Gather Background Info on Your Topic
Before diving into the hardcore research aspect of FYRS, it can be helpful to learn some basics about your topic. Try using Credo or GVRL to visit some encyclopedia entries that can help you learn more about the topics you're looking into! Experts write the articles in encyclopedias and they usually include a further reading list or bibliography which can be a great jump start for sources on your topic.
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Credo Reference provides access to a large number of encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and other reference books. Subjects covered include art, biography, history, literature, music, religion, and science and technology. - Encyclopedia Britannica Academic Edition This link opens in a new window
Trusted current reference for academic and special libraries. - GVRL - Gale Virtual Reference Library Encyclopedias This link opens in a new window
Search many top encyclopedias on multiple topics for background information on your topic. Articles in these encyclopedias are written by experts.
Research 101
You will not find all the information you need in one place nor will you find it using a single search term. Collect keywords as you search. Use keywords in various combinations to focus your search and refine your results list. Gather information from a wide variety of sources (encyclopedias, journal articles, book chapters, reviews, etc.). Synthesize the information you find to support your thesis. Remember to give credit when using the words or ideas of others.
Keywords
As you explore topics, develop a keyword list for each topic of interest. Brainstorm for synonyms, names of events and people for your topics. Add to the list as you delve into encyclopedia articles, journal articles and other resources. Combine keywords together to focus your searches.
Find Articles
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. Includes searchable PDF content going back as far as 1887. - JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Provides articles from 1,900+ scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, and sciences and around 5,000 ebooks. Coverage dates for journals are from the very first issue of each journal (the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries for many) and continues to 2 – 5 years prior to the current year (moving wall). - PsycArticles This link opens in a new window
PsycARTICLES®, from the American Psychological Association (APA), is a definitive source of full text, peer-reviewed scholarly and scientific articles in psychology. It contains more than 153,000 articles from nearly 80 journals published by the American Psychological Association (APA), its imprint the Educational Publishing Foundation (EPF), and from allied organizations including the Canadian Psychological Association and the Hogrefe Publishing Group. It includes all journal articles, book reviews, letters to the editor, and errata from each journal. Coverage spans 1894 to the present and nearly all APA journals go back to Volume 1, Issue 1.
Need more options? Library Databases A-Z
Need a specific journal? Journals A-Z
Subject Headings
You can use subject headings to find sources on a particular topic in our catalog. The ones listed below are just some of the subject headings, and you can find more through catalog exploration, or talking to a librarian.
Books
The generals' Civil War what their memoirs can teach us today by ISBN: 9781469665030Publication Date: 2021
Playing war : military video games after 9/11 by Publication Date: 2016
Your Librarian
Course Description W2024
War Stories: From Homer's Iliad to today's Call of Duty, war narratives have both informed and entertained. The accounts of war participants offer a glimpse into their experiences and provide an essential psychological catharsis for some authors. War narratives not only educate their audiences but also provide the vicarious thrill of "experiencing" war from the comfort and safety of your favorite armchair, movie theater, or game console. This section will explore narratives about war from the perspectives of women and men on the home front and battle front in a variety of media including memoirs, movies, and video games. Some of the questions we will consider include: How do identities such as soldier/civilian, gender, race etc. shape the telling of war stories? How do different media affect the presentation of stories, and how do they affect the consumers of these stories? What parts of war are included in these narratives and what parts are left out? To what extent should the first-hand accounts of war be privileged over other sources of information? What kinds of moral authority should we give them? Warning: Course materials will include written and visual depictions of graphic violence.