EVALUATING SOURCES HOW DO I DETERMINE IF I CAN USE THIS?

BOOKS Focus on books that are written for a scholarly audience, or at least one seriously interested in an academic perspective on your topic – not historical fiction. Make sure that the books you choose have authors with a background in their field/subject. You may have to do some digging to find this information. Browse the reviews – they should provide you with a glimpse into how the book was received by their peers. Some booksellers (like Amazon) will sometimes let you look at the Table of Contents or Index on their websites. Browse both to see if there is any mention of the topic you are looking for, or if this book is providing the perspective you are after. If you can, look to see if there are footnotes and a works cited/bibliography section. This will help you determine how much research went into the book, and may give you leads for more sources.

JOURNAL ARTICLES The school has a subscription to EBSCO – use it! If at first you don’t succeed, try new search terms Limit your results in helpful ways Full text Peer reviewed If possible, published after 1990 Choose articles that cite reputable sources, have looked at primary sources (a great place to look for more primary sources!)

PRIMARY SOURCES Make sure it’s in a language you can understand. Make sure your sources are actually relevant to your historical question. Don’t choose a source just because it is slightly related to what you are doing. Browse a variety of sources. Newspapers Television (depending on the era you are studying) Music Books Magazines