Home - ENGL 101 - Beggs - History Through Different Eyes - Research Guides at Modesto Junior College Library

Preliminary reading

Research questions

Evaluate your sources

Make an Appointment for a Research Consultation

Meet with a librarian online using Zoom. We can schedule 30-minute appointments. You can choose to work with a particular librarian or just choose anyone who is available at the time you need. Once you schedule your appointment, your librarian will contact you with the Zoom meeting information.

Click the Schedule Your Meeting button to begin.

Select an interesting, appropriate topic

Choose an era that you find interesting and read the sections on that era in both books.

Pay attention to particular events, people, or institutions that you may want to further explore.
Make sure these events, people, and/or institutions are adequately discussed in both textbooks so you will have something to compare and contrast. You will also be finding and using other sources, but it's still a good idea to start with a topic discussed in your course texts.

Do background reading on your topic

Read overview articles about your topic in Gale eBooks to learn more about it.

Gale eBooks
Use this database for preliminary reading as you start your research. You'll learn about your topic by reading authoritative topic overviews on a wide variety of subjects.

Create some research questions to focus your research and reading

Come up with some research questions that will help guide your research and reading. Below are some sample questions, but you are free to come up with your own!

1. Why is this topic important in the context of American history?

2. What are the basic background facts on my topic? (who, what, when, where)

If your topic is covered in one of the two histories (Zinn; Schweikart and Allen), ask yourself:

3. How do the two texts differ in their description of my topic (why and how)?

4. How does Zinn's telling of the story reflect his values?

5. What sources can I find to back up the Zinn interpretation of my topic?

6. How does Schweikart & Allen's telling of the story reflect their values?

7. What sources can I find to back up the Schweikart & Allen interpretation of my topic?

And consider these questions:

8. Am I finding sources with significantly different takes on my subject?

9. How do my sources give away their perspective or slant? Do they put a lot of emphasis on one aspect of my topic and shortchange another? How do their word choices betray their view or even bias?

10. What conclusions can I draw from exploring the same topic from different perspectives?

Start finding answers to your research questions

Look up your topic and find overviews, detailed discussions, and primary sources in our History databases.

History Research Center
History Research Center is a family of five history databases that you can search simultaneously. These include: American History, African-American History, American Indian History, Ancient and Medieval History, and Modern World History. These databases include a wide variety of research sources including, in-depth overview essays, biographies, journal articles, images, primary sources, maps, videos, and more.
America: History and Life with Full Text
This database is an important reference tool for students and scholars of U.S. and Canadian history. It provides full-text coverage of more than 200 journals and nearly 100 books in addition to selective indexing for 1,700 journals from 1955 to present.
Issues & Controversies in History
Use this database when you want topical, in-depth coverage of world history from antiquity to the present. Read about the background, outcomes, and contemporary points of view for the major topics in history from every region of the world. This is a great database for finding primary sources.

Find academically credible web sources

Use Google Scholar to find sources written by other historians.

Find eBooks

Find eBooks for more insight on your topic.

eBooks in the eBook Collection: EBSCOhost collection can be read in their entirety online. Pages, chapters and sections can be downloaded, printed, emailed, and cited in MLA style.

eBook Collection: EBSCOhost
Use this database to search our collection of thousands of eBooks the MJC Library owns through EBSCOhost.(EBSCO eBooks Instructions)