Before you start searching for sources, there are a couple of guidelines you should consider:
Most research assignments will indicate type and number of sources. Consider whether you need or should use primary or secondary sources. Does your teacher want you to find a scholarly source? Will your teacher accept Wikipedia or general reference sources (encyclopedias, atlases, etc)?
Read below for ways to locate all kinds of sources for your research assignment.
A primary source provides direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person, or work of art. Primary sources include historical and legal documents, eyewitness accounts, results of experiments, statistical data, pieces of creative writing, audio and video recordings, speeches, and art objects. Interviews, surveys, fieldwork, and Internet communications via email, blogs, listservs, and newsgroups are also primary sources. In the natural and social sciences, primary sources are often empirical studies—research where an experiment was performed or a direct observation was made. The results of empirical studies are typically found in scholarly articles or papers delivered at conferences ("Primary and Secondary").
At one time, locating primary sources required the researcher to go to a local library and hope that the library would have primary sources on microfiche (a flat piece of film containing microphotographs of the source) and then the researcher would put the microfiche under a large projector for viewing. Fortunately for you, those days are over. Many primary sources are located on the Internet. Below are links to find primary sources. But before you begin your search, look at the first link below for information on how to analyze a primary source.
Primary sources are not like books and articles that one reads. Analyzing a cartoon, photograph, song, etc. is not the same as analyzing the written word. Click on the link below for tips on how to "read" a primary source.
The Avalon Project Documents in Laws, History and Diplomacy
Life Magazine Photo Archive powered by Google
Secondary sources will discuss or analyze information but have not been directly involved in the event or information. Secondary sources can be magazine, journal or newspaper articles, websites, books, podcasts, videos, movie reviews, blogs, etc. These sources are easily found in a database (a warehouse of sources) to which many schools and libraries subscribe. Currently, EGUSD offers students and teachers access to EBSCO databases. Click the icon below to access EBSCO. See Ms. Whitted in the library for log on information if you need to access EBSCO off-campus.
The LCHS Library is also a great place to find a book for your research. Click on the card catalog below to access the library catalog while on campus. If you need help finding a book, ask Ms. Whitted.
What is a scholarly source? There are some agreed upon common characteristics . . . . a scholarly source will. . . .
Check out this chart that shows the differences of different publications ("UCF Reserach Guides).
(I think it's most effective to read from the bottom up)
The Internet is a very inefficient place to begin to find sources but occasionally, you may run across a website that you think is perfect for your research. Be very careful - websites can be appear to be very believable but may contain false or biased information. To determine if a website is credible, click on our evaluating sources page to put it to the test!
As any good researcher would do, here is a works cited page for the sources I used to help me write this page.