History 188D: Sisters Under the Swastika

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

Start your research in reference sources (handbooks, encyclopedias, and dictionaries, etc.) to be sure you have a strong foundation for your topic. Most of these sources will include bibliographies of important secondary and primary sources, which can save you time!

Tips for Wise Wikipedia Use

1. Be aware that anyone can edit entries in Wikipedia.
2. Consider it as a starting point for research; get to know your topic and identify important keywords.
3. Look for references to reliable, published sources (in the References or Bibliography sections).
4. 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.