No flash photos during presentation.
9:30 – 12:30 Judging of Websites, Documentaries, Performances
Exhibits and Papers (CLOSED to the public during judging)
Students should report to the room AT LEAST 5 minutes prior to assigned time. Judges control entry times.
9:30 – 12:30 Judging of Papers
10:00 – 1:30 Judging of Exhibits
LUNCH Please plan lunch based on your own schedule.
See registration packet for on-campus coupon and off-campus restaurant choices
1:30 – 2:30 Exhibits Open to Public
2:30 – 3:30 Break Down Exhibits (or after awards ceremony)
NOTE: EXHIBIT ROOMS WILL BE LOCKED DURING AWARDS CEREMONY
2:00 – 3:00 Key-Note Presentation: “Founding Fathers”
3:00 – 3:30 Documentaries play until Awards Ceremony
3:30 – 4:15 Awards Ceremony (approximate)
4:15 – 5:00 Break Down Exhibits
Exhibits Exhibit Setup
Docs Documentary Trial Runs
Performances Prop Storage, if needed
Documentaries, Websites, and Performances (OPEN to the public during judging; no public comments)
Enter and exit the room only between projects; through marked doors. Please turn off cell phones.
Please ask students for permission to photograph. No flash photos during presentation.
9:30 – 12:30 Judging of Websites, Documentaries, Performances
Exhibits and Papers (CLOSED to the public during judging)
Students should report to the room AT LEAST 5 minutes prior to assigned time. Judges control entry times.
9:30 – 12:30 Judging of Papers
10:00 – 1:30 Judging of Exhibits
LUNCH Please plan lunch based on your own schedule.
See registration packet for on-campus coupon and off-campus restaurant choices
1:30 – 2:30 Exhibits Open to Public
2:30 – 3:30 Break Down Exhibits (or after awards ceremony)
NOTE: EXHIBIT ROOMS WILL BE LOCKED DURING AWARDS CEREMONY
2:00 – 3:00 Key-Note Presentation: “Founding Fathers”
3:00 – 3:30 Documentaries play until Awards Ceremony
3:30 – 4:15 Awards Ceremony (approximate)
4:15 – 5:00 Break Down Exhibits
Commonly Asked Questions
Is the 500 word limit in an exhibit category separate from the 500 word limit for the process paper?
Yes, the title page, process paper, and bibliography are considered as being separate from the exhibit and do not count towards the 500-word limit for the exhibit itself.
Can you have pictures in a paper, like illustrations, graphs, etc.?
Illustrations are acceptable. Captions do not count in the word total. Make sure that illustrations are directly related to the text, and don't overdo them. The people who volunteer as paper judges tend to be quite text-based, and they're probably not going to be impressed by excessive illustrations.
Can I use a fictional 1st person in a paper or performance?
Yes. At the beginning of the Category Rules for papers in the National History Day Rule Book, there's a description of papers: "A paper is the traditional form of presenting historical research. Various types of creative writing (for example, fictional diaries, poems, etc.) are permitted, but must conform to all general and category rules. Your paper should be grammatically correct and well written." The rules state, "A performance is a dramatic portrayal of your topic's significance in history and must be original in production." A performance is not simply an oral report or a recitation of facts. You can make up characters to make a broader historical point, but don't make up history. While performances must have dramatic appeal, that appeal should not be at the expense of historical accuracy.
Therefore, clearly it is possible to have fictional characters, for example, writing a fictional diary. However, you need to make sure that you cite sources just as you would for a traditional paper or in a performance. Most importantly, it still has to be good history. You can make up the character, but the circumstances and events of the character's life and which that character witnesses or participates in should be based on historical facts.
What is a primary source?
Primary sources are materials directly related to a topic by time or participation. These materials include letters, speeches, diaries, newspaper articles from the time, oral history interviews, documents, photographs, artifacts, or anything else that provides contemporary accounts about a person or event. Check out the Research Roadmap for more help.
