Choosing your topic
When it comes to doing research on your family history project using the Moorpark College Library resources, there are some tips to make your research experience a smooth one.
Tip #1: Come up with at least three potential topics you would like to explore. If you have trouble finding information on one topic, you will have other ideas.
Tip #2: Be flexible. You may need to broaden your scope if you do not find the "perfect" article.
Tip #3: Leave yourself plenty of time to complete this portion of your research. It will take you 30-60 minutes to do this exercise.
What is the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature?
The Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature is an index of popular periodical articles that are organized alphabetically by subject. Publication began in 1901, and continues through the present. Some volumes cover several years, while others contain only one year. The most recent publications include one or two months and appear in paperback until the library binds them into a large hardcopy voume.
If we look up the subject "War" in the volume that contains the years 1943-1945, it will look like this:
You can see the entry for "War" listed above, as well as subdivisions such as "Moral Aspects." You can also see the "See also" references which lists alternate search terms.