Conducting Your Research Journey

Once you have a topic, you need to gather a lot of different sources to help you learn more. You'll need plenty of notes from high quality primary and secondary sources. Spend time with as many good sources as possible and you will have a much easier time telling a good story with your final project. Follow the steps below for a solid process to follow on your journey to better understand your topic.

Books are reliable sources. Go to a library and get one!
Or you can locate an article using a database eBook from the BLMS Media webpage or the webpage of your local library (all reliable)
Or you can use one of the awesome websites linked on the BLMS History Day "Mega Links" page.
Or you could search the internet using SEARCH SKILLS to help you find the best sources from the millions and billions of options. WARNING: When you search on your own you must first determine if the source is RELIABLE.

When you use a search engine like Google to find your own sources YOU MUST analyze the site first to determine if it's reliable.

Who authored the site? Look for an “About” page.
Who published the site? This is often at the bottom of the page. Also check the domain name & suffix (the suffix is the .edu .com .mil .org .gov)
What is the purpose of the website? Sales? Public service? Scholarly information? Promote a cause?
Does the author cite sources? Is there advertising? Does it link to other reliable sources?
Apply the CRAAP test if you aren't certain.

Credit to the Library staff at Finders University

When reading a website use control-F to quickly search for keywords and names.

Write down the who, what, when, where, why, how/
Think about how it all fits together. What's the heart of your topic? What's the impact? Build-up? Background? How did part of the world change as a result?
Take all the notes the source provides. Some sources only give a few notes, some give pages.
THINK and WONDER as you read and take notes.

Quotes come from sources, NOT googling your topic and the word quote.
When you write down a quote be sure to keep track of who said it, where they were, when they said it and other details to support.