Resource Guides: GEN: Research Process: Background Research

Milton Academic Integrity

The best place to start is with Reference Sources

Get an overview of the broader topic
Identify sub-topics for narrowing a topic
Highlight keywords (people, places, events, dates) - these can be used for searches
Take note of References and citations that follow offer an early idea of source availability for a topic

Yes...BUT...

The Good	The Sketchy
Well organized overview (broken up into easy-to-read chunks)	Anyone can edit the information
Citations and resources at the bottom of the page	Information must be verified with other, authoratative sources
	You can't use background sources in your citations.