Hello! Welcome to the Research Guide for Early Africa in the Global Context. For your final papers, you will need to find secondary, scholarly sources Below is a section with the main databases to do this, including Historical Abstracts, the main database for scholarship in NON-US history from about 1450 CE. For Early Africa, you may want to start with Academic Search Premier or The International Medieval Index. In general Academic Search Premier is a good place to start for almost anything. The Advanced Library Search, which is would also be good for additional scholarship, particularly for books. There are many more databases in other, subject specific research guides, including Primary Sources which might be better explored in other research guides OR via Library Search.
Also included are sections on Citation (with links to Zotero) and the sorts of Search Strategies we discussed in our research session.
Please remember that research should be seen as a process -- non-liner, more of an art than a science, with the sources in conversation with each other and you in conversation with the sources (we call this conversation "The Scholarly Conversation"). You can start in a number of places, with primary sources, with secondary sources, with both at once. As you move through these sources, you may find yourself modifying your original topic. Above all, please remember that I'm here to help you. You can email me or make an appointment with me.
