Searching and Citing

The Skills of Modern Historians

Searching for Resources

Tips and Tricks

Expanding Your Search

1. Searching more than one term- Use the plus symbol ‘+’ to link words-e.g. Food + Drink to search both terms

2. Using Synonyms- Use the tilde symbol ‘~’ before a word to search that word and any like words or synonyms- e.g. Ancient Egyptian ~Food >> Searching Food, Cuisine, Diet etc..

Refining Your Search

1. Excluding words- To refine your search and exclude particular terms from your search use the minus symbol ‘-’ - e.g. Panthers –Sport, which will avoid websites related to Panthers sport teams

2. Searching Exact phrases- To search an exact phrase use quotation marks “”- e.g. “Ancient Roman Weapons”

Citing Resources

It is important to record all your sources of information accurately and in the correct format, to add value to your work and recognise the work of

others

Books

To ‘cite’ a book we use the following format

AuthorSurname, FirstName. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

e.g. (Grab a book)

Websites

To cite a website we use the following format

AuthorSurname, AuthorFirstName. “Title.” Date of Publication URL: Web Address

e.g. Complete for the following page