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ART 250- Art History

Subject Specific Databases

General Databases

These databases are great for finding advanced information, research, and data from scholarly, peer-reviewed articles:

Types of Sources

When you are researching, there are three types of sources available:

Primary (eyewitness accounts, right here right now) can be used as proof of an issue

Primary sources: Records of events created as they occurred or recorded by eyewitnesses  Examples: Letters & emails, photographs, journals, diaries and memoirs, audio recordings, and video recordings.

Secondary (interpretations of primary sources) can be used to support your argument

Secondary Sources: Takes into account multiple eyewitnesses or primary sources and creates a record that considers an event from many points of view.  Secondary sources provide objectivity and context.  Examples: Books, scholarly articles, and documentaries.

Tertiary (a collection of primary and secondary sources) can be used as a starting point to get background information on a topic

Tertiary sources: Brief summaries of information on a topic, compilation of primary and secondary sources.  Usually NOT appropriate for college research.  Examples: Encyclopedias, fact books, and textbooks.