AP US History  

       1. Choose a topic that interests you

• Use general encyclopedias (Wikipedia is okay for this) or your textbook to determine if you want to learn more about a particular topic
  

        2. Find background information

• Read overview essays in reference books and e-books to learn more about your topic
  
• Ask "who, what, when, where, why" questions
• Write down key words, names, events and places associated with your topic
  
• Look for bibliographies at the end of articles to find other useful sources

3. Focus your Topic

• Create a concept map to write down what you've learned about your topic
  

• Focus on one aspect of the topic:  politics, culture, economics, social classes or policies, gender or ethnic group, military, or technology, for example

• Write down the research questions you want to answer about your topic.
  

4. Find books, e-books, and videos

• Search Hopkins online catalogue, ReQuest, Google Books, Internet Archive and Project Guttenberg
• Continue adding new terms to your keyword list

5. Find scholarly journal and newspaper articles

• Combine your keywords to search Hopkins journal and newspaper databases

6. Find sources on the web

• Combine your keywords to look with search engines such as Google,  Yippy, and Ask.com
• Also search Subject Directories with links to sites that have been pre-screened by information and subject specialists
• Look for indicators of quality to find the best web sites

7.  Find primary sources

• Primary sources can be found in books, online databases, and on the web.
• Primary sources include maps, charts, diaries, letters, treaties, artifacts, photographs, music and drawings

8. Cite your sources

• Write down citation information for each source you use so you can include it on your bibliography