There are many places where you can find information for a social science or history paper: in books and articles in a library; by interviewing or observing people; or on the Internet. Each of these will help you develop a different skill. If it appropriate to your topic, you should try several kinds of sources.

The first place to look is in bibliographies. If your instructor hands out a bibliography of useful sources, use it! Also look in your textbook(s); often at the end of each chapter these is a list of "Suggested Readings." Libraries also have bibliographies on many different subjects, such as the American Historical Association’s Guide to Historical Literature and the Harvard Guide to American History. To search online, go to www.roosevelt.edu, then click on "Library," then "Search by Subject" or "Books" and search by subject.

If the library has open stacks, you’re in luck. Find one book on your topic in the stacks, then look at the other books on the same shelf and on the shelf above and the shelf below. Chances are, you’ll find several other books on your topic.

There are many useful article indexes: For scholarly articles, try the International Index, Social Science Index, and Humanities Index. For popular periodicals, look in the Readers’s Guide to Periodical Literature. For news articles, see the index to the New York Times and other periodicals. To search online, go to www.roosevelt.edu then click on "Library," then "Articles," then "Choose Journal Indexes by Subject," then "Wilson Readers Guide Abstracts."

When you look in books or articles on your topic, you will find a lot of other references in the footnotes, endnotes, or "works cited" section. Check these also.

Each time you see the title of a book or article that looks promising, make a note on a separate 3x5 card or piece of paper; you want separate notes because you will be organizing them in dif-ferent ways: useful or not so useful ones, chronologically, by topic, alphabetically by author, etc.

In the case of a book, write on each card: the full name(s) of the author(s), starting with the last name of the (first) author; the title and sub-title (in italics or underlined); the city, the publisher, and the year of publication; and the library and call number.

In the case of an article, write the full name(s) of the author(s), the title of the article (in "quotation marks"); the title of the periodical (in italics or underlined); the volume number; the date of publication; and the page numbers of the article. (See "Documenting your Sources" below for further information.)

Some topics lend themselves to live research: do you know a war veteran? A political activist? Someone who has witnessed an event? An expert on your topic? If it seems appropriate, ask if you could interview them. Then prepare a list of questions you would like to ask them at the interview. (Don’t conduct the interview just yet, however.)

Perhaps you have some personal experience that is relevant to your paper. Have you traveled to a foreign country? participated to an interesting event? had an experience that fits in with the topic of your paper? Perhaps you have access to letters or papers that contain useful information (if they aren’t your own writings, you will need to ask permission of the writer, if you can.)

Databases of published (printed) matter must not be confused with the World Wide Web, which does not go through the publishing process. Information is very easy to find on the Web, but very hard to trust. That is because people with computers and a minimum of training can put anything they want on their websites. On the Web, it is very difficult to determine what is reliable and what isn’t. It could be the truth, or it could be a disguised advertisement, or a political message, or the fabrication of a lunatic.

You must be much more skeptical when you do research on the Internet than in a library. Don’t assume, just because a website has an impressive title like "The Truth About the Middle East" or an URL (Universal Resource Locator) like "www.thetruth.com," that it is reliable.

How can you tell? First, look for the name of the human being who put the information on the Web. Is it a name you recognize? Is it a well-known author, politician, or journalist? If you recognize the name, then you probably know what to expect, and whether to trust this person.

If there is no person’s name, or if you don’t recognize it, then look for the organization that put out the information. Is it one you recognize, like the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, or the Encyclopaedia Britannica? Is it the CIA, the NAACP, the Republican Party? If you recognize the organization, you can tell whether to trust what it put on the Web, or what its biases are. If you don’t recognize (and trust) the name of the person or the organization that put information on the Web, DON’T USE IT!

Where to look for web sites: First look in the bibliography and citations of your texts; then in the handouts called "Web Sites for Current Events and Social Sciences" or "Web Sites for History."

For Internet and live research, like for library research, you should make a card for each source: Web site, person, document, experience, etc.

As soon as you begin your search for sources, you will discover whether your topic is feasible or not. Some topics are so broad (e.g., the history of Mexico) that you’d only to scratch the surface of all the information out there. Other topics are so narrow (street names in Eichendorf) that you will find little or nothing. Yet others (e.g., drug dealers in New Orleans) are too dangerous.

Remember: the Method determines the Topic, as well as the other way around. If your search for sources brings up too much or too little, narrow or change your topic. After all, you have a limited time to do this project, so you want to pick a topic that is both interesting and feasible. Remember: it’s okay to change your topic; the Topic Proposal is not a contract, it’s a proposal.

Return to Research Paper or go forward to The Method Proposal