Oliver Wendell Holmes Library

 

history 100 - medieval people

Teachers: ms. shaw

Librarian: David Hegarty

Term/Year: winter 2007

 

Get Organized!

Gather Information

Use the Information

Take Time to Reflect


1. Get Organized!

Before you begin your research follow these crucial steps:

1.       Understand the assignment.

Questions to get you started.

2.       Choose a broad topic or area of interest.

Need help choosing a topic?

3.       Get an overview of the topic.

Where to find good overviews.

4.       Narrow the topic.

Get focused!

5.       Write a thesis statement or statement of purpose.

Statement of Purpose/Essential Question /Thesis Statement
Tips for developing a thesis statement. (from Joyce Valenza's Online Lessons and Activities)

Plan your time wisely. Try the OWHL's Planning Assignment Calculator (adapted from the University of Minnesota’s QuickStudy: Library Research Guide). This tool will help you set deadlines for yourself so that you can complete the entire project on time.

2. Gather Information

Definitions of frequently confused concepts are just a click away: Helpful Explanations.

There is no one perfect source. The best source for you depends on your particular information need. This discussion of Choosing the Right Sources can save you time by helping you to match your information need with one or more source types.

Don’t forget to capture the information you will need for your bibliography the first time you use each source. Use these handy forms for collecting all the data elements you will need.

Here's a list of selected specialized reference books (available in the Garver Room) you may want to consider:

Ref 305.8 W88 Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life
Ref 306 Il6 Illustrated History of Mankind, vol. 11 & 16
Ref 355.09 K82d Dictionary of Wars
Ref 382 En32no Encyclopedia of World Trade
Ref 509 Sci27 Science and Its Times 700-1449
Ref 610 C14 Cambridge World History of Human Disease
Ref 614.4 En19 Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence
Ref 902 L26b Encyclopedia of World History
Ref 904 Eg 3d Dictionary of Battles
Ref 909 R54L Illustrated History of the World vol. 4
Ref 909.07 D54 Dictionary of the Middle Ages
Ref 909.07 M58 Middle Ages Reference Library
Ref 909.07 M43a Atlas of the Medieval World
Ref 909.07 T67 Trade, Travel, and Exploration in the Middle Ages
Ref 911 C73 Complete Atlas of World History vol. 2
Ref 947 P28e Encyclopedia of Russian History
Ref 950 En3 Encyclopedia of Asian History
Ref 951 C14 Cambridge Encyclopedia of China
Ref 951.7 At 93en Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire
Ref 952 K82 Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan
Ref 956 C14 Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Middle East and North Africa

The reference books will give you an overview of your subject; check the bibliographies for further information. Remember to use cross references, indexes, and tables of contents to help you locate information

Desk Reserve Books / Catalog:

  To see the materials on desk reserves please CLICK HERE , and then search for History 100.

Subject Headings
Keywords

Genghis Khan
Mongols-History
Civilization, Medieval
Trade, Medieval
Russia-History
Iran-History
India-History
China-History
Asia-Description and travel-Early works to 1800
Black Death-History

Chinggis Khan
Tartars
Medieval history
Golden Horde
Il-Khanate, Persia
Mughal Empire
Steppes/Nomads, Central Asia, Samarkand,
Plague

 

Search a library catalog if you have a title or subject in mind. Plan ahead as books that are requested from NOBLE libraries take about 3 days to arrive and books from outside of our consortium can take more than a week.
The OWH Library Catalog

Finding Journal Articles:

OWHL Subscription Database(s) best suited to your project.

A TO Z LIST OF DATABASES

Britannica Online An electronic version of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Use this site for overviews of your topic.

 

 


Selected Websites

Explorations in Empire: Pre-Modern Imperialism: The Mongols

Internet Medieval Sourcebook

The Islamic World to 1600: The Mongol Invasions

The Mongols and the Silk Road Silkroad Foundation

Enter the Middle Ages from Minnesota State University


With any source, remember to look at it critically. Check out Evaluating the Sources for more information.


3. Use the Information

Now that you’ve found your resource material, follow these steps to get the most out it.

    1. Locate information within the source.
    2. Organize, Organize!
    3. Take notes.
    4. Avoid plagiarism! (Plagiarism/Copyright) (Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting (from Joyce Valenza's Online Lessons and Activities))

As you work, remember to create a bibliography or works cited page using the citation style specified by your teacher for this assignment: Turabian style. Additionally, you may try REFWORKS to create and produce your bibliography in Turabian style. Click here to go to REFWORKS. Note: REFWORKS can only be used from on-campus computers.

The first time you access this product you will have to create a personal account. Then track all of your research needs with this one source!

 

For more information, go the citing your sources section of the library's homepage

The next step is to bring structure to your notes by creating an outline.

You’ve now reached the stage where you’re ready to pull everything together into a finished product. Write your paper, prepare your oral report, put together your PowerPoint presentation. Don’t forget to proofread!

4. Take time to reflect.

Are you satisfied with your efforts and outcome? If not, be sure to review this process thoroughly before your next assignment. Make an appointment with an Instructional Librarian as soon as you receive your assignment to make sure that you get off on the right track next time.


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Last Update February 20, 2007