So you need to write a research paper...
This page offers links to secondary and primary sources on Adventist history topics and tips to help you research. Secondary sources include books and articles written by scholars after the fact, documentaries covering past events, and newspaper or magazine accounts reflecting on the past. Primary sources include newspaper or magazine articles published at the time of historic events or concurrently with historic people; diaries, letters, and other firsthand accounts; photographs or recordings; official church documents at the time of publication; and more.
Use the menu on the left to discover places to search. When in doubt, contact Ms. V for personalized research support.
Terms to know:
- Archives - a collection of historical documents or records providing information about a place, institution, or group of people.
- Collection - a set of archival or (more commonly) manuscript materials that are related in some way. For example, the documents may have been created by one person and are arranged as "The John Smith Collection."
- Periodical - a magazine or newspaper published at regular intervals.
- Index - in this case, "index" refers to a searchable set of names, subjects, etc., that appear in periodical articles. Keyword searching the index gives you a list of references to the places where your keyword(s) occur, typically a citation to an Adventist periodical. The index is generally not full text. Use the citations it gives you to look up relevant articles on other websites where full text periodicals are available.
- Reference - this is a research support service that the library provides. Please contact Ms. V anytime for personalized research help! Don't spend more than 10 minutes fruitlessly looking for sources. If what you need is not available or hard to find, ask a librarian to search with you. Two heads are better than one.
