FYS 569 - Medieval/Modern

These are some excellent databases that have the information that you will need for this first year seminar.

For primary sources and visual research:

For secondary sources, such as books and research articles:

How do I properly cite to avoid plagiarism?

There are many resources available for you to avoid plagiarism, including learning how to properly cite your sources in the major citation styles:

How do I classify sources properly for formatting, especially if it is a gray area/unclear?

Generally, it is better to cite too much than to cite too little. An incomplete or incorrect citation is better than nothing. If you have questions about citations, it's always a good idea to ask a librarian:

What are good art historical websites?

There are many! Seek out museum websites, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or other institutional websites, like the Smithsonian Institute. These often end in .org, .edu or even .gov. Here are a few places to start:

How do we access online databases and peer reviewed articles through the library
website?

For online databases, go to bates.edu/library > Databases > A-Z List of Databases. This lists nearly 400 of the academic databases that you can access with your Bates ID. To narrow these down, select a subject or a type of database to figure out which databases will have the information you are looking for. For peer-reviewed articles, select Article Indexes. You can also find peer-reviewed articles through LibrarySearch. For more information on which databases will be most helpful for you, ask a librarian.

Can we log into EBSCO and other databases like that?

Yes! EBSCO offers many, many different databases. These will be listed here: bates.edu/library > Databases > A-Z List of Databases. Here are a few general databases to get started:

Can our Bates email connect us to resources like Noodle Tools or a different citation catalog?

At Bates, we encourage all students to use a citation management tool called Zotero. This is a bit more advanced than NoodleTools, but has similar functionality. For more information on Zotero, take a look at these links:

Can commercial sources be reputable? Can they be used as sources in academic writing?

Yes, sometimes commercial sources can be reputable, however, for most of the research you will be doing for this class, you will also want to include scholarly, academic or peer-reviewed sources to give credibility to your research. However, for some topics, there may not be a lot of peer-reviewed information published, but you should strive to include both types. This is a great question to ask a librarian or come to the Research Desk, and we can give you personalized one-on-one research tips tailored to your assignment.

How do I find out where sources got their information (to determine credibility)?

Look for citations within a source. Citation can look different in different types of sources, such as magazine articles or newspaper articles, but for these types of articles, look for names and affiliations of their sources, as well as clear descriptions of datasets, credits, or other contextual information that allows you to find these sources. For peer-reviewed articles, these should have bibliographies or works cited lists.

What counts as a primary source?

Primary sources are original documents or artifacts created during the time period being studied. For the Medieval period, these could be artworks, textiles, illuminated manuscripts, historical chronicles, literature from the Medieval period, charters or deeds. For the Modern period, this could include newspapers, photographs, very early film and audio recordings, letters and other types of objects created during this time period. Museums and archives are good places to find these types of materials.