Have been struggling to find sources for an investigation I'm attempting to write about the unification of Japan in the Sengoku period and wondered if anyone had some useful tips or advice on how to find good sources. Guess the rules here are pretty tight and sorry if this breaks one of them but I thought it was a relevant question.
You have come to the right place my friend. There is nothing AskHistorians likes doing more than helping somebody interested in studying history.
The first thing you need to do is read the subreddit rules This is important for some of the next steps.
Now pull up the FAQ scan through the FAQ to determine if some of the questions you have are already answered with sources provided.
Now pull up the Book List Scan through the section on Japan and see if any of the titles and descriptions may match what you are looking for.
Use the search function (top right corner) to look up some keywords and see if the questions may have been answered with sources in past posts don't forget to click "limit my search to AskHistorians" or you may have to scan through a lot of garbage.
Still don't have a good answer yet? read the Subreddit rules one more time. Now post a question to AskHistorians. Try to make the question as specific as possible. Also try to ask about something that might be considered interesting to a broad group. In the text try specifying that you only want sourced answers.
Still haven't got it yet. Post again in 24 hours. Change the question up a bit to see if you get better results.
This step is written last but you can do it anywhere in the process. Ask for help. Check out the list of flaired users message some experts in Japanese history and ask them specifically for some good sources. Also try just asking people you know teachers professors librarians and of course your friend Google.
Sorry I can't give you sources directly but if you follow the steps above you will more than likely get a decent list of sources.
What level of school are you at?