HINT: For a quick introduction to Irving's sources read his preface from the beginning of A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, Volume 1.

With this understanding we can begin researching the sources Irving used and the adequacy of Irving's book.

Using an example, we'll look at open internet searching and searching the library databases. You could also try searching the library catalog (for books) or Google Scholar (use the Quicklink on the library homepage to connect) on your own. The university libraries have many quality resources available to you for this assignment, as well as any other research you might be interested in.

We're going to try a basic keyword search. Google this phrase: washington irving christopher columbus. What can you find in the first couple pages of the over 6,000,000 results?

• A number of versions of Irving's biography, most available for free (since this work was published in 1828 it is no longer in copyright and may be distributed freely) and some of which you could purchase (amazon).
• A blog entry about Irving's Columbus from a professor at Haverford College. This may be helpful, but it is in no way peer-reviewed or scholarly.
• A goodreads entry for the title.
• Newspaper articles, magazine articles and other non-scholarly materials (such as history.com, The Nation, Washington Post)
• An article from jstor.org, which appears scholarly; but is behind a paywall (not accessible if you're not on campus or connecting off campus through the Wayne State Library System).
• A wikipedia entry on Irving's biography

At the library homepage, we'll click on the Summon link at the top right of the library homepage. Summon is a library discovery search tool that searches most of Wayne State University's holdings, including full-text articles from many databases and books from the catalog. It can be a great place to start your use of the library.

We'll try the same basic keyword search. Enter washington irving christopher columbus into the Summon search box and click Search. What can we find?

• About 46,000 results initially, including many copies of Irving's book, both electronic and print.

How can we narrow this?

• On the left there are a number of limiters we can choose to use. You'll use database limiters differently, depending on the research you need to complete; how you may best use them here might not be how you'd best use them for another research topic.
• We'll narrow by clicking the "Scholarly & Peer-Review" option on the left.

This narrows our results to about 900. Results include:

• A number of scholarly and peer-reviewed articles directly discussing Irving's book, the sources he used, and his treatment of Columbus (i.e. the adequacy of his book as a source on Columbus).
• Some results that less focused on this research topic, but could still supply useful information.
• Some unrelated results that appear as a result of the names used in our keyword search (Example: Jamaican Taano Settlement Configuration at the Time of Christopher Columbus) 

You can always adjust your library searches to find what you need.

• Adjust the search terms and/or search field(s). Try an advanced search and see what you find.
• Adjust your results limiters.
• Try searching in specific databases to see what you can find. In this case, JSTOR and MLA International Bibliography could be useful databases because they focus on literature. This allows you to look deeper into a research topic. Use the Article Databases link on the library homepage to get to these databases.
• Looking for books? Try searching the catalog directly.

The Wayne State libraries access to many resources, beyond current journal articles and scholarly books.

Early English Books online provides access to books published in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700.

You can search Columbus in this database to find other works prior to Washington Irving's book which discuss Columbus and his voyage. You may find information in these older works that dispute, contradict or support the information provided in Irving's book.