One of the most important things you’re going to learn in this class is how to use sources on the Internet. This is going to be a multi-week process; we’re just getting started on it this week.
Housekeeping
- Make sure you submit your grade contract!
- Remember that you can go ahead and submit Base Project 1.
Part 1
First, watch this video from John Green (yes, the author of The Fault In Our Stars).
Take special note of the things that AREN’T signals of a source’s credibility or reliability.
Part 2
Now we’re going to pivot to sources that might be online or they might not, but we learn about them from the library catalog! So we’re checking out a couple of videos from Dr. George Oberle, the history librarian (and a faculty member in the department).
And then one about the journal databases from the library.
Response
In a blog post (submit here) or Flipgrid video, reflect on these questions:
- Why does it matter whether we use reliable sources?
- What are three criteria for evaluating sources?
- Does the presence of a source in the library necessarily make it a legitimate source? Why or why not? (Why might a library hold a source that isn’t reliable?)
- Is the date something is created a way to assess whether it is reliable? Why or why not?
Part 3
Now we’re going to check out some sources that start to help us narrow down a topic for the semester’s projects.
One more thing to listen to, which is your professor’s take on some of the ways you should judge reliability (in addition to the ones you’ve already identified earlier this week). There’s a transcript here.
Now it’s time for you to go out and find some sources on your own!
Project Base 2
Project Base 2 is all about finding—and keeping track of!—secondary sources. We’ll get more into primary sources in a few weeks. Use this search for secondary sources as a way to start narrowing in on one part of the conflict you’ve chosen.
