These are the presentation slides used in Class 2 of the History in Your Hands project delivered by DCU Library to local secondary school students in November 2023.

1. HISTORY IN YOUR
HANDS PROJECT
Class 2: November 2023

2. ● Sources
○ Types of information sources
○ How to locate and evaluate sources
● Finding sources in your local library
○ Library catalogue
○ Using online databases
● Your Feedback

3. ● VEVOX
○ Connect to Eduroam guest WiFi
○ Go to vevox.app on your phone
○ Scan the QR code
OR
○ Enter session ID
○ Answer the question on screen

4. TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
EVALUATING YOUR SOURCES
Celine Campbell, Business Librarian

5. ● VEVOX QUESTION
○ Go to vevox.app on your phone
○ Scan the QR code
OR
○ Enter session ID
○ How would you find out which Psychology
course is the best one for you?

6. Independent research
● Independent research beyond your textbooks
● Quality sources of information: Find, read, consider them
critically, use effectively and ethically
● Draw on a range of information sources
○ primary and secondary sources
○ Credible author: i.e. historian or experience in a relevant field
● History Research Project:
○ Evaluation of sources worth 25 marks (out of 100 marks)
○ Evaluation essential here and in third level education

8. Information Timeline
Immediate/Event
Days after
event
Weeks after
event
Years after
event
Months after
event
● Researching a topic i.e. Media communication around Covid
● Looking at the different types of sources of information related to the topic

9. Immediate/Event
Type: Online news sites, Daily news videos
By: Journalists
For: General public
Type: Social media
By: General public & journalists
For: General public
Pros of this type of information
● Up-to-date information
Cons of this type of information
● Can be biased
● Can be incorrect
Video of Leo Varadkar announcing Covid
Lockdown measures in March 2020

10. Immediate/Event
Type: Newspaper articles
By: Journalists
For: General public
Pros of this type of information
● Up-to-date information
● High quality newspapers aim to maintain
integrity and provide accurate information
● The Irish Times, The Guardian
Cons of this type of information
● Can be biased
● Can be incorrect
● Tabloid Newspapers: The Daily Mail, The
Irish Sun
Days after
event

11. Immediate/Event
Days after
event
Weeks
after event
Type: Magazines
By: Journalists
For: General public
Pros of this type of information
● Up-to-date information
● Can be general language so many people can
understand the topic
Cons of this type of information
● Can be biased
● Can be incorrect
Where to find this source of information
● Shops
● Online

12. Months
after event
Type: Scholarly Academic Journal Articles
By: Experts in the field
For: People who are familiar with a certain topic who
want to educate themselves further
Pros of this type of information
● Up to date reports
● Commentaries and analysis on topic and issues
● Produced by experts in a specific field
● Aimed at an audience familiar with the topic
● Peer reviewed

13. Years after
event
Types: Books, textbooks, edited books
By: Written by experts in the field
For: General audience (books), students (textbooks), students and
subject experts (edited books)
Types: Encyclopedias, Dictionaries
By: Subject experts
For: General audience
Pros of this type of information
● Gives a good overview on a topic (books, textbooks)
● More details about different aspects of a topic (edited book)
● Peer-reviewed
● List of references at the end of each chapter/book
Cons of this type of information
● Information can be dated by the time it’s published

14. Other useful sources of information
Government publications:
• Information from government departments and other official organisations
• Government departments, state agencies (such as the HSE)
• Legislation, policy documents and reports (often available online)
Statistics
• Published by official government bodies or the private sector
• Generated over a period of years
• Cover business, healthcare, transport, economics, politics and education etc.
• Irish Central Statistics Office, Eurostat
• Use of relevant statistics in your assignments adds weight to your argument
Dissertations and theses
● Dissertations - postgraduate students, undergraduate students in final year (useful for reference
lists)
● Theses - academic researchers completing a PhD or a Masters Degree by pure research
(useful for reference lists and as source)
○ DORAS (DCU’s Phd research repository)
○ DART Europe: 700,000+ European theses
○ ETHOS: 500,000+ UK doctoral theses

15. Vevox Question
A volcano has just erupted in the Philippines:
• Where do you go to find reliable information
on it?
• Where would you go two years later to learn
about the impact the eruption had on the
surrounding community?

