HIS 11: Modern - Historical Investigations: Home

Getting an overview of your topic

• At the beginning of your investigation, keep your research really broad and general - don't get lost in the detail of the topic.
• You might like to explore several of the topics on offer, or some of your own.  Use an encyclopedia for this, that is, keep it simple!
• Don’t take notes too early – just browse and get curious, (but keep a record of the sources you’ve been to that you think you’ll go to again - just title, author, URL, brief details).
• It takes quite a long time for you to get an idea of what the whole topic is about. It is not till then that you can decide what's important, and begin to do deeper research, or think about creating your inquiry question (if you are doing a free choice topic.

Access Britannica School through our Canvas Library course.

You might like to use the high school level of Encyclopedia Britannica to browse for short information on the choices of topics offered to you.

Whenever you are doing an assignment and are researching over a period of time, you need three things:

• Inquiry journal, where you take notes
• Inquiry log, where you keep your sources
• Inquiry chart, where you pull all your research together. You won't use this till you've finished all your research and you're writing your essay or making your presentation.

Inquiry log

Use the Online  Referencing Generator in Canvas Library  to record your sources. Copy and paste the list generated into a Word document, which is your Inquiry log.

Inquiry journal

Inquiry chart

Some of you will be making a mind map or inquiry chart when you've finished your research.

• You can use Inspiration mind mapping software.  Just type Inspiration into your search bar. 
• You can put your laptop into tablet form, and draw your diagram, using the stylus.

Topic in development: Was Edward VIII a traitor?

Finding more complex sources, including journal articles.

You are probably going to need to find some primary sources and some journal articles.

When it is time to create your bibliography (not the night before the assessment is due!), use the record you've kept in your log of sources to transfer them to the Online Referencing Generator.   Copy and paste the list generated into a Word document, put the references into alphabetical order, and make sure they are consistently presented. You will need to add footnotes to your essay as well. See the guide below, as well as another link to the Online Referencing Generator.  There are some videos to fill you in more about why you have to reference, and how to do it effectively.

This is a guide from the State Library NSW on researching effectively.