If you are writing a paper about a historical or contemporary
figure, also consider skimming a biographical dictionary or, even
better, one of the specific volumes in the Who’s Whoseries, which
ranges from Who’s Who in Artand Who’s Who in American Jewry
to Who’s Who in Vietnam andWho’s Who in Theatre.
Needless to say, new CD-ROMs and reference websites appear
almost hourly. These many current resources should make it in -
creasingly easy to choose a good topic, establish a reasonable thesis,
and gather enough information to construct an initial outline, with-
out having to do any further research.
But completing an A+ paper will still require you to turn to other
sources for more detailed information. You need to read books
written by experts in the field you’re researching, as well as magazine
and newspaper articles about every aspect of your subject.
Why stop there? Pamphlets, anthologies, brochures, government
documents, films, and videos are just some other possible sources of
information for your paper.
Evaluating Resources
You may find so many potential resources that you won’t have time
to read them all. Concentrate on those that have been published most
recently or written by the most respected sources. However, don’t
limit yourself toomuch—gather information from a wide range of
sources. Otherwise, you may learn only one side of the story.
There are two types of resources: primaryand secondary.
124 How to Study