Salesian High School Library

Research Methods
#1: The U.S. History Resource Center - #2: The Student Resource Center - #3: SIRS Decades


Method #1: Using the U.S. History Resource Center.
 

Click on the History Resource Center banner on the Salesian High Library's Databases page.
 

It's best to choose a Subject search, which will also give you links to related subjects.
Sometimes you will find a topic on the related subjects list that is actually closer to what you're searching for.
Click the Subject button (as shown circled above).
 

Type your search terms into the subject term(s) text box, for example, spanish american war, as shown above.
  

You can now click on the link Spanish American War, 1898
or the link to View Topic Trees, which will show broaden this topic (information about all American wars, for example)
or narrow this topic (information about the Battle of Manilla Bay).
 

This is the Results screen.
Each tab provides you with different information.  The first tab includes Reference book articles.  The second tab contains
articles that are Biographies.  Magazine and journal articles are found at the tab marked Periodicals.  The next tab provides Newspaper
articles.  Primary Sources can be found at the next tab.  The Maps & Multimedia tab contains drawings, photographs,
audio files, maps, and other images.
Click here to return to the top of this page.


Method #2: Using the Student Resource Center.
 

On the Student Resource Center home page, click on the Topic Trees link (circled above)
on the Search Types ribbon at the top of the screen.
 

Click on the U.S. History button (circled above).
 

Click on any link from the alphabetical list, Abolition of slavery, for example (circled above).
  

The Results screen is shown above.
On the first tab, you are presented with articles from reference books.  Look especially at the right for Critical Essays.
The second tab has magazine articles, the third tab has articles from academic journals, the fourth tab includes newspaper articles.
The last tab includes multimedia files like photographs and video clips.
Click here to return to the top of this page.


Method #3: Using the SIRS Decades: 20th Century American Sources.
 

Click on the SIRS Decades banner on the Salesian High Library's Databases page.
 

Type your search term(s) into the Search text box., as shown at the right.  You can restrict your results to only certain kinds of sources by checking or clearing the Limit source type by: boxes. On the next screen you will often be given a list of links to related topics.  In the example above, you would click on the link World War II (See: World War(1939-1345)).

 
The Results screen.
You are given a list of 52 Primary Sources and 282 Reference book articles.
Each article includes a summary and Descriptors.
These Descriptors are links to related subjects that could help you complete your research.
There are Key icons next to the title of each result.  These icons describe the item.
In the example above, the link Dictatorship and Wages takes you to a poster
that can be printed as a pdf file and there is text on the poster.
 

Click on any title to go to the full text. article or artifact.
Click here to return to the top of this page.