First of all, Happy February!Second of all, while we're on the topic of sources and libraries, I'd like to share another piece of research-based advice: primary sources rock!
If you're new to the 'university' thing, then a primary source is quite simply "original, first-hand accounts" while secondary sources are "second-hand, published accounts" (and yes, I did just quote that from the National Archives of Canada website.) So for example, in history a primary source could be a diary, newspaper article, map or photograph from the time period I am examining, while a secondary source is an article or book that a scholar wrote about the time period.
One way to impress your professors off the bat is to use primary sources. Why just take what others have said about the topic when you can go to the source?! It may seem daunting at first, but there are so many online resources you can use. If you don't know where to start, take a look at the primary sources the articles or books you are reading have used. They will provide bibliographic information, and then you can also look it up and read it for yourself. Sometimes you may run into the problem that the source is not available online (and Nipissing doesn't have access to a lot of non-electronic primary sources). Some ideas (for history or poli sci at least are to try archives from different countries, Hansards (or parliament proceedings) historical newspapers you can get through the e-resources at Nipissing, or museum websites - they are all online!
Using primary sources puts your paper into the A category (in my opinion) because it shows that you can critically evaluate a source and draw your own conclusions. Not sure which conclusions to draw? Just bring the source you found to your prof during office hours and they will most certainly help you out!
I really wish I had realized the vast amount of primary sources I could have been using right from first year. They really do make the difference between high school and university-level research.
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