The information found on this guide supports research of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient Persia and the Han Dynasty. Click on the DATABASE or WEBSITE tabs to access authoritative sources suggested by your librarian and Global History teacher. The CITATION tab contains information about setting up a project in NoodleTools, a tool that assists in the creation of bibliographies.
As you brainstorm about your topic, make a short list of nouns that relate to your subject. These are the keywords you will use to search for information from the databases. Use the following terms in combination with your keywords to improve your research results:
"Ancient Rome"
"Han Dynasty" AND Confucianism
("Persian Empire" OR "Ancient Persia")
Greeks NOT fraternities
emp* --> empire, empires, emperors
You can use reference material (such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, biographies, almanacs and atlases) to find short, basic, and factual information. Reference articles are written in simple language for a general public and are authored by editorial teams. They are good sources to use when initiating a research project.
How do I identify reference articles in a database?
Some databases, such as Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, only contain reference articles, so you would cite them as REFERENCES. But in other databases, the results of a keyword search come from many different types of information sources. In these databases, results are subdivided into categories based on where the information was originally printed, so look for the REFERENCES link.
Popular magazines (such as Scientific American, Sports Illustrated, Time Magazine) contain articles written by journalists, who are often not experts on the topic they are writing about, but professionals with good writing and research skills. Magazine articles are geared toward a general audience, go into more detail than reference sources, and tend to be accompanied by advertisements and photos. They rarely contain bibliographic citations.
Some databases, such as Scientific American, only contain magazine articles, so you would cite search results as MAGAZINES. But in other databases, the results of a keyword search come from many different types of information sources. In these databases, results are subdivided into categories based on where the information was originally printed, so look for the MAGAZINE link.
Newspaper articles are usually published daily about current events and developments. They are considered primary sources. because they report on events.
Newspaper articles are written for a general audience by journalists, who are not necessarily experts on a subject, but writers with strong professional ethics about telling the truth.
Where do I find newspapers in databases?
Some databases, such as Newsbank Access World News, only contain newspaper articles. In other databases, look for articles categorized under NEWS or NEWSPAPERS to get newspaper articles.
Academics, scholars, researchers and other experts in a field often publish in journals (also known as peer reviewed, scholarly, or academic journals). The articles in journals tend to focus on a specific area or discipline (e.g. Nature or the New England Journal of Medicine) and as a result contain vocabulary aimed at an expert audience. Articles published in these journals have abstracts, graphs and data, and are heavily supported by references to other scholarly material (both in text and in extensive reference lists).
How do I identify journal articles in a database?
In many databases, the results of a keyword search come from different types of information sources. Results are subdivided into categories based on where the information was originally printed, so look for the link that says ACADEMIC JOURNAL, SCHOLARLY JOURNAL, or PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL to access journal articles in a database.
Before using a website as a source to support your academic work, you must evaluate it because information on the open web can be authored by anyone. Consider the website's currency, authority, purpose, objectivity, and writing style. Ask your teacher or librarian if you are not sure if the website is a good source.
When citing a website, please look for the following important pieces of information:
Streaming video and other multimedia are information sources that are not text based. They can be helpful in understanding a topic and can be found on the open web as well as databases, such as Discovery Education. If you find your multimedia information source on the open web, remember to evaluate the currency, authorship, purpose and objectivity of it.
If you are using NoodleTools to help you cite your information sources, select VIDEO CLIP (ONLINE) or the multimedia description that best fits your source.
Primary sources are materials that contain firsthand evidence of events, usually recorded by someone who participated in, witnessed, or lived through the event. A primary source is an original document or account that stands on its own. It can be published in print or electronically. Primary sources are used to prepare secondary sources.
The following are commonly considered primary sources:
Secondary sources are works that are not original primary sources, but documents which offer an analysis, interpretation, or evaluation of information gathered from primary sources. For example, books critiquing Shakespeare's plays or a product review are secondary sources.
The following are commonly considered secondary sources: