The library has lots of resources for people doing research in Medieval History. This guide will point out the ones that I think will be most useful in helping you do research.
If you have any ideas about how to make this guide better, please get in contact with me (my contact information is just to the right).
In order to do good historic research, you need to understand the context of your topic. To get this broad understanding of your topic you should read your textbook and have a look at an encyclopedia or dictionary (we call them reference books). Follow this link to learn about Print Reference books. Or follow this link to learn more about Electronic Reference books.
After you have done this, I would suggest you start looking for books on your topic. A book will cover more aspects of your topic, giving you a better understanding of how your specific topics fits into its historic context. Follow this link to learn more about Finding Books.
Only after you have gained this understanding should you look for journal articles. Journal articles will focus on very specific aspects of your topic. It might be difficult for you to understand them if you do not have the background knowledge to place them into context. Follow this link to learn more about Finding Journal Articles.
Lastly, some research will require you to locate primary documents. If you need to do so, click on the Primary Documents Tab for details. Follow this link to learn more about Finding Primary Sources.
Below are some links to databases for Medieval History resources
