This course guide highlights only a small portion of the many resources available to you. If you're not finding what you need, don't hesitate to contact Angela!
In academic research, it's important to be able to distinguish between different types of sources. These differences often are contextual, meaning that a single source might fit in different categories depending on how you are using it and in what academic discipline you are writing.
Primary sources are the raw materials of scholarship.
Secondary sources report on or interpret primary sources.
Tertiary sources synthesize and present overviews of primary and secondary sources.
Scholarly sources present sophisticated, researched arguments using both primary and secondary sources and are written by experts.
Popular sources aim to inform or entertain and are intended for a general, non-specialized audience. In academic writing, popular sources most often are analyzed as primary sources.
These online collections will introduce you to a wealth of dictionaries and encyclopedias saving you hours of research time later on by helping you define and refine the parameters of your research question.
Here's what subject encyclopedias provide:
Research typically begins with a topic that has piqued your curiosity. When you're researching a topic, you typically are interested in questions of who, what, where and when.
As you learn more about your chosen topic, however, you'll discover that scholars may have different approaches and arguments about the topic, and you'll start to ask your own research questions. Research questions typically begin with why or how:
Primo is library search tool for finding materials in the Collins Library, Summit libraries and libraries worldwide. It includes books, ebooks, selected articles, images, videos, and more!
Examples of subject terms appear below. Copy and paste the terms in Primo's search box.
Modern Dance Political Aspects
Modern Dance Social Aspects
Modern Dance Philosophy
Modern Dance History 20th Century
Postmodern Dance
Ballet History
Sex in Dance
Women Dancers
Male Dancers
Dancers Biography
Choreographers Biography
Mary Wigman
Isadora Duncan
Alvin Ailey
Bill T. Jones
Serge Diaghilev
George Balanchine
When using Primo, try these searching techniques:
Looking for the location of a print book?