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Research Tips

Research Sites:

Power Teens - research databases, ask a librarian for help 

Power Kids - homework help, read ebooks, improve your English

Citation Machine - citing sources for bibliography

 

Research Tips

STEP 1- TASK DEFINITION –Who or What are you researching? 

STEP 2- INFORMATION SEEKING-What sources can you use? Where do you look?

STEP 3-LOCATION AND ACCESS- Find unbiased and reputable sources

Primary Sources

  • original records created at the time of historical events
  • oral memoirs and oral histories.
  • letters, manuscripts, diaries, journals, newspapers, speeches, interviews, memoirs/autobiographies
  • official records of organizations, public opinion polls
  • Government documents, (Congress or the Office of the President) photographs, audio recordings, video, data, and autobiographies. 
  • excerpts or translations acceptable

•CREATIVE WORKS: Poetry, drama,novels, music, art, newsfilm footage, movies

•RELICS OR ARTIFACTS: Pottery, furniture, clothing, buildings, and ancient roads, tools, and weapons.

How do I find them?

• Use a search engine

“Boolean search”: When searching, use specific terms rather than broad terms. For example, the search for the“emancipation proclamation” not just “slavery,” the search for the “battle of chancellorsville” not “civil war.”

  • Historical websites

Secondary Sources

  • something written about a primary source.
  • Include comments on, interpretations of, or discussions about the original material.
  • Second-hand information. If I tell you something, I am the primary source. If you tell someone else what I told you, you are the secondary source. (gossip, reviews about merchandise or hotel) 
  • Textbooks, articles in newspapers, magazines, and journals, histories or Encyclopedias, books or movie reviews, basically - anything that discusses or evaluates someone else's original research.                                                     

How Do I Evaluate Sources?

  • Look for websites with a non-biased, balanced approach to presenting sources.
  • Could the material have been altered or manipulated in some way to change or influence its meaning?
  • Sometimes sites use primary source material to persuade the reader to a particular point of view, distorting the contents.
  • Websites produced by educational or governmental institutions are often more reliable than personal websites, but government sites may be subject to propaganda.