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Definitions |
| Lesson Descriptions |
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...can be straightforward or tricky. It all depends on how you've defined your topic. The rest of this tutorial is devoted to helping you choose a topic, find sources in an efficient and organized manner, and evaluate what you've found.
The chart below provides hints on the types of finding tools you could use in the process of discovering the sources you need for your topic. It also refers to other sections in this tutorial that may be of assistance in learning to navigate the library resources available to you.
| When Information Is Available | Types of Sources and Their Finding Tools | Related Section in the Tutorial |
| Historical Context: back in history |
library catalogs: for books and reference sources research databases: for journal articles |
Library Catalog Reference Sources Research Databases Search Techniques |
| Before: just before an event |
Web search engines: for "invisible college" sources such as
listserv, newsletter, and other Web-based archives library catalogs: for historical books and items in special collections of libraries research databases: for historical journal articles other specialized sources: good time to consult a librarian for advice |
Web Research Library Catalog Research Databases Search Techniques |
| Something Happens: immediately after the event |
Web search engines, individual newspaper Web sites, and
other news sites on the Web: for early news releases on the Web research databases such as Lexis Nexis Academic Universe and Newspaper Abstracts: for early news releases on TV, radio, and in newspapers/newswires |
Web Research Research Databases Search Techniques |
| Day/Days After: one or more days after |
Web search engines, individual newspaper Web sites, and other news
sites on the Web: for more in-depth news releases on the Web research databases such as Lexis Nexis Academic Universe and Newspaper Abstracts: for more in-depth news releases on TV, radio, and in newspapers/newswires |
Web Research Research Databases Search Techniques |
| Week/Weeks After: one or more weeks after | research databases such as Periodical Abstracts: popular magazine articles |
Research Databases Search Techniques |
| Months After: one or more months after | research databases such as Periodical Abstracts, Humanities Abstracts, Medline, or Sociological Abstracts (to name a few): scholarly journal articles |
Research Databases Search Techniques |
| One to Three Years |
library catalogs: for books and conference proceedings research databases: for some conference proceedings consult a librarian: conference proceedings can be tricky to find |
Library Catalog Research Databases Search Techniques |
| Five or More Years |
library catalog: for reference sources (encyclopedias, handbooks,
statistical sources, and more) consult a librarian: every library has a very large collection of reference sources. |
Library Catalog Reference Sources |
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