BACKGROUND & CONTEXT
You've just worked through some exercises to come up with key concepts and search terms in the section, Research Questions & Search Terms. Now we'll put those to use in finding background information and context.
In addition to helping you generate interesting research questions, finding background and context to your topic can help you to know what to look for in history research sources and understand if what you've found is significant.
Two good sources for background information and context are Britannica School and Student Resources in Context.
Britannica School
Britannica School contains encyclopedia articles, videos, images, and audio files that will be helpful at the beginning of your research process.
As you can see in the image below, we found an encyclopedia article, images, and videos providing background on our topic. Click on the image below to run the search.
Use the search terms you generated to find an encyclopedia article on your topic with Britannica School (try the search box below).
Do you see any media (videos, images, audio files) that you could use in your History Day presentation, documentary, or project?
Student Resources in Context
Student Resources in Context includes hundreds of magazines, journals, newspapers, and encyclopedias - along with images, videos, and primary sources.
As you can see in our example below, we found reference articles from encyclopedias, images, news, academic journals, and more related to our topic. Click on the image below to run the search.
Use the search terms you generated to find a variety of content on your topic with Student Resources in Context (try the search box below).
Can you find two different types of content related to your topic (for example, an academic article and an encyclopedia article)? How might these two types of content provide different insight into your topic? Might an encyclopedia article provide background and an academic article provide context?
You Try!
Once you've found articles in Britannica School and Student Resources in Context, consider how they might help you answer the research questions you generated in the section, Research Questions & Search Terms.
Do they answer background and context questions like:
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Who was involved in your topic?
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When did your topic happen?
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Where did it happen?
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Why did it happen?
Record what you've found in your History Day Research Notes.
What's Next?
When you think you've sufficiently researched the background and context of your topic, move on to the next section.