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Getting Background Information
The introduction begins with your thesis statement. In your thesis statement it is important to explicitly state the direction in which your analysis of the artifact will be tracking. This is followed by a general discussion of the artifact that in essence is a summation focused on providing enough background information to prepare the reader for what is to be presented in the body.
First you will need to frame the discussion by providing an overview of the subject, or for the purposes of this assignment the artifact (e.g., what it is, its history, etc.), as well as identifying the meaning or significance of the artifact. Specifically, identify the significant concepts and ideas associated with your artifact, as well as how these concepts and ideas are related.
Questions:
- What purpose does my artifact serve?
- Who is the audience for my artifact?
- What was happening at the time the artifact was created? Specifically, what historical or political events were occurring around the time the artifact was created? What popular trends or controversies were occurring that may have impacted or influenced the creation of the artifact?
Where to look for background information
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AccessScience This link opens in a new window
Reference material covering all major scientific disciplines.
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CQ Historic Documents This link opens in a new window
A list of historical documents of important events each year for the United States and the world organized by volumes.
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Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
Gale Primary Sources allows unified searching of Gale primary source collections for a comprehensive research experience.
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Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window
Oxford Handbooks Online brings together the world's leading scholars to write review essays that evaluate the current thinking on a field or topic, and make an original argument about the future direction of the debate.
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Oxford Reference Library This link opens in a new window
In-depth, specialized titles from Oxford University Press's encyclopedias, companions, and partner publisher's scholarly works with a special emphasis in art & architecture, regional & national history, language reference, and regional & area studies.
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SAGE Knowledge This link opens in a new window
Contains electronic reference titles from Sage. Users can search and browse the full-text equivalent handbooks, encyclopedias, and other titles.
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Wiley Online Library This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the world's broadest and deepest multidisciplinary collection of online resources covering life, health and physical sciences, social science, and the humanities.
Where to look for statistics
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Pew Research Center ReportsA site providing access to reports written and distributed by the Pew Research Center on various trends and issues in American society.
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World Bank DataThe World Bank provides free and open access to a comprehensive set of data about development in countries around the globe, together with other datasets cited in the data catalog.
What happened--historical dates and time periods
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American Decades (1900-1999)
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Call Number: Available onlineISBN: 0787650765Publication Date: 2000-12-01American Decades documents and analyzes periods of contemporary American social history. Each volume begins with an overview and chronology covering the entire decade. Subject chapters follow, each including an explanatory background overview; subject-specific timeline; and alphabetically arranged entries discussing the people, events and ideas important to that subject during the period. Included are biographies; explanations of concepts; terms and events; quotations; charts; sidebars covering high-interest topics; and much more. -
American Decades (1900-1999)
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Call Number: Reference Collection (Non-circulating)--1st Floor E169.1 .A419 1994ISBN: 9780787650766Publication Date: 2000-12-01American Decades documents and analyzes periods of contemporary American social history. Each volume begins with an overview and chronology covering the entire decade. Subject chapters follow, each including an explanatory background overview; subject-specific timeline; and alphabetically arranged entries discussing the people, events and ideas important to that subject during the period. Included are biographies; explanations of concepts; terms and events; quotations; charts; sidebars covering high-interest topics; and much more. -
American Decades (2000-2009)
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Call Number: Available onlineISBN: 9781414436067Publication Date: 2011-06-27Covers everything from monumental events and groundbreaking individuals to the details of Americans' daily lives. Supports historical research in disciplines from the arts and business to law, medicine, technology, and social trends. -
American Decades (2000-2009)
by
Call Number: Reference Collection (Non-circulating)--1st Floor E169.1 .A419 2011ISBN: 9781414436067Publication Date: 2011-06-27Covers everything from monumental events and groundbreaking individuals to the details of Americans' daily lives. Supports historical research in disciplines from the arts and business to law, medicine, technology, and social trends.
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American Decades: Primary Documents (1900-1999)
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Call Number: Available onlineISBN: 0787665878Publication Date: 2003-12-05"American Decades Primary Sources is designed as a stand-alone set and also as a companion to Thomson Gale's 10-volume "American Decades Series. Each "Primary Sources volume covers a decade in American history corresponding to an original "American Decades volume, amplifying and illuminating the decade with first-hand accounts and other primary source documentation. Each volume includes approximately 165 full-text or excerpted historical documents from the period representing a diversity of views that provide insight into the seminal issues, themes, movements and events from the decade. These documents include advertisements, commercials, diaries, literary works, newspaper articles, memoirs, periodical articles, speeches and other types of primary source materials. -
American Decades: Primary Documents (2000-2009) by
Call Number: Available onlinePublication Date: 2013"American Decades Primary Sources is designed as a stand-alone set and also as a companion to Thomson Gale's 10-volume "American Decades Series. Each "Primary Sources volume covers a decade in American history corresponding to an original "American Decades volume, amplifying and illuminating the decade with first-hand accounts and other primary source documentation. Each volume includes approximately 165 full-text or excerpted historical documents from the period representing a diversity of views that provide insight into the seminal issues, themes, movements and events from the decade. These documents include advertisements, commercials, diaries, literary works, newspaper articles, memoirs, periodical articles, speeches and other types of primary source materials.
