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FYS101 Research Exercises - 2022/23

This guide contains the 6 research exercises for SNHU's First Year Seminar class, FYS101, for the 2022-23 academic year.

Welcome to FYS Research Exercise Three!

How to do this Research Exercise

To complete Research Exercise #3, you will:

  • Read down this page, following each step
  • Download the assignment for Research Exercise #3 below. Complete it, and submit it to Brightspace

What is a Tertiary Source and What is its Role in Research?

What is a Tertiary Source?

Tertiary sources This link opens in a new window are publications that summarize information in primary and secondary sources to provide background on a topic, idea, or event. Encyclopedias and biographical dictionaries are good examples of tertiary sources.

What is the role of a Tertiary Source in research?

When beginning to research a topic, it is helpful to begin with TERTIARY sources to get an overview of the topic, key issues, important people and events surrounding it, key theories, etc. For FYS101, you will be researching a particular primary source (Ex: an advertisement, a person, an artifact, a statistic/data point, etc.). Many of these sources may be looked up in a specialized encyclopedia or dictionary (tertiary source) so you can get a general idea or overview of what they are about so you may begin to research them more thoroughly. Tertiary sources also help you identify key words to use to search in library databases as well as search engines (like Google!).

Where do you find Tertiary Sources?

You may find tertiary sources on the Web in online dictionaries, encyclopedias, and reference sources. The library also has databases of tertiary sources.

What is a library database?

Watch this video from the University of Minnesota to learn what is meant by a "library database":

Library Databases of Tertiary Sources

Below is a short list of library databases that include tertiary sources. For this Research Exercise, we will focus on the CREDO database, however some of the Collection primary sources are not available in CREDO, so if you are researching one of them, you might use a different tertiary source database. Continue down the steps on this page before clicking on any of these three tertiary source databases below.

Step One: Find a Tertiary Source 

What is CREDO?

For Research Exercise 3, we are going to learn to use the CREDO database to find a tertiary source. Before you go to CREDO, watch this brief video to understand what is in CREDO and how to navigate it.

Go to the Shapiro Library

You have two ways to get to the Shapiro Library website:

  • Log in to my.snhu and click on the Shapiro Library link on your home page of my.snhu    OR..
  • Log in to any Brightspace course and click on the Academic Support tab and scroll down to the Shapiro Library link. 

SPECIAL TIP! ***Once you are on the library home page, you can access my.snhu and Brightspace from the bottom of the page! So if you bookmark/favorite the Shapiro Library website in your browser, you will have one-stop shopping to all your SNHU needs!

Go to the Library Databases to find CREDO

  • Click on the A-Z Database List in the Quick Links box on the library home page 
  • Alphabet on top of the Databases list - If you already know the database you want, click on the letter of the alphabet that your database begins with, then scroll down the list to click on the database you intend to use. 

Search in Credo

  • Type your search term (SEE *SUGGESTED SEARCH TERMS FOR COMPLETING RESEARCH EXERCISE 3 AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE) into the CREDO search box. 
  • Select the most promising article from your list of results using these tips:
    • Look at the word count beneath each article. Substantive articles are usually 500+ words
    • Look at the source (after "From") for each article - does it appear to be a specialized encyclopedia? A reference source (guide, almanac, index, etc.) related to your topic area?
    • Which article title sounds like it will provide tertiary information about your primary source?
  • Click on the title of each promising entry in the results list (two or three)

Read your Selected Articles

  • Read two or three of the most promising articles in your results list. Select one that you feel answers your priority question(s) best

Cite your Best Tertiary Source

  • While on the CREDO page with your selected best article, look for: 
    • Cite feature at top of page - click on the quotation marks, select MLA to get a citation for this source; Paste this MLA citation for this one required tertiary source into your Research Exercise 3 assignment under question #1 
  • If your tertiary source comes from another library database, look for the citation feature provided in that database and copy the MLA citation and paste it into the Research Exercise 3 assignment under question #1
  • If your tertiary source comes from the Web, create an MLA citation using this format:
    • Author (if present). “Webpage Title.” Website Name, Publisher (omit if same as website name), Date published (if present), URL.

Step 2: Write Three Bullets

Write three bullets, concisely explaining the most valuable info/ideas you gathered from this tertiary source about your primary source. Re-read your tertiary source, then think about which three things you learned about your primary source that you might share with your team. Write those down under question #2 in your Research Exercise 3 assignment.

Step 3: Which Priority Questions did your Tertiary Source Answer?

Refer back to your list of priority questions you generated with your team in class. Does the information you learned in your tertiary source answer any of those questions?

  • If so, which ones? Write those down under question #3 in your Research Exercise 3 assignment.
  • If the tertiary source did not answer any of your questions, explain why do you think it didn't. 

Step 4: New Search Terms

Look for new keywords, phrases, names, events, or ideas that you come across in your tertiary source that might be useful in further research on your topic, and write them down under question #4 in your Research Exercise 3 assignment.

If your tertiary source came from CREDO, on the article page, look for:

  • Related Searches - lists other terms/words/phrases with which you might search for sources
  • Mind Map
    • If you click on any of the terms in the Mind Map, the list of results will change to those about that topic
    • This is also a good tool to connect past primary sources to current events - Look for current topics in the mind map that are about the primary source you are researching for your final project. Use those topics as future search terms.

Step 5: Save & Upload your Research Exercise 3 Assignment

This assignment reflects the first significant individual grade of your final project!

  • Once you have entered all the information according the four steps above, save the assignment on your device with the file name: Your Name - Research Exercise 3
  • Upload the assignment to your FYS Brightspace course under the Research Exercise 3 Assignment

*Suggested Search Terms for Completing Research Exercise 3 

Below are suggested search terms to look for tertiary sources about all of the primary sources in the Collections for the FYS101 team research projects. In some cases you will need to scroll down the results and select those that look promising. Generally those in CREDO with 500 words or more will be more thorough and have broader information.

NOT ALL PRIMARY SOURCES ARE AVAILABLE IN CREDO, so suggestions below include other tertiary sources to search in for those not available in CREDO. For tertiary sources not found in CREDO or another library database, you will need to create your own MLA citation.

In all tertiary sources look for "Related Searches" that might be offered, click on them to pursue more background information on your Primary Source and the theme of your Collection.

Collection #1: Personal Property

Collection #2: Separate & Unequal

Collection #3: Malpractice

Collection #4: Equity & Exclusion

Collection #5: Doing Time (This is the sample Collection for Spring 2023)

Collection #6: Domestic Labors

Collection #7: Debts of Service

Collection #8: Right of Passage

Collection #9: Buy & For the Black Community