16. What is peer-review?
• A process for evaluating research
articles before they are published
• Reviewed by other experts in the
same field of study
• Ensures that research is of a higher
standard and quality
Sometimes you may be
asked to find peer-reviewed
articles for your assignments

17. Sources on the web
• Quick/Immediate
• Will often filter by popularity
Examples on Google:
• Open to some manipulation (SEO, paid
results, ads)
• Sources come from everywhere
• Hard to filter through the noise,
information can be buried
MAJORITY OF INFORMATION FOUND ON THE WEB IS NOT PEER-REVIEWED.
THEREFORE YOU NEED TO….
EVALUATE, EVALUATE, EVALUATE

18. Primary Sources
● Objects or documents, original sources
● Immediate, first-hand accounts
● Direct connection with an event
● They include:
○ diaries
○ letters
○ manuscripts
○ videos
○ photographs
○ eyewitness accounts
○ speeches
○ birth certificates
○ art work
○ newspaper articles*

19. Secondary Sources
● Written about a primary source
● One step removed
● Often use primary sources
● Examine, review explain an event
○ textbook
○ journal article
○ documentary
○ Newspaper article**
(i.e. an opinion piece)
○ biography
○ research study
○ review
○ criticism

20. Vevox Question
Pick the primary sources
from this list of 8 sources

21. CRAAP
• Currency
• Relevance
• Authority
• Accuracy
• Purpose

22. Currency
• When was the info published or
posted?
• Has it been revised or updated?
• Is the info current or out-of-date?
• Are the links functional? i.e Are you
getting error messages when you
click?

23. Relevance
• Does the info relate to your topic or
answer your research question?
• Who is the intended audience?
• Is the info at the appropriate level?
• Have you looked at a variety of
sources?

24. Authority
• Who is the author/publisher/ sponsor?
• Are the author’s credentials or
organizational affiliations given?
• Is there contact info for the
author/organization?
• What is the domain of the site - see URL
• .gov: U.S government
• .gov.ie: Irish government
• .edu: Educational websites based
in the U.S.
• .org: large organisations/clubs/
charities

25. Accuracy
• Where does the info come from?
• Is the info supported by evidence?
• references
• links to reliable sources
• Has the info been reviewed or refereed?
• Can you verify the info in another source?
• Does the language seem unbiased and free
from emotion?
• Are there any grammatical or spelling
errors?

26. Purpose
• Does the info attempt to inform? Teach?
Sell? Entertain? Persuade?
• Does the author make his intentions or
purpose clear?
• Is the info fact? Opinion? Propaganda?
• Does the point of view appear objective
and impartial?

27. Things to remember:
● Tabloid newspapers i.e Daily Mail, The Sun
○ Emotive language, exaggeration
○ Claims that can’t be confirmed
○ Poor or no editorial checks
● Social Media
○ Who is author, what is their purpose?
● Wikipedia
○ Online encyclopedia that can be edited by anybody, at any time
○ Don’t use it as a direct source- reference list useful
● Blogs
○ Check author’s credentials
○ Reliable source?

28. Reliable, free online websites for Irish historical research
• Dictionary of Irish Biography (Royal Irish Academy) https://www.dib.ie/
• Digital repository of Ireland (Access to Ireland’s digital cultural material) https://dri.ie/
• Europeana (European Union) https://www.europeana.eu/en
• History Ireland: Ireland’s History Magazine https://www.historyireland.com/
• Irish Archives resource (search archive records across Ireland) https://iar.ie/
• Irish Genealogy.ie https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/
• National Archives of Ireland https://www.nationalarchives.ie/
• National Library of Ireland (search for digitised content) https://www.nli.ie/
• Oireachtas website (Government debates, bills and acts) https://www.oireachtas.ie/
• RTE Archives (Videos, sound recordings, photos and documents from RTE’s
broadcast history) https://www.rte.ie/archives/

29. Reliable, free online websites for Irish historical research:
Specific time periods
● 1641 depositions https://1641.tcd.ie/
● Great Irish Famine online (Project mapping the famine 1841-1851) https://bit.ly/3sdWGso
● Dublin Castle records (British administration records in Ireland 1798-1922)
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5093
● GAA Centenary (History of the GAA during 1913-1923) https://www.gaa.ie/centenary/
● The Irish Independence film collection (1900 - 1930 newsreels)
https://ifiarchiveplayer.ie/independencefilms/
● Census of Ireland 1901/1911 (insight into life at the time)
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/
● Century Ireland (Life in Ireland in 1912-1923) https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/
● Letters 1916-1923 (correspondence from that period) https://letters1916.ie/
● Documents on Irish Foreign Policy (IFP documents 1919-1969) https://www.difp.ie/
● CAIN archive (politics in NI from 1968) https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/

