Govt 405 - Senior Seminar: Politics of the Crowd

• Do background reading in a subject encyclopedia to identify key names, vocabulary, or events
• Look for primary sources in the footnotes and bibliographies of secondary source books and articles
• For history and related subjects, check special collections and archives.
• Create your own: your own research (lab experiments, surveys, interviews, field notes, etc.) creates source material for you to work from while analyzing your topic
• Many primary sources have been digitized and are available on the web. There are two kinds of primary sources available online: those from a database provided by a company that wants to make money, and documents and other materials, such as audio records or photographs, in the possession of libraries and archives. It is within the mission of most of these to make these sources available to the public for research. These are just a few of the major sites offering links to primary sources and information about them:

The Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) has extensive holdings of manuscripts, university archives, and rare books.  There are a variety of tools available to guide you in finding materials in the SCRC, including the SCRC Collections Database.  You might find it helpful to begin your search at the SCRC's Finding Materials page.  Don't forget that you also may contact the SCRC staff (spcoll@wm.edu or 757-221-3090) or come into the Special Collections Research Center in person and consult with the staff member on duty for guidance.