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Coggle

Coggle
Coggle is a free online tool for concept mapping/webbing that can help you organize your thoughts digitally as you research historical and social context of the assigned novels. Select text to add hyperlinks to resources you've found about these topics.
Linking to library resources? Be sure to use the Permalink and not the dynamic URL.
Sample Coggle on Women's Suffrage
Sample Coggle - The Great Gatsby
Coggle How To Video - Getting Started
Coggle Tutorial - Do More

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How-To Videos
Learn how to navigate and use library resources, including searching, citing, saving, and requesting materials.
Research Toolkit
Research Toolkit workshops are designed to address the most common challenges students face in doing college-level research, including navigating databases, locating relevant sources, and making sense of information once it is found.
Citing Your Sources
This guide refers you to websites and print books that will help you figure out how to cite your sources in several different styles.
Research Guides
Research Guides serve as a starting point for those interested in subject-specific resources.
Ask A Librarian
Ask questions via chat, email, or schedule an appointment with your subject librarian.

Identifying Quality Information

Below is a list of videos, handouts, and websites that can help you evaluate information and sources.

Video: All About Peer Review by CSUDH Library
"Scholarly articles typically communicate original research or analysis for other researchers, and go through a peer review process before they are published by an academic journal. This brief video takes a closer look at that process and addresses some of its limitations."
Infographic: How to Spot Fake News
"IFLA has made this infographic with eight simple steps (based on FactCheck.org’s 2016 article How to Spot Fake News) to discover the verifiability of a given news-piece in front of you." -- IFLA
eBook Chapter: Evaluating Sources Using the SIFT Model
"One of the biggest challenges that writers face is finding credible sources. Mike Caulfield created the SIFT acronym to describe four moves that writers should make to evaluate their sources."
Video: Evaluating Websites - ABCD
For tips on using the ABCD method to evaluate websites, watch this video from the Cuyahoga Community College Libraries.
PDF Handout: Does it pass the CRAAP test?
CRAAP is an acronym for a variety of questions you can ask yourself about whether you should use information. It stands for: Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy & Purpose. You should get in the habit of asking these types of questions about information before you use it.
Video: Evaluating Sources by Western University
Watch this brief video on for more information on evaluating sources using the CRAAP method.
Research Guide: Evaluating Information - STAAR Method
Created by the Librarians at the University of South Carolina Upstate.

Find Background Information

Often, you'll discover the right level of focus as you begin your research. Encyclopedias and dictionaries can be a great place to start this research. Use these resources to get topic ideas or for background information.

Gale Virtual Reference Library
Search hundreds of scholarly, subject-specific reference titles in many topic areas, including the arts, business, education, history, the sciences, technology, literature, and the social sciences. Excellent for in-depth overviews of terms or concepts. Search individual e-books or whole collections.
Sage Reference
Search and read entries from over one hundred social science and science specialized reference encyclopedias published by Sage.
Oxford English Dictionary
Authoritative record of words in the English language. Includes definitions, word origins, and quotations showing the range of word meanings from the time they entered the language to the present.

Catalogs, Databases, and Search Engines

QuickSearch

Academic Search Complete
Get full-text access to magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals in the sciences, social sciences, business, education, and the humanities. Full-text may be available via Find-It. Useful place to begin broad searches for general topics.

Library databases by subject area/discipline
Browse the subjects and find recommended databases.

Google Scholar
Indexes research literature across a wide range of disciplines and formats. Use the library connection to gScholar to get more attached full-text articles.