Skip to Main Content

World Civilizations Research Guide

Helpful Research Tips

Helpful tips when working on a research project

1. Read the assignment carefully. If you are confused or unsure talk with your World History teacher. 

2. Do some basic background research of the important concepts and people associated with your topic. Our library databases such as, Gale in Context, ABC-CLIO, and Oxford Reference offer sources that can give you an overview of a topic. 

3. Get organized. NoodleTools can help you with this as it saves all of your citations, links, and annotations in one place.

4. If you are unsure that your source is reliable/acceptable come see Prep's Librarian, Mrs. Hermeline in the library, located on the 1st floor of the English building. 

Types of Sources

Primary Sources          

Primary Sources are:

First hand, immediate accounts from people who experienced an historical event or topic. 

Examples of primary sources are: photographs,  memoirs and autobiographies, government documents from the given time period, letters and diaries, artifacts, newspaper and magazine articles from the given time period, interviews, oral histories, and maps from the given time period. 

Secondary

Sources

Secondary Sources are:

works created by people who DID NOT experience an historical event or topic. Often times secondary sources use and analyze primary sources to back up their arguments.  

Examples of Secondary Sources are: academic research articles, scholarly books, biographies.