History 1301 (Honors)
Pathfinder


A "pathfinder" is a bibliography that is more fully developed than traditional annotated bibliographies and is used to help others locate information on a particular topic. Your pathfinder will accompany the research paper you are writing and will be placed on my webpage and linked to the ACC History Department webpage. The purpose of the pathfinder is to 1.) help you understand the research process 2.) encourage your to analyze a greater breadth of available sources 3.) have you consider the specific value of the sources you use in your paper 4.) give you some experience in creating an HTML document 5.) help future students find useful information on topics they are researching.

Your pathfinder should:

1. Include an opening paragraph(s) that describe your research topic and the purpose of your pathfinder.

2. Have a MINIMUM of SEVEN  SOURCES. For each source you need to provide a full bibliographic citation. If it is an Internet source you will need to make a link to that site. Each entry should have 3-5 sentences that describe the contents and usefulness of the source and why you decided to use or not to use it in your pape. If pertinent, include how you found the source i.e. what search terms did you use and where did you find the source.

3. Make sure to separate your primary sources from your secondary sources.

4. Create an HTML document for your pathfinder that is suitable for placement on the Internet. You may be as creative and stylistic as you wish, but only the text and links are required.

5. Turn in your pathfinder on a flash drive or as an email attachment by APRIL 13. You then have until APRIL 20 to view your pathfinder on the web and submit to me any changes that you want to make. No changes may be made after that date. A letter grade will be deducted for each class day that the pathfinder is turned in late. Note that you may turn in your pathfinder at any point before the deadline and we can look at it and make the changes that you want.

6. Make sure to put your name at the bottom of the document if you want others to know who was the author of your pathfinder.

7. I have a sample pathfinder for you to look at and I have provided a very basic template for you to use at  http://www.austincc.edu/pgoines/template.html

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