Research Strategy

1. Define your topic.  Know that in a long-term project you will be redefining your topic as you learn more.

2.  Develop a plan.  List what kinds of resources you need, by when.

3. Find background information first so that you are familiar with a general overview of your topic. The Reference section is the best place to begin. Usually students find it extremely helpful to ask a librarian to help them find good background material.

4. Find books you can check out using the catalog. (If a few tries are not successful, ask for help. There are many different ways to search and the library staff is trained to show you how to find books when at first you cannot.) Be sure to take down call numbers. Find the books on the second and third floors.

5. Find periodical articles using indexes, which point you to articles. There are electronic indexes on Cox Library's Online Databases page and print indexes, such as the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature and The New York Times Index.

6. Find web resources if your teacher has approved. Check to see if your class has a set of links on the Cox Library Course Research page.

7. Evaluate what you have found. Have you found information from diverse sources representing different views? Do you need to do more? If so, refine your search strategy.

8. Outline, draft, revise, revise, and revise your paper/project.

9. Cite sources you have used. See How to Cite Sources.

10. Evaluate your work. What has gone well and not so well in this process? What might you do differently the next time you do research, what will you do the same?

How to Find Background Information

1. Use general encyclopedias located under the cum laude plaque in Cox Library.

2. Use specialized Reference books located on the south side of the first floor.

3. Electronically on the Cox Library Reference page.

How to Find Books

1. Use the book catalog, also known as PAC and card catalog.

2. Note there are many different ways to search.

• Author and title are straightforward.
• A subject search uses a controlled vocabulary known as LCSH (Library of Congress Subject Headings). Human beings have assigned Subject Headings, so that books on the same topic will end up in the same area of the library. Generally a subject search is more thorough than a keyword search.
• A keyword search uses natural vocabulary and searches in title, notes, and other parts of the book record. A keyword search often turns up fewer books than a subject search.

3. Notice that many books on a topic have similar call numbers. Save time; don't take down all those call numbers. Use the call number range to get to the shelves and browse. Books you can check out are on the second and third floors.

How to Find Periodical Articles

1. Use indexes. Indexes point you to articles, telling you what periodical, what date, what pages to find articles on a topic. (This information is called a citation.)

2. Use print indexes when searching for articles published prior to the 1980s, when computers aren't working, or you have to wait for a computer.

3. Use electronic indexes when searching for articles published since the mid-1980s.

4. Note the often heard, "it's all on the Web" is not accurate at this time. When searching for academic level articles, you may find some articles for free, but they are basically a "come on", to get you interested and pay for a subscription. Generally articles are organized in databases as on our Cox Library resources page. Publishers do not give this information away; libraries pay for it. All of this periodical literature is different from web pages. Published articles have been through a rigorous editorial process to ensure accurate information, lack of bias or clear identification of opinion as such, balanced presentation of differing views, and other such characteristics of "good information."

How to Find Web Sites

1. Use links placed on the Cox Library resources page.

2. General search engines may overwhelm you with the number of "hits" they return. Unfortunately you can spend a great deal of your precious time sifting through a pile, and not get anything useful. Anyone can publish a web page and there are no editorial constraints, which has god and bad consequences for publication and communication of information.

3. Think about "who would have published high quality information about the topic I'm researching?" For example, NASA would have information about space, an art museum would have information about paintings, a science museum would have information about science experiments, a history department at a college would provide useful links for history sources, and so on.

How to Evaluate Your Sources

The evaluation of sources is a core skill in the research process and one that a student learns over time. You will learn by talking with teachers and librarians why some sources are better than others. Evaluation is a learned skill that takes time to develop. The general standards for evaluation of information are:

• Authority. What are the author's qualifications and expertise? Is the author associated with an organization or institution? What are the mission, values and goals of the institution? Does the author have a bias?
• Accuracy. Is the information accurate? Are sources given so that you can double check accuracy?
• Currency. When was it written? How much does this matter?
• Objectivity. Is there a bias? Does the author present different points of view if this is a matter about which there are different points of view?
• Coverage. Is this a primary, secondary of tertiary source? Does this cover your topic briefly or in depth? Have you looked at enough sources to obtain different points of view?
• Usefulness. Is this going to help you on this project? In what part of the project might you use it?

How to Cite Sources

History Department Citation Guide