Settling on a topic can be one of the hardest tasks a researcher can face. On the one hand, a topic which is too broad can be hard to handle because you may find too much information on it. On the other hand, a topic which is too narrow can be hard because you won't be able to find enough! It's important to balance these out with a topic which is just right. This may take some time looking at different information on a wide variety of topics in order to pick the right one. This is called background research.
One good thing is you already know the general direction of your topic: it must be about something to do with Latin America during your time frame. From here, you can do some background research to understand the basics about this topic and determine which areas you need to do in-depth research.
Another important part of starting out is reviewing your assignment and making sure you understand the parameters. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
If you are unsure, you should ask your professor for clarification. You need all this information in order to properly research your topic.
Background research can help you get an overview of your topic so you can start to have a working knowledge of the terms, people, places, and ideas that you may encounter later. Two good places to start are encyclopedias and general internet searches. Remember, this is background research and you probably won't use this in your final paper, so the types of sources aren't important. However, they can help you begin to understand a topic.
Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture
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Unparalleled in its sweep, the Encyclopedia covers a region and a time span never before attempted in English. Its 5,300 entries over four volumes, organised in A-Z dictionary format, treat the entire territory of Spanish and Portuguese conquest and exploration in the New World from the windswept plains of Patagonia to the Alaskan harbour of Valdez to the island nations of the Caribbean. Each country is the subject of a narrative historical survey and a series of entries on its history and geography, its politics, constitutions, political parties, labour unions, and educational institutions. Cross-cultural essays elaborate the broad themes of Pan-American civilisation, the roles of women and the family, the history of African and native slavery, conquest, revolution, immigration, and political stability, the rise of industry and commerce, relations with the United States, and the exploration and protection of natural resources on two continents. The Encyclopedia is completely up-to-date and includes such controversies as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the changes in Haiti."
Encyclopedia of Latin American Politics
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Illustrated with maps and photographs, The Encyclopedia of Latin American Politics covers the current and past political development of Puerto Rico and the 20 independent republics of Central and South America and the Caribbean. Although coverage begins with the independence movements of the late 18th century, the book focuses mainly on the 20th century. Each chapter includes a Country Chart listing relevant economic, political, and social data; a Country Entry section containing 20 to 40 brief entries on important terms, events, and individuals; a list of presidents; and a bibliography. An excellent source of current data and basic historical information on Latin American politics, the book is a valuable research tool for high school and college students and interested public library patrons.
Endangered Peoples of Latin America
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Latin America comprises varied biophysical environments and diverse populations living in widely disparate economic circumstances. Endangered Peoples of Latin America: Struggles to Survive and Thrive includes peoples hit hardest by the current globalization trend. Each chapter profiles a specific people or peoples with a cultural overview of their history, subsistence strategies, social and political organization, and religion and world view; threats to their survival; and responses to these threats. A section entitled Food for Thought provides questions that encourage a personal engagement with the experiences of these peoples, and a resource guide suggests further reading and lists films and videos and pertinent organizations and web sites. As the curriculum expands to include more multicultural and indigenous peoples, this unique volume will be valuable to both students and teachers.
Latin America and the Caribbean
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This volume is the first multidisciplinary guide to the study of Latin American studies to provide both broad coverage and substantial depth. It includes essays on research trends and approaches, provides entries on over 6,000 bibliographic and research sources, and selectively identifies specialized collections and resources in United States research libraries. The contributors provide the perspectives of Latin American bibliographers, researchers, and Latin American scholars. The book is divided into fifteen chapters, beginning with a general bibliography of interdisciplinary sources. The fourteen chapters that follow cover disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. Each chapter includes an introductory essay or essays, one or more bibliographic sections, and a section describing relevant special collections. The work also includes subject, author, and title indexes. The multidisciplinary nature of the work will make it valuable to students, librarians, and faculty members in Latin American Studies.
Liberators and Patriots of Latin America
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Agents of change, they have been both damned and praised--but uniformly remembered as national figures. Some are revered all over Latin America. Yet most are largely unknown beyond their borders. This book makes them and their times and causes understood.The 17 men and six women span generations and causes--Toussaint L'Ouverture of Haiti, Juan Peron and Eva Peron of Argentina, Jose Marti and Fidel Castro of Cuba, Dolores Jimenez y Muro and Hermila Galindo of the Mexican Revolution of 1910, Che Guevara and nine others were passionately involved with independence and equality.
Imagine I am interested in the Mexican writer Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. I could search for her using Google or another search engine. In return, I get results from Wikipedia, quotes by her, information from various universities, and the US Government. While this information is not necessarily scholarly, by reading it I can begin to gather more information about time periods, names, locations, and concepts I can use later as I dig farther into the historical record.
For example, I find this JSTOR Daily article in my Google search which gives me some information about Sor Juana. From this alone, I can start to understand her as a proto-feminist and can use her to explore the role of women during colonial Mexico. Additionally, this article gives me two citations for scholarly articles located in JSTOR, a library database.