HIS 237 (Michigan History)

1. Pick the Historical Events for Research

• You might want to do some trial research and then reevaluate your events

2. Develop a list of Keywords

• Use background research about the site/event (internet searches, encyclopedias, etc.) to develop lists of keywords to use in library research database searches to find academic/scholarly sources.
• Think broadly about the historical event for your historical analysis:
  • generally don't search for your specific site for your academic research.
  • Search the larger themes represented at the historical site such as labor strikes, racism and discrimination, the antinuclear movement, Vietnam protests on college campuses, women's suffrage, etc.)
• Think of synonyms for keywords (Native American or American Indian), try searching for the subject themes (ex: Native American Treaties) and Michigan or the Great Lakes instead of the specific site/event. 

3. Plan your Search Strategy for Databases

• Use the word AND to combined terms (Red Scare AND Michigan)
• Use the word OR to search for multiple terms (Example: Native American OR American Indian)
• Phrase searching: try using "quotation marks" to search for a phrase (Example: "red scare", "underground railroad", "Students for a Democratic Society"). Use this with caution as some topics are not consistent (Ex: March for Freedom or March to Freedom)

4. Search, Revise and Search Again

• Use your search results to discover other keywords and subjects to search
• Use Bibliographies or Reference Lists in books and articles to find other articles
• Read abstracts to quickly decide if a source is helpful
• Try to locate resources that discuss your subject in the same time period as your historic site (Examples: race riots in the 1960s, labor strikes in the 1930s)
• Use the Detroit Bibliography to help locate references for Detroit events/sites. 

View this short slide presentation (15 minutes) to learn more about Library research and resources specifically for the HIS 237 civic engagement project. Narrated slides (click on audio icon) and videos will demonstrate how to craft an effective search strategy using the historical events approved for this project. You will also learn how to identify a source as scholarly and how to find sources using Library resources. Read narration by clicking the 3 dots next to the slide counter. 

Here are some examples of how to search for academic sources for the historical analysis portion of your project. Note: I don't put the historic site in the search. Use sources that discuss the theme surrounding your historical site to draw parallels to your site.

There are few scholarly sources that refer specifically to the Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School but there are many books and articles that talk about Native American boarding schools in the United States and Canada that you can use to gain an understanding of the topic and draw parallels to the site in Mt. Pleasant.  

Shown below is an example of how you could plug these keywords into the database search boxes. I have used the terms OR/AND to combine terms in my search.

Here is an image of the search results with some of the key areas highlighted.

Publication Date Limiter
Limit your results to material published in the last 50 years (left sidebar).

Source Type Limiter

Limit your results to Academic Journals, eBooks and Books (if you can come to campus) (left sidebar). Be sure to check that a book is published by a scholarly or university press or research author credentials before using a book or ebook.

Tools (citation generators, etc.)

Use the magnifying glass or click on the item title to learn more about the source (read the abstract). Use the Cite! button to generate a Chicago Style citation (find these tools to the right of the citation). 

Find the Full Text

Open the Full-Text of an eBook or article by using the links below the citation or in the left sidebar on the abstract page.

Here are the first few results of this search with the search limited to Academic Journals, Books and eBooks.

1. Identify the sources types on your results list and make sure you are limiting the appropriate source types.
2. Skim the Subjects area to see if you can find new terms that might be helpful to search (if you click on the title and view the abstract page these subjects become clickable links which can be a helpful way to navigate the database).
3. Check the Publication information to make sure you are using a journal or a book published by a scholarly press.