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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: THE BIG 6

•STEP1- 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 Are:

  • 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 Them?

•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.