Some materials might be considered primary sources for one topic but not for another. For example, a newspaper article about D-Day (which was June 6, 1944) written in June 1944 would be a primary source; an article about D-Day written in June 2001 probably was not written by an eyewitness or participant and would not be a primary source. Similarly, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, delivered soon after the 1863 battle, is a primary source for the Civil War, but a speech given on the 100th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg in 1963 is not a primary source for the Civil War. If there's any doubt about whether a source should be listed as primary or secondary, you should explain in the annotation why you chose to categorize it as you did.
Here are some common questions about primary sources:
Yes, the title page, process paper, and bibliography are considered as being separate from the exhibit and do not count towards the 500-word limit for the exhibit itself.
Can you have pictures in a paper, like illustrations, graphs, etc.?
Illustrations are acceptable. Captions do not count in the word total. Make sure that illustrations are directly related to the text, and don't overdo them. The people who volunteer as paper judges tend to be quite text-based, and they're probably not going to be impressed by excessive illustrations.
Can I use a fictional 1st person in a paper or performance?
Yes. At the beginning of the Category Rules for papers in the National History Day Rule Book, there's a description of papers: "A paper is the traditional form of presenting historical research. Various types of creative writing (for example, fictional diaries, poems, etc.) are permitted, but must conform to all general and category rules. Your paper should be grammatically correct and well written." The rules state, "A performance is a dramatic portrayal of your topic's significance in history and must be original in production." A performance is not simply an oral report or a recitation of facts. You can make up characters to make a broader historical point, but don't make up history. While performances must have dramatic appeal, that appeal should not be at the expense of historical accuracy.
Therefore, clearly it is possible to have fictional characters, for example, writing a fictional diary. However, you need to make sure that you cite sources just as you would for a traditional paper or in a performance. Most importantly, it still has to be good history. You can make up the character, but the circumstances and events of the character's life and which that character witnesses or participates in should be based on historical facts.
What is a primary source?
Primary sources are materials directly related to a topic by time or participation. These materials include letters, speeches, diaries, newspaper articles from the time, oral history interviews, documents, photographs, artifacts, or anything else that provides contemporary accounts about a person or event. Check out the Research Roadmap for more help.
Some materials might be considered primary sources for one topic but not for another. For example, a newspaper article about D-Day (which was June 6, 1944) written in June 1944 would be a primary source; an article about D-Day written in June 2001 probably was not written by an eyewitness or participant and would not be a primary source. Similarly, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, delivered soon after the 1863 battle, is a primary source for the Civil War, but a speech given on the 100th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg in 1963 is not a primary source for the Civil War. If there's any doubt about whether a source should be listed as primary or secondary, you should explain in the annotation why you chose to categorize it as you did.
Here are some common questions about primary sources:
- Are interviews with experts primary sources? No, an interview with an expert (a professor of Civil War history, for example) is not a primary source, UNLESS that expert actually lived through and has first-hand knowledge of the events being described.
- If I find a quote from a historical figure in my textbook or another secondary source and I use the quote in my project, should I list it as a primary source?No, quotes from historical figures which are found in secondary sources are not considered primary sources. The author of the book has processed the quotation, selecting it from the original source. Without seeing the original source for yourself, you don't know if the quotation is taken out of context, what else was in the source, what the context was, etc.
- Should I list each photograph or document individually? You should handle this differently in notes than in the bibliography. When you are citing sources for specific pieces of information or interpretations, such as in footnotes or end notes, you should cite the individual document or photograph. In the bibliography, however, you would cite only the collection as a whole, not all the individual items. You should include the full title of the collection (e.g., Digges-Sewall Papers or the Hutzler Collection), the institution and city or city/state where the collection is located (e.g., Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore). You can use the annotation to explain that this collection provided 7 photographs which you used in your exhibit or that collection provided 14 letters which were important in helping you trace what happened. The same treatment applies to newspaper articles. In the footnotes or end notes, you should cite the individual articles and issues of a newspaper. In the bibliography, you would list only the newspaper itself, not the individual issues or articles; you can use the annotation to explain that you used X number of days of the newspaper for your research.
