This document provides an overview of finding sources for research. It discusses primary and secondary sources and examples of each. It also covers locating sources through libraries, search engines, and online databases. Specific tools mentioned include Soople for advanced Google searches and the American Memory Collection from the Library of Congress. The document encourages discussing source selection experiences and having students practice locating sources on a topic using the presented methods.
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Level2 lesson4
1. Finding Sources
Introduction
Primary and secondary sources
Types of sources
Locating sources
Talk About It
Your Turn
Tech Tools in this presentation
• Search engines
• Soople
• American Memory Collection
2. Introduction
Now that you have your
research questions, how do
you find the information you
need?
There are many ways to
track down useful sources of
information.
Discovering these methods
is the key to your search.
3. Primary and secondary sources
The most basic way to categorize any source in research
is as a primary source or a secondary source.
A primary source A secondary source is
is firsthand, information derived
original from or about primary
information by sources.
someone
who participated
in the event
being
researched.
4. Primary and secondary sources
Primary sources are original documents.
A published piece such as
Photograph a newspaper or magazine
of Abraham article is considered
Declaration of Lincoln as primary if written soon
Independence seen on $5 after the fact and not as a
dollar bill. historical account.
5. Primary and secondary sources
Secondary sources are at least one step removed from
the event under review. They interpret, assign values to,
conjecture upon, and draw conclusions about the events
reported in primary sources.
DVD offering of
PBS documentary Book
Article
6. Primary and secondary sources
Is each source below primary or secondary?
a slave diary Primary Secondary
Sources Sources
magazine articles diary articles about the
about the Civil War recording Civil War
photograph biography
a recording of an
African American
spiritual
a biography of
Harriet Tubman
a photograph of an
abolitionist
7. Types of sources
There are many types of primary and secondary sources
available. Below are more examples.
Primary Secondary
• Books
• Original artwork
• Biographies
• Political posters
• Critiques
• Historic film • Pamphlets
• Journal articles
• Interviews • Personal
narratives • Dissertation
• Musical
compositions • Lyrics • Renditions
8. Types of sources
Nondigital
Another way to categorize types of sources is as digital
or nondigital. Digital sources are anything that can be
accessed or viewed using a computer. Nondigital
sources are
• books
• government
documents
• maps
• videotapes
You can use library catalogues, search
• sound
engines, databases, and so on to locate
recordings nondigital sources, but to view them, you
• music scores have to get an actual physical copy.
9. Types of sources
Digital
The key to locating relevant digital sources is to know
how to search for information by using the computer and
the Internet.
Access library databases
Browse Internet sites identified
by librarians in Research Guides
Use subject directories
Use search engines
Learn advanced search
techniques
10. Tech Tip
Print vs. digital
Like print, digital information encompasses the
various print formats already mentioned. You will
probably want to explore different digital formats to
develop the various aspects of your topic.
CD-ROMs
Online encyclopedias Online newspapers
nytimes.com
and DVDs
11. Locating sources
How do you locate sources of information?
Believe it or not,
even in the world
of technology, a
great place to
start is your
school or public
library.
12. Locating sources
Libraries make locating sources easy with an online
card catalogue, a collection of information about every
resource that a system of libraries owns.
Most libraries have special computers for searching their
online catalogues. Many also offer free Internet access.
13. Tech Tool: Search Engines
Search engines are online tools for locating Internet
sources. They search the Web for relevant information
based on keywords you select.
If you enter several words, a search
engine will treat each word as a
separate keyword.
If you put key words in quotation
marks, the search engine will locate
sources that contain exactly those
words.
15. Tech Tip
Search engines
Search engines have similar functions yet may
work differently. You will achieve the best results if you
use several search engines to locate your sources.
AltaVista Lycos (http://www.lycos.com)
(http://altavista.com) has a very large database and
searches over 30 million specialty areas for locating
Web pages. Use multimedia.
quotation marks for
searching phrases. Infoseek (http://www.infoseek.com)
seeks the most closely matched
information and relevant matches.
Excite (http://www.excite.com) searches 50
million sites and provides expanded features.
17. Tech Tool: Soople
Soople is a fast and easy way to use the advanced
features of Google. You can specify a search by file type,
media, or a particular site. You can also search scholarly
journals.
18. Locating sources
Online databases
Online databases are collections of records or
information that allow you access to the deep Web
(or “invisible Web”).
The deep Web contains
sources that, unlike typical
sites, are not found by a
regular search engine.
Databases manage these hidden
sources much like a filing
cabinet, and you can search the
database for your topic.
20. Tech Tip
Databases
Ask your school librarian for online database
sources available for you to use. You may have several
options to choose from, such as the following.
EBSCO
ProQuest
United Streaming
Library of Congress
21. Tech Tool: American Memory Collection
The American Memory collection is a free, public
database provided by the Library of Congress.
It was created to
capture America’s
“memory” through
historical documents,
moving images, sound
recordings, and print
and photographic
media.
22. Tech Tool: American Memory Collection
The collection allows you to search in many sources for
digitized information on your topic, such as
written or spoken word
sound recordings
still and moving images
photographs
maps
sheet music
23. Tech Tool: American Memory Collection
Browsing makes locating primary sources easy. You
can browse by collection, time period, or geographical
location.
You can then search
within a collection
for your specific
topic and select a
source you want to
view.
24. Talk About It
Discuss these questions with your classmates.
1.Which types of sources listed at the beginning of
this lesson have you used before? Why did you
choose that type of source? Was it helpful?
2. What types of primary and secondary sources have
you used before? How did you locate them? How
did you use them?
3. Have you ever used a database? What databases
are available to you through your school library?
4. After viewing this presentation, what are some new
ways you will look for sources?
25. Your Turn
On a computer, follow these directions:
1. Choose a specific topic. Using Soople, find the
following types of sources related to the topic:
• a PowerPoint presentation
• an image
• a PDF
2. Add the term database to your search and list
the top two responses on your paper.
26. Your Turn: Possible Responses
1. My specific topic is the birth of American literature.
My Soople search found a PowerPoint presentation
called “American Literature to 1910,” a jpeg image of
“The Narrative of the Captivity, Sufferings, and
Removes of Mrs. Mary Rowlanfon,” and a PDF called
“Early American Literature.”
3. I found two databases:
Online American Literature Resources Vol. 1
Hypertext – An Electronic Literature Site (University
of Virginia)
