Ms. PaineComputer Teacher

Researchingthe

Holocaust

Introduction

There is a TON of information on the internet about the Holocaust. It can be hard to narrow down the information. This informative tutorial should help you gather the information you need.

CAUTION – there are many disturbing images and video clips that will show up when researching the Holocaust. Prepare yourself for the genocide you are about to uncover.

Where to START?

SEARCHENGINES

Wikipedia: What is it?

• An encyclopedia• An ongoing discussion area• A great starting point for basic

information and ideas

Wikipedia: The Good

• Often more up to date than textbooks

• Bigger topics are constantly being viewed and edited for accuracy–Many minds from around the world

with knowledge in different areas collaborate

• Footnotes can give you some great links and books to use in research

Wikipedia: The Bad

• Not peer-reviewed for accuracy, such as a published work

• ANYONE can submit something to be edited– See Stephen Colbert– Things can go for a long period of time

without being fixed

• It’s an encyclopedia – you should never use one on a works cited page anyway!

What are you researching?

• The Holocaust is a very broad subject–Narrow down to a topic

• Think about your assignment– Jot down ideas and topics that come

into mind–What are you most drawn to? What

could you envision creating a project/paper about?

How to Search

• KEYWORDS!!–Never type a whole sentence or

phrase into a search engine

• For Example:–With the topic of Children in the

Holocaust, what can you type in to search?

Children in the Holocaust

How many children survived concentration camps during the Holocaust

KEYWORDS

Children in the Holocaust

How many children survived concentration camps during the Holocaust

So Many Results! What sites are

good?

Look at: Domain Extension

• Domain extension – the last part of a website address

• Example: www.google.com

• Look for:– .org (non-profit organization)– .edu (education organization)– .gov (U.S. government

organization)

Look at: the Page

• Look at the page itself– Is there advertising? Pop-ups?– Government, non-profits, and

academic sites have little to no advertising

• Page Content– By browsing through the site you

should realize whether it has the information you need, or has substantial content

Look at: the Date

• Is the page up to date?– Information that is even over five

years old can be obsolete– Look for sites that are continuously

updating their information

Look at: the Author

• Is there an Author?• If there is not one that is

obvious, look for an about page or a contact page

• Being able to credit a person in your paper also gives credit to your work

• Having contact information allows you to ask the author questions, if you have them

Website Evaluation

The attached worksheet will help you

in your own website evaluationsWebsite Evaluation Worksheet

There is more than just TEXT!

• When researching on the internet there are so many resources

• Look into pictures, audio clips, and video clips

• Use these medias as a source you can cite, or in your actual presentation

• Use search engines and sites like YouTube to find media sources sources

Media in Powerpoint

If creating a Powerpoint, you have the ability to add pictures, video, and sound to your slides

Jeannine Burk – Child Survivor

Resource: The Southern Institute for Education and Research

Manny Mandel – Child Survivor

Resource: podcast from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, First Person Podcast Series

The Power of Images

• Images, including historical video footage, can sometimes invoke more thoughts, opinions, anger, and happiness than any book is able to

• Use images to help yourself understand your topic, and to convey to your audience what you want to get across

Shoes of victims in the Janowska camp were found by Soviet forces after the liberation of Lvov. Janowska, Poland, August 1944.http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_ph.php?MediaId=995

Hairbrushes of victims, found soon after the liberation of Auschwitz. Poland, after January 27, 1945. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_ph.php?MediaId=645

These are a few of the thousands of wedding rings the Germans removed from their victims in order to salvage the gold. U.S. First Army troops found these rings, with watches, precious stones, eyeglasses, and gold teeth fillings, in a cave adjoining the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany. 5/5/45. http://resources.ushmm.org/inquery/uia_doc.php/query/13?uf=uia_pQyLMw

A 13-year-old orphan, a survivor of the Mauthausen concentration camp. Austria, May 1945. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_ph.php?MediaId=1944

Music – Theme song from Shindler’s List. Images of the Holocaust.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j-BP49gsFY

Citations

• Citations are one of the most important parts of a project– Allow you to revisit resources you have

used successfully– Permit your audience to also utilize

these sources– Provide the original authors credit– Demonstrates that you have thoroughly

and legitimately researched your work

Bookmark Sites As You Go

• The most effective way to collect and save good resources online, is to bookmark websites as you search

• In your bookmark folder, create an additional folder to save sites in so they do not get mixed up with your current bookmarks

• http://www.diigo.com/ is a great toolbar that allows you to highlight text on a page and add sticky notes, which will remain there every time you revisit the site– Highlight as you first review the page, finding topics

that are relevant to your work– Can be a great resource when writing a paper – just

refer to your highlighted sections for notes and quotes– Example: The online credibility gap

How to Cite

• There are many resources to help you correctly cite your sources in your work

• The following link from Duke University demonstrates how to cite within a paper as well as how to compile a works cited page– http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/

• Make sure to check with your teacher to find out how they want you to format your works cited page

Before You Turn In Your Project

• Spellcheck!!– On a computer you have no excuse for

incorrect spelling, spell checkers are built into all word processing software

• If a paper, read it out loud to yourself at least once to make sure it flows– It can’t hurt to have a friend or parent

read it over either

• Make sure your sources are cited correctly

Stephen Colbert + Wikipedia

• On his show in 2006 Colbert proved that one could easily edit Wikipedia articles

• Encouraged viewers to edit articles on elephants

• Prompted Wikipedia to enforce stronger limits on posts

• Coined the term Wikiality– truth by consensus (rather than fact)

• http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1537865/20060803/story.jhtmlback