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The Hulbert Taft, Jr. Library

Honors US History: Causes of the Civil War: Reference Sources

REFERENCE SOURCES

These sources provide essential background information
- facts like who, what, when, where, why, and how -
that will be useful as you dive deeper into your research.

 

  • Make note of terms, also called keywords, relevant to your topic:
    • Examples: names of people; important dates; relevant legislation; words or expressions unique to your topic.
  • You will use these keywords when searching for your primary sources, as well as secondary sources such as books.
  • Reference sources often contain bibliographies that lead you to secondary and primary sources.
Examples of Reference Sources: Encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, and atlases.

 

Tips for Citing Reference Sources in NoodleTools

 

ONLINE REFERENCE DATABASES

 

If you have any questions, see
Mr. Previti, Mrs. Lovallo,
or Mr. Padgett
OR email us at 
rpreviti@taftschool.org
  blovallo@taftschool.org
spadgett@taftschool.org  
We're here to help!

 

PRINT and eBOOK REFERENCE SOURCES

REMEMBER: Print Reference books are for use IN THE LIBRARY ONLY. 
Contains Primary Sources means this source contains Primary Sources.
Resource Allows NoodleTools Export means you can export the citation for this source to NoodleTools.

Tips for Citing Reference Sources in NoodleTools

PLEASE NOTE: We recommend that you NOT copy and paste complete citations from electronic sources. NoodleTools cannot generate footnotes from copied and pasted citations.

 

A Reference Source citation has 2 parts:

  • information about the article you used: author, title of article, and page numbers if available.
  • information about the encyclopedia as a whole: author / editor, encyclopedia title, name of publisher, place of publication, and date of publication.

Reference sources can be cited in NoodleTools using the ISBN (International Standard Book Number). Most course guides include the ISBN in the reference title information on the Reference Sources page.The ISBN can be also found on the back cover of a book, on the back side of the title page, or in the library catalog record. It can also be found in databases containing sources originally produced in print. If you don't find it, we can help you. Note: Books published before 1967 won't have an ISBN.

International Standard Book Number - Wikipedia

If you use the ISBN method, you will still have to fill in the information about the specific article you used because this method only imports the information about the encyclopedia as a whole (title, editor, publisher, etc.).

To cite an encyclopedia / reference source, first choose the NoodleTools option that best describes where you found it:

  • Database = an electronic book found in a Taft Subscription Database such as Gale eBooks.
    • You can export citations from many of our databases. Look for Resource Allows NoodleTools Export  next to the database name.
    • If you cannot export the citation, go to NoodleTools, choose Database and then Reference Source.
      • Be sure to provide the permanent URL for your source. Look for any of the following on the page: permalink, persistent link, stable link, durable link, "Get link", Cite or Citable Link.
  • Website = an encyclopedia found through a search engine such as Google. 
  • Print or In Hand = a book found on the shelves of the library's Reference Collection.

Next you will choose the type of source you are citing. In this case, Reference Source.

You will complete both parts of the Reference Source form:

  • information about the article you used: author, title of article, and page numbers if available.
  • information about the encyclopedia as a whole: author / editor, encyclopedia title, name of publisher, place of publication, and date of publication.

  • Information about a web encyclopedia: author of article (if given), title of article, the URL of the article you are citing, and the most recent date (date updated or date of online publication).

 

If you have any questions, Mr. Previti, Mrs. Lovallo, or Mr. Padgett are happy to help!