Big History
Wikipedia might not be the best place to end your research, but it is one of the best places to begin.
Librarians don't HATE Wikipedia...
In fact, we dislike all encyclopedias equally! Although Wikipedia can be edited by anyone, this is not even its worst offense! As students in high school, you should be moving past basic encyclopedia articles. Whether World Book, Britannica, or Wikipedia, DO NOT CITE THESE AS SOURCES IN YOUR FINAL PAPER!
1. Check the "References"
You may not be able to trust ALL of the information you find in a Wikipedia article, but you CAN look at the References that the entry lists. This is a list of the sources that were used to write the article. For instance in this search for "chocolate," sources #11 and #12 might lead me to reading on the history of chocolate.
2. Check "Further reading"
Similar to References, this might point you in a new direction. Some of the sources may be books--check our Destiny catalog to see if we have the book in the IMC!
3. Try the "External links"
Remember, an encyclopedia article is not really a scholarly source!
4. Skim for key terms
Finally, skim the article for some key terms you could use in your search. These are the words that appear in blue because they are significant enough that there is a Wikipedia article on them. For instance, if I'm looking at the history of chocolate, I might want to look for "Mesoamerican" and "chocolate" in my next Google search. I also may want to search for "cacao."