Research Materials

Search Strategies
Before you start searching, it is best if you can define your information need.  If you know what you are looking  for, you will be better able to recognize it when you've found your answer.  Also, defining your information need helps you know where to start looking.  It is possible to find information more effectively and efficiently by using search strategies. Search strategies usually involve:
Modifying keywords
When modifying keywords, consider using:
-phrase searching (where you need to find the words together, e.g. "stress management")
-synonyms (use a thesaurus to swap words with same or similar meaning)
-truncation (searching for different word endings, e.g. laughter, laughing)
Combining keywords
Keyword are combined using: AND, OR and NOT.
For example: (laughter OR humor) AND stress
AND,  OR and NOT are known as Boolean operators. Knowing when and how to use Boolean operators effectively can greatly improve search results.
Limiting search results
There may be other elements that need to be considered in a search.
For example: Is it important to find information published within a specific time frame?
Investigate the options for limiting search results in the information sources that you are using (e.g. Library Catalog, database or search engine)
Developing a Research Question
Please watch this video by Northern Kentucky University.
Source Evaluation
When you encounter any kind of source, consider: -Authority - Who is the author? What is their point of view? -Purpose - Why was the source created? Who is the intended audience? -Publication & format - Where was it published? In what medium? -Relevance - How is it relevant to your research? What is its scope? -Date of publication - When was it written? Has it been updated? -Documentation - Did they cite their sources? Who did they cite?

Evaluate Web Pages
Tutorial and exercise/worksheet (Widener University Libraries)

Online Primary Sources
*See databases for additional primary sources
 American Memory Collection

Digital History

Eyewitness to History

Internet Archive: Text Archive

Internet Archive: Movie Archive

Internet Archive: Audio Archive

 In the First Person

National Archives

LOC: Veterans History Project

Life Photo Archive

Yale's Primary Sources Project

Citation Information

EasyBib Citation Generator

Purdue OWL: In-Text Citations

Purdue OWL: Sample Works Cited


Plagiarism Checker
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Preventing  Plagiarism When Writing

EasyBib
"An essay checker and plagiarism checker that are easy to use, convenient, and will give you peace of mind when turning in your papers."

Grammarly
Grammarly’s plagiarism checker detects plagiarism in your text and checks for other writing issues.