Use this Guide for...
- Navigating the Library
- Finding sources for your research paper
- Formatting your bibliography and footnotes
Remember: Research is a skill that everyone need to learn and practice!
R&I Librarian for Humanities and Digital Scholarship
Types of Sources
Think of the paper you're writing as a story that you are narrating. In this story, you want both primary and secondary sources. Your job as a scholar of history is to weave together primary and secondary sources to make a new, coherent argument.
- Primary source = A book, article, picture, letter, document, or other item that was produced in the past.
- Secondary source = Scholarship that is reflecting back upon and analyzing something that happened in the past.
- Reference source = Books or databases that contain quick facts, short essays, bibliographies, descriptions of trends in scholarship.
- Database = An organized place this information is stored online.
How to browse for a book
Browsing the shelves
The books in the library are shelved in call number order, so books on a similar topic are shelved together. Take time to look at the books shelved near books that you've found. You can also use Catalyst to virtually browse the shelves: click on a record for a print book title (ebooks are not included in this feature) and scroll down to Virtual Browse to see books that would be shelved nearby.
[visual description: screen shot showing book titles in the Catalyst virtual browse]
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Atlas of the Libe (2019)A map of call numbers, study rooms, and printers!
