Research+Step+Three-Begin+Your+Research

=Step Three: How do I begin my research? =

Use the questions, keywords, and list of sources you created in Step Two to help you locate your sources.
 * Locate Your Sources **

Start looking in the following places (use your keywords in the search boxes):
BHS Library Resource Guide for Freshman Research Projects [|BHS Library Catalog] BHS Library Databases [|Brookline Public Library] [|WorldCat.org: The World's Largest Library Catalog]: Find what you want in a library near you with WorldCat, a global catalog of library collections.

Ebooks and Scholarly Articles for Research
Google Books
 * Video on Google Books for Research
 * Tutorial on Google Books for Research

JSTOR - a database of scholarly articles (requires password) Google Scholar: a version of Google dedicated to searching literary and scientific papers online.
 * Tutorial on how to use JSTOR - highly recommended!

**Primary Sources**
You may want to locate sources from the time period you are researching. Here are some good places to start: **Using Primary Sources** = = = Google Search Skills =
 * Locating Primary Sources **
 * U.S. History Primary Sources
 * World History Primary Sources
 * World History Primary Sources - Fordham University
 * Maps, Political Cartoons, Videos, Audio
 * "Primary Sources on the Web" by CalState University
 * Why Study History Through Primary Sources?
 * Using Primary Sources on the Web
 * Analyzing Primary Sources
 * To search only college/university sites, add site:edu to the search box. This limits your search to ".edu" sites. You still need to evaluate the source!
 * Search Tips: Google Advanced Search: On the Advanced Search page, you can enter your search terms or numbers and then choose one or more filters to modify the results you see. These filters can help you find the most relevant information possible the first time you search.
 * Video Tutorial on Google Advanced Search

Beyond Google
Choose the Best Search Engine for Your Needs A guide to many search engines and their features Yippy or Clusty (two names, same search engine) is an engine that searches other search engines for you. Yippy/Clusty groups similar results together into “clouds.” Clouds help you see your search results by topic so you can zero in on exactly what you’re looking for or discover unexpected relationships between items. Sweet Search is a search engine that will only point to websites that have been evaluated and approved by research experts, librarians and teachers. Rather than ranking the results by popularity, they ensure their results are ranked by credibility. DuckDuckGo uses information from crowd-sourced sites. The search engine policy emphasizes privacy and does not record user information. I[|nstagrok] has a visual search feature that can help you generate key words.

Tips for Searching
[|Tips for searching Google] Searching Effectively Using And, Or, Not Video on using Boolean Operators (and, or, not) for web and database searches, created by Virginia Commonwealth University. Search Tips from the Library of Congress

Skim and Scan Your Sources
Once a source is in your hand, skim and scan each it to determine if it will be helpful.([|Things to look for].) Ask yourself if it looks like this source will be useful in answering your research questions. Can you understand the information? If you answer yes, then create a complete citation for this source. If the answer is no, still jot down the title in case you need to refer back it. Much of what you find on your topic on the free web will be repetitious. Avoid using sources with the same information.

Evaluating Websites
click image for a full size graphic of the CRAP Test
 * [|The CRAP test]
 * CRAP test in action video

Read and Take Notes
See Social Study Handbook for methods of notetaking.

Be selective when taking notes. Only write down information that will be useful in answering your research questions. Remember to include the page number or web address for all the information you collect. When taking notes, make sure you use quotations when copying text word for word.

Create Bibliographic Citations for Your Sources Online Tools to Create a Citation- BHS uses the MLA format [|Son of Citation Machine] NoodleBib

Plagiarism
Make sure you give credit where credit is due. Sources are cited for three reasons. One is to give credit to the author's ideas or words you used, and the other is to allow the reader to check where you obtained your information from so they can check your research and follow up on the sources you used.

Keeping track of your sources will help you avoid plagiarism, help you find where you obtained your information from, and help you create your bibliography for your research project.

[|Tutorial on Plagiarism] Once you have looked at and taken notes from a variety of sources, you are ready to move on to [|Step Four], Refine and Continue Your Research.