Writing 120G: The Misinformation Age

Research & Writing Tutors

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302 Rolvaag Memorial Library
1510 St. Olaf Avenue
St. Olaf College
Northfield, MN 55057

Subjects: Africa and the African Diaspora, American Conversations, American Studies, Creative Writing, Gender and Sexuality Studies, History, Latin American Studies, Race and Ethnic Studies

It's important to familiarize yourself with a topic before you begin doing more specific and extensive research.

Background research will help you:

Narrow your topic and focus your research question
Find historical information, trends, agreements and disagreements, related to the topic, and uncovers gaps in your knowledge
Learn the context of a topic -- the who, what, when, where, why, and how
Uncover keywords you can use to do more extensive research
Find additional sources on your topic

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Offers full-text access to over 500 highly-regarded titles from 70 publishers. Covers every major subject in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences from the world's best publishers of reference.
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Oxford Reference Online brings together language and subject reference works from one of the world's biggest and most trusted reference publishers into a single cross-searchable resource.

The Columbia Guide to the Cold War
Call Number: e-book
Publication Date: 1998
The Encyclopaedia of Propaganda
Call Number: HM263 .E53 1998 (Reference Room)
Publication Date: 1998
The Oxford Handbook of Propaganda Studies
Call Number: e-book
Publication Date: 2014
Propaganda and Mass Persuasion : A Historical Encyclopedia,1500 to the Present
Call Number: HM1231 .C85 2003
Publication Date: 2003

Be aware that anyone can edit entries in Wikipedia.
Consider it as a starting point for research; get to know your topic and identify important keywords.
Look for references to reliable, published sources (in the References or Bibliography sections).
Pay attention to the alert boxes and symbols. "Featured Articles" have a star to indicate their high quality; articles that are in need of updating (e.g. citation needed, newly available information, relies too much on primary sources) will be marked at the top of the page.