Research Advice
For Young Scholars
We can't help you with your theme paper, but we can offer you some good advice. If you've written research papers, your teacher or parents may have already told you something like, "When I was your age, we had to research our papers in the library, without the help of the Internet." When it comes to detailed topics, this hasn't changed too much, except that some encyclopedias are now on cd-rom and a few have Web sites that let you look up topics by key word. Except for online encyclopedias, the problem with doing research on the Web is that about half the information you find on any humanistic subject (history, art, social studies) is just plain wrong. Publication of a hard copy reference book implies that somebody has carefully read it before publication, but almost anybody can publish at least a simple web site.

Best of Sicily offers a lot of useful historical information, with more detailed information on art, music and literature presented in the Magazine section. If you use this site to research a report, you should mention it as one of your sources, but not the only source. You could also download some of the JPEG photos to include in your report.

Some teachers discourage using the Web too much for researching, and yours may be one of them. Part of the reason for this is that they know how much inaccurate information is published on the Web. Don't just download a few pages from Best of Sicily, change a few words so that it looks like an original report, and then hand it in. Remember that if you found us with a search engine, your teacher can find us, too. (Some teachers are smarter than you think --a few wrote some of the pages of this site.)

If you want to write a successful paper on a Sicilian topic, the best place to find good information is in your local public library.

For reference works, the Encyclopedia Britannica has the best general information on Sicily. In fact, it's the only encyclopedia we recommend for accurate information on Sicily. (Online references like Wikipedia are less reliable because they are not edited by expert historians.) If you know a specific topic you would like to research (for example, King Roger II), you can always look up that topic for more detailed information. However, you may have to consult particular books for more complete information on certain historical periods.

John Julius Norwich wrote two good books, The Normans in the South and The Kingdom in the Sun, dealing with the medieval Norman rule of Sicily. A few years ago, these were republished as a single volume, The Normans in Sicily. Steven Runciman wrote an excellent book dealing with Sicily during the period following Norman rule, The Sicilian Vespers.

Denis Mack Smith wrote a fine book, A History of Sicily, which deals with Sicilian history generally. There are two versions of this work, the one-volume edition and a much more detailed two-volume edition. Remember that the bibliography of books like this one might list other books you can consult.

If you search your library's catalogue under "Sicily," you may find other books that will be useful in your research.

Once you've done this, you may find that it is easier to research according to a particular aspect of Sicilian history by subject. For example, let's say that you are researching the ancient Greek culture of Sicily. If you look up subjects such as Greece, Classical Greece, Magna Grecia (or Magna Graecia) or Hellenistic Art, you'll probably find a few references to Sicily. If you look up Italian Literature, you'll find something on Sicilian literature as a sub-topic of general Italian Literature. Articles on The Inquisition in Spain may mention Sicily, which was ruled by Spain during that period.

Outside Italy, it's a little more difficult to find books dedicated to Sicilian localities, such as Agrigento, Palermo and Messina. Some of the largest public libraries may have books dedicated to these cities. Under certain circumstances, it may be possible to order a book on Sicily through a bookstore. If you do this, ask them to search using Books in Print, a large listing of books which publishers have in their stocks. Yes, it's more expensive than the library, but many books are available as "trade paperbacks" that cost less than hardcover books.

Unfortunately, we don't have any materials that we can email or snail mail to you. Compared to a lot of subjects you could research, Sicily is very interesting, and it's a subject with which even your teacher may not be very familiar. Good luck.

-- The Editors of Best of Sicily