Friday, December 15, 2006

The Persian Gulf War and the Iraq Occupation, 1990-2006



First, some questions about Wikipedia

1. Is it ok to use Wikipedia for research?

YES and NO. Yes, you can use Wikipedia as a starting place for your assignment. BUT you can NOT use Wikipedia as your ONLY source. Wikipedia is written by amateurs and fact-checked by amateurs! That means it often has errors and is often poorly-written or omits key facts.

So ALWAYS verify EVERY fact in Wikipedia from a SECOND SOURCE: a second source that is written by experts and fact-checked by experts (that means a World Book Encyclopedia, the Gale or SIRS online databases, or a library book).

2. Is it true that Wikipedia articles provide a citation for each article?

Yep, the rumors are true! Look on the left-hand side of every Wikipedia article page for this:
Toolbox
"Printable version" takes out the junk so you can print a "clean" version of a Wikipedia article.

"Cite this article" provides an MLA-formatted citation for a Wikipedia article.

ABOUT THIS PROJECT





Mr. Bradford's note: Below are links to three subject areas:

1. The history of Persian Gulf War I (the international coalition that ousted Saddam Hussein's army out of Kuwait in 1991)


2. The history of Persian Gulf War II (the US invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003)

3. Current statistics on military and civilian casualties in Iraq, current news on Iraq

1. The history of Persian Gulf War I, 1990-1991

Wikipedia Desert Storm Article (good overview but do NOT use as your only source!)
The Whirlwind War (military history)
The Gulf War (*from PBS--excellent resource!)
The Fog of War (history of the Persian Gulf War from the Washington Post)
A Timeline of Iraqi history, 1922-Present
Iraq Between Gulf War I and Gulf War II (timeline of key events)


2. The history of Persian Gulf War II, 2003-Present

Timeline of the War and Occupation
Occupation of Iraq (from Wikipedia--do not use as your only source!)
Archive of CNN stories about the Iraq War
Global Security Report on Iraq invasion/occupation by United States

3. Current statistics on military and civilian casualties in Iraq, current news on Iraq

An Overview of the US Occupation of Iraq from the Canadian Broadcasting Company (Excellent Resource!)
Gulf War Syndrome
Casualty Statistics on Gulf War, Part I
Casualty Statistics on Gulf War, Part II
A Nation at War (excellent resource on the occupation of Iraq by the US...from the New York Times!)
Current News on Iraq from National Public Radio
Current News on Iraq from the British Broadcasting Company
Current News on Iraq from Yahoo! News

Sites listing war and/or civilian casualties:

Anti-War.com
Globalsecurity.org
Iraq Coalition Casualty Count
Obleek.com (interactive animated map showing where soldiers have been killed throughout Iraq)

You can also try searching the Gale database, found on the library homepage:

CLICK ON THE BLUE GALE BUTTON ON THE LIBRARY PAGE.





THEN CLICK ON THE OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS BUTTON. Choose "Iraq" from the list of topics!


Remember: Gale is a digital library (online books). Gale provides the citation for you and you can email the Gale articles to yourself!



Instructions for home access (usernames and passwods) are on Page 19 of your student planner!

Another source for current news/articles is SIRS.
Click on this button on the library homepage.
Enter the search term: IRAQ WAR to access 470+ articles on Iraq, with the most recent article at the top of the list!
You can email the articles to yourself!
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Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Imperialism Weblinks: A Guide for Foothill Students



First, some questions about Wikipedia:

1. Is it ok to use Wikipedia for research?

YES and NO. Yes, you can use Wikipedia as a starting place for your assignment. BUT you can NOT use Wikipedia as your ONLY source. Wikipedia is written by amateurs and fact-checked by amateurs! That means it often has errors and is often poorly-written or omits key facts.

So ALWAYS verify EVERY fact in Wikipedia from a SECOND SOURCE: a second source that is written by experts and fact-checked by experts (that means a World Book Encyclopedia, the Gale or SIRS online databases, or a library book).

2. Is it true that Wikipedia articles provide a citation for each article?

Yep, the rumors are true! Look on the left-hand side of every Wikipedia article page for this:
Toolbox
"Printable version" takes out the junk so you can print a "clean" version of a Wikipedia article.

"Cite this article" provides an MLA-formatted citation for a Wikipedia article.

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

A note from Mr. Bradford, your librarian!
These are weblinks on different topics in imperialism and colonialism for an assignment for (click on their names to go to their Foothill High Teacher websites):



Requirements for the Research Paper:

1. A map of your country and location in the world

You need an ATLAS! These are printable maps! (10 cents per page to print in the library for black and white; 50 cents per page for color).

2. Colonization information: who, when, why, and how they were colonized.

Your best source for this is a book about the country (look on the book cart for this assignment) or in one of these reference sets (all of them are on the cart!):

Colonialism, Volumes 1,2, and 3: An international, social, cultural, and political encyclopedia

Encyclopedia of Asian history Africa, Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4 Encyclopedia of African history


Websites you can use:

State Dept. Background Notes (Country Histories)

BBC Country Profiles



You can also try searching the Gale database, found on the library homepage:

CLICK ON THE BLUE GALE BUTTON ON THE LIBRARY PAGE, THEN CLICK ON THE SILVER BUTTON (Student Resource Center Silver). Remember: Gale is a digital library (online books). Gale provides the citation for you and you can email the Gale articles to yourself!

Click on this silver button to access the database!




3. Significant historical events.

Same sources as Question #2

4. Current data and statistics.

The three best web sources for this are:

Infoplease Encyclopedia
CIA World Factbook
State Dept. Background Notes (Country Histories)

5. In-depth discussion on the following questions:

A. Define and discuss some of the factors involved in colonization. Why do people colonize other countries?

B. Throughout history, colonization has had both positive and negative effects. Consider and discuss these in light of the countries you have studied.

C. What are some of the problems that could arise for a country after it achieves independence? What are some of the consequences and responsibilities resulting from independence?

D. What should the role of the United Nations (or other countries) be in supporting and including nations that have achieved independence in the latter part of the 20th century?

E. Compare colonization in Africa with colonization in other parts of the the world. What is the same? What is different?

Try the reference books used for other questions, plus these weblinks:

Imperialism Webquest #1

Imperialism Webquest #2

The History of the British Empire

History of Colonialism

History of Colonialism (Africa)

American Imperialism (Wikipedia)

British Raj (Indian Empire)

The Effects of Imperialism


6. 3-5 visuals relevant to imperialism in your assigned country.

Try Google Image Search or a book about the country (example: Nigeria).

You can flags and maps of your country at Infoplease.com
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