Reference Sources

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Reference Sources

• background information and starting points

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Why bother with the background?

• Reference sources allow students to
• put their subject in context of history and place
• come up with ideas for narrowing their topic
• come up with keywords for searches
• find major people, events, and places associated
  with their topic
• Find out the words that professionals in the
  field use to talk about the topic.

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No, its not a useless step.

• You probably use reference sources in your
  research already.
• What if your teacher assigned you a topic about
  something you knew nothing about?
• Say the Franco-Prussian War
• Most people start with a quick Google search and
  then skim the Wikipedia entry

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Why use Wikipedia?

• It gives a quick, short summary of the war.
• In a few paragraphs, you can find
• who fought
• why they fought
• where they fought
• when they fought
• and the names of several important battles

Wikipedia is your reference source!
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Why use reference sources?

• Why did most people start with an encyclopedia
  like Wikipedia instead of going straight to a
  book on Prussian War?
• Lets compare!

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Why use reference sources?

• Book on Prussian War
• 200 pages long
• in-depth chapters on
• the history of the region
• the cause of the war
• the impact of the war
• individual battles
• important people
• To get an overview of the war, you must read the
  whole book.

• Encyclopedia Article
• 2-5 pages long
• short paragraphs on
• the cause of the war
• the impact of the war
• the dates of the war
• links to other articles on
• important people
• notable battles
• notable places
• To get an overview of the war, you just read one
  article.

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Why use reference sources?

• Its less reading!
• Reference sources tell you what you need to begin
  your research (background and context).
• Reference sources can help refine your topic
• notable people, places, events, and subjects
• interesting facts you may want to investigate
• Reference sources can list additional resource
  suggestions doing your searches for you!

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Now, about Wikipedia

• Wikipedia has its good points and some pretty
  serious downsides.
• It changes constantly (so you cant cite it)
• You dont know who edited each page.
• You dont know what they changed.
• You dont know why they edited the page.
• Students have changed entries so they can cite it
  in papers. Politicians change entries so they
  look better.
• Were going to explore better resources.

Wikipedia will not be accepted as a reference
source in any assignment!
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Types of Reference Sources

• A source that tries to cover everything in the
  universe can only spare a page or two on each
  individual topic.
• A source that focuses on one theme (like science
  or World War II) can cover each topic in that
  theme with more pages.
• Broader sources mean you have to read less to get
  the same overview, but it will have less detail.

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For example

• If youre researching basketball,
• A book about basketball covers the evolution of
  each rule with in-depth analysis.
• An encyclopedia of basketball briefly covers the
  notable changes in the rules and their impact on
  the sport.
• An encyclopedia of sports mentions that the rules
  have changed, then covers the current rules of
  the game.
• A general encyclopedia briefly covers the basics
  of how to play, but doesnt go into the specific
  rules.

Broader works, but shorter entries less reading!
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Example Womens Basketball

• Basketball for Women by Anne Turnbull
• Covers womens basketball in 211 pages.
• The overview of history and organization of
  womens basketball in 48 pages long.
• To know all about this topic, you have to read
  the whole book!

• Encyclopedia Britannica
• covers all of womens basketball in 1 page
• that page gives me specific topics I can research
• Senda Berenson (founder)
• differences in womens rules from mens rules
• I can pick one interesting fact and find more
  detail about it in the Turnbull book.

Scholarly book that only covers womens basketball
Broad reference source that tries to cover
everything.
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We divide reference sources into

• General sources broad sources that try to cover
  everything in the universe
• Subject-specific sources narrow sources that
  only try to cover one discipline or topic

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Types of Reference Sources

• General Sources
• attempts to cover all disciplines
• attempts to cover all or most perspectives
• very basic information
• written so anyone can read them
• low-level introduction

• Subject-Specific Sources
• covers only one discipline (like science,
  literature, or history)
• may cover only one topic (like a specific war,
  culture, or sport)
• more detailed info on each topic
• Written for people with experience in the subject

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Is this source general?

• Ask your self
• Could I reasonably expect to find articles on
• Horses
• Baking
• Television
• Football
• Tomatoes
• Presidents
• AIDS
• Amusement parks
• Teachers

If you could find all of these topics, It is a
general source.
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Is this source general?

• Encyclopedia Britannica yes, because you could
  probably find an article on pretty much anything
• Encyclopedia of Medicine no, it is subject
  specific (and the subject it is specific to is
  medicine). You wouldnt expect to find stuff on
  horses or football here, unless it was about
  common football injuries or the health benefits
  of riding horses.

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Choose the right reference source.

• It depends on your interest in the topic.
• A general source covers all topics from all
  perspectives, but that means a lot more sorting
  through irrelevant information for researchers.
  Also, it may leave out important information
  about the subject to make room for other
  subjects.
• You can ask a librarian to help you choose.

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Where you look determines what you will find.

• Look up basketball in
• a historical encyclopedia of America
• covers its cultural/societal impact on Americans
• an almanac of sports statistics
• lists stats for the most successful players/teams
• a dictionary of sports terms
• lists the definitions of common basketball terms
• a medical encyclopedia covering sports injuries
• outlines the most common injuries for basketball
  players

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If you cant find a source that covers only your
topic, try something broader.

• If you cant find the Encyclopedia of Womens
  Basketball
• Try the Encyclopedia of Basketball
• Then try the Encyclopedia of Sports
• Then try the Encyclopedia Britannica

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Different types of sources cover the same topic
in different ways.

• atomic bombing of Hiroshima
• try an atlas of World War II
• try a chronology of technology in the US
• try an encyclopedia of Japan
• illegal immigration
• try an atlas of the Gulf of Mexico
• try a biographical dictionary of Cuba
• try an almanac of Texas (that would include its
  population)

All of these would cover the topics from
different perspectives.
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Why use reference sources?

• They provide starting points for your research.
• refined topics
• Search keywords
• suggested resources
• They mean less work overall.
• less reading
• less sorting through irrelevant information