R&I Librarian for Humanities and Digital Scholarship
The Libe Where you Live
Use this Guide for...
- Navigating the Library
- Finding sources for your research paper
- Formatting your bibliography and footnotes
Remember: Research is a skill that you need to learn - no one innately knows how to do this!
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 coherent argument.
- Primary source = A book, article, picture, letter, document, or other item that was produced in the past. (think: an episode of Game of Thrones)
- Secondary source = Scholarship that is reflecting back upon and analyzing something that happened in the past. (think: an analysis of Game of Thrones in the AV Club)
- Reference source = A high level compilation of pointers to primary and/or secondary sources. (think: The Game of Thrones IMDB page)
- Database = Where these are stored. (think: HBO Go)
