Research Guides: Environmental History: A Library Research Tutorial: Choose a Research Topic

What do you want to learn more about?

First, think about what kind of topic you want to explore. Wikipedia provides a good summary of topics related to historical landscapes, including, for example, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, the Florida Everglades, and Walt Disney World.

As you review Wikipedia articles that interest you, keep a list of key terminology, people, places, and events that you can use later when you search for academic sources, like books and peer-reviewed journal articles.

You can also search academic reference works for overview articles written by scholars on a wide range of topics. Use Credo Reference (link below) to search across our entire collection of digital, specialized encyclopedias.

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
This Collection includes over 650 titles with particular emphasis on subject encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and reference handbooks. Also included are over 1,000 short reference videos, nearly 300,000 high-resolution art images, and thousands of additional images across all subject areas. Subject coverage is especially diverse and equipped to address all key disciplines.
Abbreviation: credo
Vendor: Credo Reference
Subjects: *General / Multi-Subject
Type: Encyclopedias & Dictionaries, Images, Streaming Video

Browse these reference sources or do some preliminary searching on your own to find a topic that excites you.

Take Action

As you review Wikipedia or academic reference articles that interest you, keep a list of key terminology, people, places, and events that you can use later when you search for academic sources, like books and peer-reviewed journal articles.