UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE

Somewhere in between your initial idea and settling on a research question, you'll need to do background research on how scholars in a particular subject area have discussed your topic.

You may find background information in textbooks or reference sources, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks.

Always use subject-specific reference books.

Use general encyclopedias (like Britannica or Brockhaus), Wikipedia, or other internet sources only to get familiar with a topic. These sources cannot be cited in your work as references for papers, term papers, theses!

Types of Reference Books

A reference book provides a broad overview of your topic, key terms, and a list of recommended books and articles.

A subject-specific dictionary contains specialist terminology (i.e., jargon).
Use it to understand the specific language and meaning assigned to words and phrases specific to a discipline or area of study and to confirm the meaning of terms within the context of American history.

Encyclopedias are collections of short, factual entries, often written by different contributors who are knowledgeable about the topic.
Use a specialized encyclopedia to get acquainted with the broad outlines of a subject and learn the definitions of terms and concepts. This will help you to identify key terms you can use in database searches. Use the list of resources at the end of the articles to expand your research. 

A handbook (or textbook, studybook) introduces you to the basic questions and problems of a topic and conveys the current state of research. (Please note the year of publication of the handbook).
In addition to dictionaries and encyclopedias, you should also consult a subject-specific handbook.

Examples of Reference Books from our Library

- Routledge international handbooks (e.g. Routledge international handbook of race, class, and gender)
- Wiley Blackwell companions (e.g. Companion to American agricultural history)
- Oxford Handbooks online (e.g. The Oxford handbook of economic imperialism)
- Cambridge Companions online
- Boyer, Paul S.: The enduring vision
- Foner, Eric: Give me liberty
- Gale Virtual Reference Library (permits simultaneous full text search of hundreds of dictionaries and encyclopedias)

Examples of Hand Books with Essays and Primary Sources from our Library

- Major problems in American history series (e.g. Major problems in American Asian history)
- The Bedford series in history and culture (e.g. The California gold rush)

Find more reference works in the Cologne University Catalgue by searching for:
encyclopedia, companion, dictionary, textbook, handbook

In a non-fiction book you find more information about a topic.

Most likely you will not find a complete book that is specifically about your research topic. More often you find chapters or certain parts of a book that are of interest to you.  That means you do not necessarily need to read the whole book.

Read the introduction to learn what the book is about and its aim and purpose.

Take a look at the table of contents and index to find chapters and text passages on questions and concepts that are of interest for you.

The bibliography lists important literature for further reading.

Journals are usually geared towards a particular subject. The articles are written by experts in a field for other experts to read. Many times, they are reviewed by other experts before being published to ensure accuracy. This is called Peer Review. Journals are the most authoritative type of periodical, since they are written and reviewed by experts.

Our library subscribes to about 25 journals and has substantial holdings of older journals and issues.
They are located on the middle level of the library and are arranged alphabetically.

Examples: Journal of American History, American Quarterly, Journal of the History of Ideas, Pacific Historical Review, Journal of the Early Republic

The USB offers several databases for journal articles, for example:

Academic Search Ultimate: A multi-disciplinary database that includes peer-reviewed journal articles, magazine articles, newspaper articles, and more.

JSTOR:  JSTOR represents over 600 journals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. NOTE: Does not provide access to current issues of periodicals. JSTOR provides archival access to journals and access to journals varies from publisher to publisher. In most cases, two to five years plus the current calendar year are excluded.

Periodicals Index Online (online - not full text): Multidisciplinary index to the arts, humanities, and the social sciences. Over 6,000 journals are included, with around one million records from new journals added yearly. Complete runs of these titles are indexed, from first issue to 1995 or ceased date.

Find a complete list here.

Newspaper archives are a great source for historical research.

Search for editions in print via the Cologne University Catalogue.

Look for newspaper archives at: UB Köln electronic newspapers and Electronic Resources on our website.

Search the Internet for the title of the newspaper or magazine. Try Google Books and Google Scholar for the title of an article.

Newspapers and magazines still in existence usually offer a trial subscription which allows access to their archive or you can buy single articles from their archive.

Many authoritative sources such as academic institutions, government and research bodies, or charities use the Internet to make important data available as quickly and freely as possible. However, unlike academic books and journals which are usually peer-reviewed before being published, websites can potentially be written by anyone. So you do need to spend more time assessing their reliability.

Try a dedicated academic search engine like Google Scholar. Google Scholar is the academic version of Google. It allows you to search for scholarly literature (journal articles, books, patents) from a variety of sources, including academic publishers, professional societies, and online repositories. It is unclear which publishers are included in Google Scholar, so it should not be used as your only source for a comprehensive literature search.

Find a list of online resources like source materials, recordings, images, and statistics on our website.

You can use authoritative online resources as evidence in the same way that you would use books or journals. But beware - online resources are so easy to find and access that it might be tempting to do all your research on the web. This is not a good idea - there may be a lot of information online, but that doesn't mean it's the most suitable material for your assignment.

By addressing the questions below, you can reasonably determine if an Internet resource is a reliable source of information:

Currency:
- When was the information published or posted?
- Has the information been revised or updated?
- Are the links functional?

Relevance:
- Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
- Who is the inteded audience?
- Is the information at an appropriate level (not too basic or advanced for your needs?
- Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is the best one to use?

Authority:
- Who is the author/source/publisher?
- Are the author's credentials given?
- Is the author qualified to write on this topice?
- Is there contact information, address, or email?
- Does the URL reveal anything about the source or author? (.com, .edu, .gov., .org)

Accurathy:
- Where does the information come from?
- Is the information supported by evidence?
- Has the information been reviewed?
- Can you verify any of the information in another source or by your own knowledge?
- Are there spelling, grammatical or typographical errors?

Purpose:
- What is the purpose of the information? To inform? To teach? To sell? To persuade? What is the Domain?
- Does the author make his/her intentions or purpose clear?
- Is the information fact, opinion or propaganda?
- Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
- Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or personal biases?

Quelle: https://libguides.starkstate.edu/websites

More help to evaluate internet resources can be found here: C.R.A.A.P.-Test (acrnym for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose).