LibGuides: Schmidt Library: Research Guides

What are you researching?

Narrowing a Topic

One of the most important steps in the research process is narrowing your topic and figuring out how to communicate with websites, databases, and search engines to find what you're looking for.

Narrowing a Topic Tutorial In this tutorial you will learn to: Create Research Questions Create Keywords using Research Questions.
Topic Narrowing Tool Hosted by the University of Michigan and originally designed and developed by University of Nevada, Las Vegas -this tool uses guided questions to help walk you through the process of developing your topic.

Start your research With Background Sources! Learn basic facts about your topic using encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other book sources.

Best Places to Start

Gale Ebooks This link opens in a new window Formerly: Gale Virtual Reference Library. Includes subject encyclopedias, reference sources, and other ebooks.
SAGE Knowledge This link opens in a new window 5100+ e-books in the social sciences. Includes scholarly monographs, reference works (encyclopedias & handbooks), professional development titles, and textbooks.
World Geography This link opens in a new window Comprehensive information on countries worldwide, including geography, politics, socioeconomics, & culture

Biographies

Biography In Context This link opens in a new window Authoritative biographies of both contemporary and historical figures. Continuously updated, find people based on occupation, role, historical period, nationality, and other characteristics.

Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. by Gale Research A multicultural biographical source that covers notable individuals from every part of the world and from all time periods who have made significant contributions to human culture.
ISBN: 9780787691240
Publication Date: 2004

What is a primary source?

A primary source (also called an original source) is an eyewitness account, diary, article, or any other source of information that was created at the time. For example, if you are studying the American Revolution, an article from a newspaper written during the 1770s would be a primary source on the topic, as would a diary entry from a soldier at one of the battles. Historical documents are often our best sources for primary information.

Primary Sources Databases and Books

American Decades Primary Sources by Cynthia Rose (Editor) Cross-disciplinary source spanning the 20th century. Each volume in the set includes full or excerpted primary sources representing the seminal issues, themes, movements and events from a decade. Includes oral histories, songs, speeches, advertisements, TV, play and movie scripts, letters, laws, legal decisions, newspaper articles, cartoons, recipes, and more.
ISBN: 9780787665876
Publication Date: 2003-12-05
American Decades Primary Sources, v. 11: 2000-2009 by Matthew Joseph Bruccoli (Editor); Richard Layman (Editor) This is the 11th volume in the American Decades Primary Sources series, covering the first decade of the 21st century. This is a cross-disciplinary source for researchers who need a single, consistent reference to explore and analyze the events, people and social trends that have impacted contemporary history. It covers world events, the arts, business and the economy, education, fashion, government and politics, law and justice, lifestyles and social trends, media, medicine and health, religion, science and technology, and sports.
ISBN: 9781414486024
Publication Date: 2013-06-15

Historic Documents This link opens in a new window Published since 1972, each annual edition contains primary sources covering the most significant events of the year, including presidential speeches, international agreements, Supreme Court decisions, U.S. government reports, scientific findings, & cultural discussions.

Historical Newspapers

Look for newspapers written during the time period you are writing about to find reactions and opinions from the same era.

African American Newspapers (1827-1998) This link opens in a new window Cover-to-cover digitized African American newspapers from 1827 to 1998

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers (1789-1963) Database of America's historic newspapers from 1789-1963. Includes the U.S. Newspaper Directory covering American newspapers published between 1690 to present.

Early American Newspapers, Series I (1690-1876) This link opens in a new window Covers 1690-1876. Searchable database of newspapers from 23 states and the District of Columbia, focusing largely on the 18th and early 19th centuries. Includes African American newspapers covering history, culture & daily life in the 19th and 20th centuries.
New York Times (Historical) (1851-2015) This link opens in a new window Coverage: 1851 to 4 years ago. See "New York Times (Current)" for articles published in the last 4 years.
Philadelphia Inquirer (Historical) (1860-2001) This link opens in a new window Coverage: 1860 - 2001. Digitization in progress. When complete, coverage will extend through 2009.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Historical) (1786-2003) This link opens in a new window Coverage: 1786 - 2003 (a few articles missing). Digitization in progress. When complete, coverage will extend through 2008.

Statistics help us to support our arguments with data. They allow us to see trends and make predictions.

General Statistics

Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics by Neil J. Salkind Information and ready-to-use facts from the fields of measurement and statistics. Specifically designed to appeal to beginning and intermediate-level students, practitioners, researchers, and consumers of information.
ISBN: 9781412916110
Publication Date: 2007
The Concise Encyclopedia of Statistics by Yadolah Dodge Presents the essential information about statistical tests, concepts, and analytical methods. Entries include definitions, history, mathematical details, limitations, examples, references, and further readings.
ISBN: 9780387317427
Publication Date: 2008

Gallup Current polls and surveys

United States

Population

United States Census Bureau
Largest U.S. federal government dedicated to providing statistical facts and figures about America’s people and economy.
Population Reference Bureau The PRB is a private, nonprofit organization specializing in original research, and collecting and disseminating statistics focused on population, health, and the environment.

Employment

Bureau of Labor Statistics

International

UN data Provides access to a large number of statistical databases compiled by United Nations member countries for 70+ years covering a wide range of themes, including crimes, education, employment, energy, health, industry, refugees, tourism, trade, and more. Has country and regional profiles.
UN Demographic Yearbook

CIA World Factbook by Central Intelligence Agency
ISBN: 1510740279
Offers complete and up-to-date information on the world's nations. Contains data on the politics, populations, military expenditures, economics, literacy rates, and more for each country.

York College of Pennsylvania, Schmidt Library

Schmidt Library: Research Guides