Editing Help:Finding research sources


'''Finding research sources''' is a practical guide to locating information about [[paintball]] history, including teams, players, tournaments, manufacturers, playing fields, organisations and equipment.

Much of paintball's history is scattered across tournament databases, old websites, magazines, forums, social media and personal collections. Some records are still available online, while others survive only in archived websites or printed publications.

This guide explains where to begin looking, how to search more effectively and how to recover information from websites that are no longer operating.

For rules on evaluating evidence and adding references, see [[WikiPaintball:Sources and references]].

== Getting started ==

Before beginning your research:

# Search WikiPaintball to check whether the subject already has an article.
# Identify the subject's name, country and approximate period of activity.
# Search for alternative spellings, former names and abbreviations.
# Identify the types of records most likely to contain useful information.
# Keep a record of useful sources and their original URLs.

For example, researching a tournament might involve looking for official results, event announcements, photographs, team registration lists and contemporary magazine coverage.

Researching a manufacturer might instead involve product catalogues, advertisements, instruction manuals, company records and industry interviews.

You do not need to discover a subject's entire history before contributing. A single verified tournament result, historical date or documented appearance can improve an article.

== Where to find paintball information ==

=== Tournament databases and league records ===

Tournament databases are useful starting points for researching competitive paintball.

'''[https://pbleagues.com/ PBLeagues]'''

PBLeagues provides historical and current tournament information, including event listings, divisions, teams and competition records.[1]

Depending on the event, available information may include:

* Tournament dates and locations.
* Registered teams and divisions.
* Event results and standings.
* Player and team records.
* League and tournament series information.

Search for a specific team, tournament, league or year. Follow links between event pages, team records and player profiles where available.

Remember that a team appearing in a registration database does not automatically establish that every listed player attended or competed in a particular event.

'''Official tournament and league websites'''

Check websites operated by the relevant tournament organisers, national associations and leagues.

These may contain archived results, season standings, rules, schedules, announcements and official photographs.

For older events, use the [[#Using the Wayback Machine|Wayback Machine]] to check previous versions of these websites.

=== Paintball publications and news archives ===

Paintball magazines and specialist news websites can provide information that was never recorded in tournament databases.

'''[https://www.warpig.com/ WARPIG]'''

[[WARPIG]] maintains an extensive historical paintball archive covering tournaments, equipment, news, photographs, fields and other subjects.[2]

Its tournament reporting and historical articles can be useful for researching paintball during the 1990s and 2000s.

'''[https://paintball.media/ Paintball Media]'''

[[Paintball.Media]] publishes paintball news, interviews, historical features and tournament coverage.

'''[https://paintballhistory.com/ Paintball History]'''

Paintball History contains articles, historical photographs, advertisements, equipment information and interviews relating to the development of the sport.

'''[https://oldpaintballmagazines.smugmug.com/ Old Paintball Magazines]'''

This collection contains scans of historical publications, including ''Action Pursuit Games'', ''Paintball Sports International'', ''Paintball Games International'', ''Facefull'' and other magazines.[3]

Old magazines may contain:

* Tournament results and reports.
* Team photographs and rosters.
* Manufacturer advertisements.
* Equipment release information.
* Interviews with players and industry figures.
* Field and retailer advertisements.
* Historical tournament schedules.

Advertisements are especially useful for establishing that a product, business or field was being promoted by a particular date.

However, an advertisement does not necessarily establish when a business was founded or when a product first became available.

Additional material may be found through libraries, private collections and the [https://archive.org/ Internet Archive].

=== Paintball forums ===

Before social media became widespread, forums were important places for paintball discussions and announcements.

Two useful starting points are:

* [https://www.pbnation.com/ PBNation], which has hosted discussions about teams, tournaments, equipment, manufacturers and regional paintball.
* [https://www.mcarterbrown.com/ M. Carter Brown], which is particularly useful for historical equipment, collecting, technical discussions and older markers.

Search for historical discussions involving the subject you are researching.

Forum posts can contain contemporary announcements, firsthand accounts, photographs and links to websites that have since disappeared.

However, forum information is not automatically reliable. Distinguish between an official announcement, a firsthand account and an unverified claim.

=== Social media and video platforms ===

Facebook, Instagram and YouTube can help locate information about regional teams, historical tournaments, scenario events and playing fields.

