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Step 2:
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Reference Desk (413) 774-1509 |
- Choose a topic that interests you and will sustain your interest
- Keep the topic manageable--narrow and focused enough to be interesting, but broad enough to find enough information for the assignment
- Narrow your topic by:
geographic region
culture
time frame
event or aspect
discipline or subject or
person or group - Look for "a point you can argue for or against, an idea you can compare or contrast, a cause and effect relationship you can explain, a main point that can be divided into sub-points, or a question you can answer"
- Think like a journalist to probe your topic more closely with the following questions: who?, what?, when?, where?, how?, and why?
- Be aware that local information may be more difficult to find--you will have to use local sources (academic or public libraries, historical societies, etc.)
- Be flexible--the topic might need to be modified (narrowed or broadened) depending on the information available
- Discuss your ideas with your teacher or a reference librarian
- Browse through your text book for ideas
- Read a general encyclopedia article (World Book, Britannica) on your top two or three ideas
- Use chronologies to identify significant events in U.S. History
- Browse through specialized encyclopedias for topic ideas
- Locate sources in the catalog by including the word "encyclopedias" or "dictionaries" in a keyword search--example: civil war and encyclopedias (see Boolean logic)
- Look for reference articles on possible topics of interest in history databases:
American History Online (use the Learning Centers)
History Reference Center (use the Timeline)
History Study Center (use the Study Units)
Go back to: U.S. History Research Guide
Resources
- Selecting a Research Topic (Weber State U.)
- Choosing a Subject
- How Can I Make Sure My Topic is Manageable?
- The Journalist's Questions
- Writing a Research Paper (Purdue Online Writing Lab)
- Research and Writing for High School Students (Internet Public Library)
- Planning and Writing a Research Paper (U. of Wisconsin-Madison)
- Library Online Basic Orientation (LOBO)(NC State)
- The Seven Steps of the Research Process (Cornell U.)
Documents