Evaluating websites (for free sites not subscription databases):

C- credibilty (the author should be trustworthy and have expertise in the subject matter)

A- accuracy (the information should be true, correct, and without error)

R- reliability (does the site present opinion, bias, point of view? If so, is it clearly stated and is that okay for your reserarch?)

R- relevance (is it pertinent and applicable to what you are studying? Does it help answer your question? is it too in depth? not in depth enough?)

D- date (should be current- your teacher can tell you how current in terms of the subject matter)

S- sources (resources should be listed and cited showing where the information came from)


Potential databases for your research:

http://cyberlibrary.portageps.org/

1. ABC-CLIO Social studies databases (also found under Reference tools on PPS homepage)

2. SIRS (PPS> Reference) - you can search your topic then narrorw results to primary sources or government documents OR you can go to Government Reporter> Historical Documents

3. First Search (need login info. from Mrs. Brown)

4. PDL databases (need card #)

5. Google Scholar (do advanced search and limit to social sciences, arts, & humanities)


An idea:

Google the terms: "historical interpretation" along with your specific search terms and see if you get any hits.

Also, play around with your search terms and use a variety of sites. Ex: clusty, bing, dogpile, google, etc.