Useful material may include:

* Posts published by tournament organisers.
* Team announcements and competition results.
* Photographs showing event banners, dates or team names.
* Recorded tournament matches.
* Interviews and contemporary video coverage.
* Comments from identifiable participants.

Search old Facebook pages and groups, not just current posts. Historical event results sometimes survive in photograph captions or comments.

When using social media as evidence, record the original post URL, publication date and identity of the account where possible.

A later comment recalling an event should not automatically be treated as equivalent to an official result published at the time.

=== Newspapers, libraries and public records ===

Paintball history is not limited to specialist publications.

Local newspapers can be particularly valuable for documenting early playing fields, tournaments, businesses and community organisations.

Places to investigate include:

* National and local newspaper archives.
* University and public library collections.
* National archives and historical societies.
* Regional sporting organisations.
* Business and company registration databases.
* Trademark and patent databases.
* Digitised historical advertisements.

For example, [https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ Papers Past] provides access to digitised historical New Zealand publications.

Company registration records can help establish the legal history of a paintball business, but a company registration date does not necessarily establish when a playing field opened or a team was formed.

=== Personal collections and historical documents ===

Some of the most useful paintball records have never been published online.

Former players, referees, photographers, field operators and tournament organisers may possess:

* Original event programmes.
* Printed tournament results.
* Old team rosters.
* Photographs with dates and captions.
* Tournament flyers and posters.
* Club newsletters.
* Equipment catalogues and manuals.
* Newspaper clippings.
* Event trophies and certificates.

These records may help identify historical details that cannot be found elsewhere.

Photographs of documents can be useful evidence when their provenance and content can be established. However, photographs, trophies and memorabilia should not be used to infer undocumented results, ownership or dates.

If someone provides historical information from memory, try to locate an independent record confirming it.

== Using the Wayback Machine ==

The '''[https://web.archive.org/ Wayback Machine]''' is operated by the Internet Archive and allows researchers to view preserved versions of websites from earlier dates.[4]

It is particularly useful for paintball research because many older team websites, tournament pages, manufacturer websites and discussion forums are no longer available.

=== How to find an old website ===

# Visit [https://web.archive.org/ web.archive.org].
# Enter the website address you want to investigate.
# Select ''Browse History''.
# If archived copies exist, select a year from the timeline.
# Choose an available date on the calendar.
# Open the archived version of the page.
# Explore its historical navigation menus and links.
# Copy the exact archived URL if you find useful information.

For example, you could enter an old paintball team's website address to investigate its historical roster, sponsors or tournament announcements.

You can repeat the process using different years to see how the website changed.

=== Finding pages within an old website ===

Do not limit your research to the homepage.

Look for historical sections such as:

* News
* Teams
* Results
* Events
* About us
* History
* Galleries
* Sponsors
* Archives

If an archived page contains a broken link, try entering that link's original address directly into the Wayback Machine.

You can also use its archived URL listing to investigate pages captured from an old domain.

Where possible, experiment with older domain names, alternative addresses and different years.

=== When an archived page does not work ===

Archived websites are not always complete.

Some images, downloads, links and interactive features may be missing. Pages that relied heavily on JavaScript can be particularly difficult to recover.[4]

If a page fails to load:

# Try another archived date.
# Search for the exact page URL rather than the homepage.
# Check whether the website previously used a different domain.
# Search for old links to that page on other websites.
# Look for the same information in magazine coverage or tournament reports.

An unavailable archive does not mean that a website or historical event never existed.

=== Saving current websites for future research ===

The Wayback Machine also offers a ''Save Page Now'' feature.

This allows users to submit an accessible public webpage for archiving, although not every website can be captured successfully.[5]

When you discover a useful historical record that is still available online, consider saving it so that a preserved version may remain accessible if the original changes or disappears.

This feature normally saves individual pages rather than an entire website.

=== Citing archived websites ===

When using the Wayback Machine as a source:

* Link to the specific archived page containing the information.
* Record the original website name.
* Identify the original publication date if available.
* Distinguish the archive capture date from the publication date.
* Confirm that the archived content actually supports your claim.

An archived page proves that the captured version contained particular information. It does not automatically prove that every statement on the website was accurate.

== Searching more effectively ==

Search engines can reveal historical material that is difficult to locate through a website's own search function.

=== Useful search techniques ===

'''Exact phrases'''

Put quotation marks around a team, player or tournament name when searching for that exact wording.

