Sources, sources, sources...

[Dakatsu]

I have to do a report on Chester A Aurther, not during his presidency, but his vice-presidency. I cannot find any sources, and it is so fustrating!

There are like no books on his vice-presidency, and despite the rarity of ANY source, I cannot use encyclopedias or any website other than a .org site!

Anyone have any tips on how to find sources on this subject! I have tried everything, but nothing turns up good results! I don't even know how I would limit the sites to be only from .org addresses!

[CDN_Merlin]

WOW that's a lame paper. Can't use anything but .org? Man tough teacher.

HOw do you refine a search for only .orgs?

[akula65]

Well, a search for \"chester a. arthur .org\" on Dogpile.com doesn't completely eliminate non-.org sites, but it does a pretty good job.

[Richard Cranium]

Use this link. It will at least limit it to .org for you.


Link

[Dakatsu]

Use this link. It will at least limit it to .org for you.
Link

Yes! One step down, that makes it only .org websites, so I can actually use anything I may find (now the only problem is finding any, I only found one through ten google pages, and it was a .com! )

[fliptw]

IIRC, he wasn't vice president for very long, what 3 whole months before his president was killed?

[Foil]

Wow, that's basically the \"assigned topic of doom\".

If you can't find much about his executive actions during his time as Vice-President, you might try shifting the emphasis to his handling of the events surrounding the assassination, just before he was sworn in as President.

[ccb056]

If you are desperate you could go to https://www.computerbb.org and post a bunch of stuff about him you found on non .org sites then cite computerbb.

BTW, computerbb uses a self signed SSL certificate for encryption, so your browser will probably warn you about that, but just click accept/continue.

[Jeff250]

What you need is the equivalent of tinyurl.com for .org.

[Dakatsu]

Due date for the paper is Tuesday, April 15. The paper must be submitted on www.turnitin.com by 1:45 on April 15.



The following are unacceptable sources to be used for the research assignment:

Any .com website (no exceptions)
Any encyclopedias (Books or electronic)
Wikipedia
Textbooks
Any .net sources to be used must first be verified with me. All internet sources must be rich, reliable sources that have been approved.

I could use .net resources, but chances are they would be disapproved. This really sucks! I hope to find something at the school library when spring break ends, but I need a minimum of 10 sources, I so hope I can find some, let alone any with information to stretch this paper into four pages. I also have to check all my sources with the guy...

[Foil]

Can you go to the instructor and ask for a different topic due to lack of verifiable source material? If you show him/her that you've done significant research but there's nothing really available, they may be willing to give you a new topic.

[Dakatsu]

Can you go to the instructor and ask for a different topic due to lack of verifiable source material? If you show him/her that you've done significant research but there's nothing really available, they may be willing to give you a new topic.

Either that or I can find more information...

The good news is I found a paragraph of reliable source information crap:
http://millercenter.org/academic/americ ... iography/1

[roid]

i use Google-Books to search for books to quote and cite. It's essentially Google for the library.

http://books.google.com/books?client=fi ... arch+Books

[Top Wop]

Did you look at local libraries to see if they have any sources? Especially look at microfiche/fringe periodicals.

Definitely let the teacher know that the given topic has minimal sources to be found, especially when you need to find 10, which is a gargantuan amount covering such a small period of time!

God almighty this is precisely why I hated high school.

[Sirius]

...that's a little silly. It'll be extremely difficult to find authoritative sources with a blanket ban on textbooks, encyclopedias and most websites - there's precious little reason for that sort of thing to wind up in periodicals.

That said, your best bet there is history-related periodicals...

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?clien ... a=N&tab=ps
Some interesting hits such as:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0032-3 ... 0.CO%3B2-7
(which pretty much says itself your assignment is a pain in the arse.)
http://www.american.edu/academic.depts/ ... ickard.pdf (don't know if theses are banned, but it has plenty of other references as well, if you can track down papers that old.)

[Foil]

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0032-3 ... 0.CO%3B2-7
(which pretty much says itself your assignment is a pain in the arse.)

Good find.

If I were you, Dakatsu, I would take the above information to your teacher, along with details about all the time you've spent searching, and ask for a new topic.

It's a reasonable request, given the utter lack of available sources. So I think if you approach him respectfully, you have a good shot.

[Richard Cranium]

Could this be an April Fools joke on you (or us)?

[Dakatsu]

Ugh, got back from school, and I am not allowed to change my person, apparently a few people got Harry Truman and such, so I guess I am screwed on it I can hopefully find another site, and just BS my way through the report by rambling on or something until I get to four pages.

[Dakatsu]

For personal reference (sorry for double post):
http://www.course-notes.org/us_history/ ... a._arthur/

Could I use google books (to ask later):
http://books.google.com/books?id=KPQzXW ... n#PPA13,M1
http://books.google.com/books?id=5i2I5U ... n#PPA49,M1
http://books.google.com/books?id=5SkEAA ... 786E&hl=en