30. Vevox question
Signs that information may not come from a
reliable source?

31. 1 2 3
Understanding
your question
Select
Keywords
Combine
Keywords in
your
searches
Starting our research
In three easy steps

32. 1
Understanding your question
Highlight/circle the most important words (keywords) in your question
Starting our research
The impact of Sean Lester’s diplomatic
career on international politics

33. 2 SelectKeywords
Think of as many keywords including synonyms, alternative terms for each
of those concepts
Starting our research
Impact Seán Lester Diplomatic International Politics
Effect
Affect
Importance
Significance
Diplomat
Envoy
Ambassador
Representative
World
Global
European
Government
Council
League
Ministry

34. 3 CombineKeywords
Combine keywords using Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT ) and other search
operators
Starting our research

35. Boolean Operator: AND
● Boolean operators help
search for keywords
● AND will search for
different keywords
● With different keywords
you will get a smaller
amount of results

36. Boolean Operator: OR
● The Boolean operator OR will
help you search for
synonyms- similars words
● Important because you can’t
assume that everyone uses
the same word for a certain
concept
● Searching similar
words/synonyms will bring
back a larger pool of results
● Put the synonyms in brackets
(Diplomat OR Ambassador)

37. Boolean Operator: NOT
● The Boolean operator NOT
will help you exclude words
that aren’t relevant to your
search
● Use with caution so you’re
not missing valuable
information
● Use as a last resort
Diplomat NOT journalist

38. Search Tips
Diplomatic, Diplomat, Diplomacy
Seán Lester
Diploma*
“Seán Lester”
Phrase Searching: Focuses results, making them more relevant
Truncation: Searches for all variations of the word
Wildcard: Searches for words with different
spellings
Behavio#r Behaviour,

39. DEMONSTRATION AND VEVOX QUESTIONS
● Demonstration of how to use Boolean operators in a Google Search
● Vevox questions to test your understanding

40. Today’s first challenge:
Choosing sources for our example topic: The impact of Seán Lester’s diplomatic
career on international politics
● Already know the Sean Lester diaries are high quality primary sources
● 6 more potential sources
● Evaluate one source each. Take a page from the table
● Read information supplied, fill out evaluation sheet
● Title, author, primary, secondary or both and CRAAP sections
● Additional information supplied where required
● Is it a high quality source or a lower quality source?
● Blu tack, stick to the ‘high’ or ‘lower’ quality section on the wall

41. How to find information
sources in your local public
library
Eilís O’Neill
Outreach and Engagement Librarian

42. Where to find sources in your local library
● Library catalogue
○ https://dublincity.spydus.ie
○ Check from home or in a branch
○ Books and more
● Library databases
○ academic journal articles
○ newspaper articles
○ genealogy records

43. Library catalogue (dublincity.spydus.ie)
● Books, DVD, photographs, videos and more
● From library branch or online
● Use keyword searches i.e. Sean Lester
● Most relevant results appear first
● Use the advanced search
• Phrase search for more relevant results
• Similar to “Sean Lester” in a Google
search
• View availability
• Pick up from branch or reserve a copy

44. Online databases
● Organised collection of data (information)
● Stored and accessed electronically
(i.e. on a computer)
● Manages large amounts of information
● Searched and accessed by users
VEVOX QUIZ:
Which of the following are databases?

45. Library databases
● Ancestry Library Edition (official records for World War 1)
● Databases.dublincity.ie (historic records related to Dublin city and surrounds)
● Findmypast (a family history website)
● JSTOR: the Irish Collection (Material on the Arts, Humanities & Sciences)
● Irish Newspaper archive (Irish newspapers from the 1700s to this year)
● Irish Times Digital Archive (Newspapers from 1859 to this year)
● View all available databases
https://www.dublincity.ie/residential/libraries/using-your-library/eresources
● Some available online from anywhere, some in branch only

46. JSTOR and the Irish Newspaper Archive
• Subscription databases - pay for access
• From a PC in your local library branch
• Articles, book chapters, newspaper reports
• Reliable, high quality sources
• Sources not freely available online
• Demo: search, find, access information
• Video demonstrations in online guide

47. JSTOR Ireland Collection
● Type of content includes:
○ Academic journal articles
○ Book Chapters
○ Research reports
● Subjects covered:
○ Humanities (including history)
○ Arts
○ Sciences
● Time period: 1780s to present day

48. Irish Newspaper Archives
● Newspaper articles, images, ads
● Over 140 Newspaper Publications:
○ National (Irish Independent, Irish Examiner)
○ Regional (Kerryman, Limerick Leader)
● Time period: From 1763 - present day
● Radical Newspaper archive
○ radical and political publications 1886-1941
● Video demonstration