For example:

 "Example Paintball Team" 2004

'''Search a specific website'''

Use the <code>site:</code> operator to search within a particular domain.

For example:

 site:warpig.com "World Cup"
 site:pbleagues.com "New Zealand"
 site:facebook.com "paintball tournament"

'''Search for documents'''

Look for PDFs and other downloadable publications.

For example:

 paintball tournament results filetype:pdf

'''Try different names and languages'''

Older results may use different event titles, abbreviations, regional names or spelling conventions.

When researching paintball outside English-speaking countries, search in the language used by local organisers and publications.

Google's [https://www.google.com/advanced_search Advanced Search] provides additional options for refining searches.[6]

Search engines are useful discovery tools, but always open and check the original source rather than relying on search-result summaries.

== Evaluating what you find ==

Finding information is only the first step. Before adding it to WikiPaintball, ask:

# Who published the information?
# Was it published at the time of the event or many years later?
# Is it an official record, contemporary report, firsthand account or recollection?
# Does it directly support the specific statement you want to publish?
# Can the information be independently verified?
# Are there other records that contradict it?

For example, a tournament result published by the event organiser is usually stronger evidence of a team's placement than a participant recalling the result many years later.

Similarly, the earliest tournament appearance you can locate establishes a documented appearance, not necessarily the team's founding date.

Do not assume that missing records indicate a team disbanded, a field closed or a tournament was cancelled.

== Recording your research ==

When you find useful evidence, record enough information to locate it again.

Ideally, preserve:

* The subject being researched.
* The source title and publisher.
* The original URL.
* An archived URL, if available.
* The publication date or relevant issue number.
* The specific facts supported by the source.
* Any uncertainties or conflicting information.

If working with a printed magazine, record the issue date and page number whenever possible.

Avoid citing an entire website when a specific article, tournament result or archived page is available.

== Using WikiPaintball as a starting point ==

Existing WikiPaintball articles can help identify related people, teams, events and sources.

Check the references at the bottom of relevant articles, then follow those sources to their original material.

WikiPaintball should not be used as the sole independent evidence for a new WikiPaintball article. The underlying sources should be checked directly.

Likewise, Wikipedia articles, search-result summaries and AI-generated research can provide leads, but they are not substitutes for verified original records.

== Copyright and historical preservation ==

Finding historical information does not automatically give permission to reproduce it.

Contributors may use historical publications, photographs and archived websites for research, but should not copy entire articles, magazine scans or copyrighted images onto WikiPaintball without appropriate rights.

Summarise relevant factual information in original wording and provide references to the source.

For images, follow WikiPaintball's guidance on free licences and Wikimedia Commons.

== A simple research workflow ==

For someone researching an older paintball tournament, a useful approach would be:

# Search WikiPaintball for the event and its organiser.
# Look for official event records on PBLeagues or the league's website.
# Search historical tournament reports on WARPIG and other paintball publications.
# Check contemporary forum posts and social media announcements.
# Search the Wayback Machine for older versions of the organiser's website.
# Look for magazine coverage, photographs and newspaper reports.
# Compare the information found and identify any contradictions.
# Record the source URLs and publish only the details that can be verified.

The same general approach can be adapted for teams, people, playing fields, manufacturers and other subjects.

You do not need to find everything. Start with the evidence that survives and build on it as more information becomes available.

== See also ==

* [[Help:Editing WikiPaintball]]
* [[Help:Naming conventions]]
* [[WikiPaintball:Sources and references]]
* [[WikiPaintball:Editorial standards]]
* [[WikiPaintball:Contributor guide]]
* [[WikiPaintball:Researching scanned magazines with ChatGPT Work]]

== References ==

# [https://pbleagues.com/ PBLeagues - Paintball Leagues].
# [https://www.warpig.com/ WARPIG - World and Regional Paintball Information Guide].
# [https://oldpaintballmagazines.smugmug.com/ Old Paintball Magazines - Historical magazine collection].
# [https://archivesupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360004651732-Using-The-Wayback-Machine Internet Archive Help Center - Using the Wayback Machine].
# [https://archivesupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001513491-Save-Pages-in-the-Wayback-Machine Internet Archive Help Center - Save Pages in the Wayback Machine].
# [https://www.google.com/advanced_search Google Advanced Search].

[[Category:WikiPaintball help]]