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HST335: Art, Culture, and Leisure in British Society, 1660-1901: Evaluating & Citing Sources

Spring 2011, J. Hall-Witt

Evaluating Information

The Information Literate Historian: A Guide to Research for History Students - ref D 16.2 .P715 2007

Critical Evaluation of Resources (Univ. of California Berkeley) - Covers scholarly vs. popular publications, primary vs secondary resources, authority, documentation.

Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply and Questions to Ask (Univ. of California Berkeley).

Using Primary Sources on the Web: Evaluating Primary Source Websites (Instruction & Research Services Committee, Reference and User Service Association History Section, American Library Association)

Citing Sources

  • Remember to cite your souce, when either quoting directly or paraphasing. In other words, cite your source whenever you present an idea that isn't your own.
  • Websites must be cited in your notes/bibliography, too; if you cut and paste - or paraphrase - from a website, cite the webpage.
  • When in doubt, cite your source.
  • Remember to include a context for each quotation/paraphrase. Who said it? Why does it matter? How does this support or contradict the argument you're making?
  • Use Chicago Manual of Style format for your bibliographies and notes; it is available in print (ref Z 253 .U69 2010) and online.
  • Or use the Citation Builder (NCSU Libraries), which offers quick citation help for Chicago, MLA, APA, and CBE styles.
  • For images, see tips on the Find Images page.
  • For managing a large number of references, consider using RefWorks.

Help Writing

Jacobson Center - Offers individual writing conferences, courses to improve writing, and online help to guide students through the writing process.