49. Task 2: Locate and
evaluate two sources
for a research study

50. TASK: LOCATE AND EVALUATE TWO SOURCES (15 minutes)
● Work in pairs and use your phones
● Read instruction sheet in full
● Find two high quality sources (three required for the actual research study report)
● Carefully evaluate the author’s credentials (Are they a historian? Experience in a relevant field?)
● On your phones, search the resources we’ve shown you (see page on table)
○ One source from the public library catalogue
○ Second source from the reliable websites for historical research listed - see page
● Note name variations of Anna Parnell, Parnell, Anna Catherine Parnell, Anna Mercer Parnell - try both
search of Anna Parnell and “Anna Parnell”
● Fill out details and the CRAAP criteria for each source
● Happy that you’ve found a high quality source? What did you find challenging?
Topic: Anna Parnell (b. 1852 - d. 1911): The unsung Irish revolutionary

51. Thank
you!
● Feedback form
● Online guide
● Questions

52. IMAGE CREDITS
Slide 2: Canva image: Male and Female Hands Holding a Smiley Face on Paper by Gajus
Slide 7: Adapted from Canva template: Timeline 6 by Auchara Phuangsitthi from Auchara
Slide 9: Irish Times, 12 March 2020 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/coronavirus-full-text-of-
leo-varadkar-s-speech-1.4201041
Slide 10: Irish Times, 22 March 2020 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/coronavirus-cases-
now-confirmed-in-every-county-in-ireland-1.4209389
Slide 11: Cover of the RTE Guide, April 18-24 2020
Slide 12: Image of Cipolletta, S., Entilli, L. and Filisetti, S. (2022) ‘Uncertainty, shock and anger:
Recent loss experiences of first‐wave COVID‐19 pandemic in Italy’, Journal of Community & Applied
Social Psychology, 32(5), pp. 983–997. doi:10.1002/casp.2604

53. IMAGE CREDITS
Slide 13: Cover of A State of Emergeny by Richard Chambers sourced from https://dublincity.spydus.ie/cgi-
bin/spydus.exe/FULL/WPAC/BIBENQ/45320283/3691580,2
Slide 16: Adapted from Canva image Studying Cartoon Illustrated Colorful Creative Opposite Day Instagram
Post by Notisnal Studio
Slide 17: Canva image: Group of College Students Studying in the School Library by Oleksandr113
Slide 18: Open diary book, old accessories and postcards, vintage background by LiliGraphie from Getty
Images Pro
Slide 19: Screenshot of Irish Times article ‘Seán Lester and Edward Phelan: Irish world leaders’ by Gerry
Finnegan published 4 July 2023
Slide 21: Image created in Canva using template: Circle Diagram Five Part by Elios from Elios Team
Slide 22: Adapted from Canva image Blue Clock Illustration Leave the Office Early Day Social Media Post by
Canva Creative Studio

54. IMAGE CREDITS
Slide 23: Created by Celine Campbell in Canva
Slide 24: Canva image: Pretty clever dog stylish reading by Fly_dragonfly from Getty Images
Slide 25: Canva image: Choose the Correct One by patpitchaya from Getty Images
Slide 26: Canva image Beige Modern Child Detective Book Cover by Ziipo Studios
Slide 42: Ballymun Library https://www.dublincity.ie/residential/libraries/find-library/ballymun-library
Slide 43: Screenshot taken from Dublin City Libraries catalogue https://dublincity.spydus.ie/
Slide 44: Canva: Online Documentation Database and Process Automation by aukidphumsirichat
Slide 46: JSTOR logo https://support.jstor.org/hc/en-us/articles/115005188608-JSTOR-Logos-Use-
Permissions; Irish Newspaper archives logo https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/publication-list; Dublin city
council logo https://www.dublincity.ie/council/council-explained/dublin-city-council-logo; Adapted from Canva
image: Computer Monitor on Yellow Background by Daboost

55. IMAGE CREDITS
Slide 47: Canva images: "University education. Conceptual image of a mortarboard on a pile of books by
Science Photo Library; Book, books, piledbooks by olaser from Getty Images Signature; Young Man Reading
A Book and Studying by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels; Balinese Traditional Dance by Netfalls; Bangkok,
Thailand - August 01, 2020 Europe, Magnifying Glass Clo by sasirin pamai's Images; Science by alengo
from Getty Images Signature
Slide 48: Canva: Newspaper stack by RapidEye from Getty Images Signature