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How to: Research a Debate

Created for Professor Yuhl's HIST 205 class, Fall 2024

Article Searching

Once you have a general idea of the facts, use articles to flesh out your research. Articles tend to be more specific in their focus than books.

These could include brief articles for a general audience; articles written for professionals in business or similar fields; or academic articles directed at scholars. News and professionals articles can be a great way to get more facts as well as individuals' perspectives on your legislation, while academic articles will provide you with detailed, expert analysis. Just take care to be aware of the source and its purpose and biases. And, make sure to explore multiple perspectives -- even experts disagree! 

CHOOSING A SEARCH TOOL:

Databases are tools designed to help you search the scholarly (and other) articles and resources available to you through the Holy Cross Libraries.  Article databases are like very long bibliographies of articles that might interest you -- some that are available physically at Holy Cross, some available online, and some that we have to borrow from other libraries. 

The Library Catalog [or CrossSearch]

  • May contain many types of sources (scholarly, non-scholarly, multimedia,etc., both secondary and primary) 
  • Covers a variety of subject areas; 
  • Best place to find books for background on your topic. 

General (Article) Databases [or CrossSearch]

  • May contain many types of sources (scholarly, non-scholarly, multimedia,etc., all typically secondary)
  • Cover a variety of subject areas; 
  • Good places to begin research OR to do research on an interdisciplinary topic. May not be specific enough for advanced research. 
Subject (Article) Databases
  • May contain many types of sources (scholarly, non-scholarly, multimedia, etc., all typically secondary)
  • Focus on a specific subject area or areas;
  • Include tools designed for specialized research (e.g., ability to search by historical period).
Primary Source Databases​
  • May contain a variety of source types (newspapers, manuscripts, etc.) or be limited to one
  • Typically focused on the basis of one or more of the following: date; place; type of source; and/or topic. 
  • Usually includes tools specifically designed for searching primary sources

Click here to see the full list of Research Databases we have in the Libraries. We have over 300! 

CRAFTING KEYWORDS:

Any research process begins by figuring out how to search. But, where to begin? 

""brainstorm
Spend a few minutes thinking about what words could be used to describe the topic. Be as specific as you can. 
 

expand
Think of other words or phrases you could use that mean the same thing(s). 
 

use expert search tricks
Use AND and OR to make your search more or less specific! This will give you more sources to choose from.

  • When you use AND, a database will look for resources that use all of the words you entered.
  • Use OR between words that mean the same or similar things, or that you are equally interested in.
     

pivot 
If you aren't finding much, try...

  • Rephrasing. See if you can find even 1 or 2 relevant articles, note what subjects are listed for them, and use these to try again.
  • Broadening (your topic, date range, geographic area, etc.)
  • Switching tools. Sometimes you just need a different database! 

Suggested Databases