Lesson 1: Researching in the Library
There are
three general areas of library research. Each
of these is very important to your project.
To make the most of your research time, you should first select a topic,
then locate sources, and finally, organize the sources.
When you begin to consider ideas for a topic,
start with a very general idea and slowly narrow it down to a final topic.
There are many things that you should take into account before deciding
on a topic.
If you are
having trouble finding a topic, consider browsing through current events in
magazines such as Time, Newsweek, or any scholarly journal
available to you. Also, think about
asking your instructor for assistance.
Focus Your Thoughts
Once you have a general idea for your research project, you must now focus your topic. There are a few things you need to think about while narrowing your topic.
If
there is a limit on the length of your paper, this will affect
your topic. You need to use a topic that is manageable in the length
assigned to you for your paper.
The
amount of time you have to write your paper is crucial to your research.
Be sure to allot plenty of time to research.
You will be able to receive books from the Fountain-New Library; however,
they may take a few days to get to you.
Every topic can be looked at in various ways. You must decide how you want to write your paper. For example, if you are writing a paper on William Shakespeare, you must decide what you want to write. Do you want to write a biographical paper? Would you rather discuss the works of Shakespeare? Or, do you want to discuss the effects of Shakespeare’s writings on literature? The approach you take to your topic will have a great impact on your research.
If you choose a subject that is too popular, there will be very few original thoughts you can add to your paper. Try to stay away from something too common. However, if you choose a topic that has not been dealt with very much, you will have trouble locating enough sources for your paper.
After you have focused
your thoughts and ideas, it is time to come up with search terms that pertain to
those thoughts and ideas. A
dictionary or thesaurus would be useful in finding synonyms that will increase
the search results for your topic.
Sources are an integral part of your research project.
It is from these sources that you will draw conclusions, facts and useful
quotes to use in your paper. Sources
come in many different forms (books, articles from periodicals and Internet
sources), and your instructor may specify a certain number or type of sources
for your paper. He or she may
require that you utilize primary as well as secondary sources.
Primary sources are works that were produced at the time of the
event. Secondary sources
draw from primary sources to generate an analysis of the event.
Primary Sources
|
Secondary Sources
|
|
Eyewitness
accounts, including newspaper articles or film footage from the time of
the event, diaries, letters and minutes of meetings |
Books
or articles written about a historical event |
|
Photographs |
Biographies |
|
Autobiographies |
Encyclopedias |
|
Census
records |
Reviews |
|
Speeches
or oral histories |
Textbooks |
|
Artistic
works, such as poetry, music or art |
|
|
Artifacts
from the period |
|
If
your professor does not specify the use of primary or secondary sources, you may
still wish to consider and research several types of sources so you can have an
eclectic mix of information in your paper.
The best place to begin your research would be in books.
Books can offer not only useful information, but also bibliographies that
will lead you to other sources. To
find books on your topic, you will need to use iPAC, the Fountain-New
Library’s online catalog. You may
wish to consult Lesson 2: How to Find Books,
on the use of iPAC.
Often, if you are dealing with a current interest topic, it may be easier to find articles than to locate books that deal with the subject. There are several ways you can search periodicals, but the easiest and most efficient would be through GALILEO, which many times offers full- text articles. The use of GALILEO and other electronic databases is explained thoroughly in Lesson 3: How to Use Electronic Databases.
When you are looking for sources, you need to consider the type of periodical and article. There are two distinct types of periodicals: scholarly journals and popular magazines. For example, popular magazines would include People, Good Housekeeping, and GQ. Scholarly journals would include works such as Renaissance Quarterly, The American Journal of Psychology and Criticism. The chart below lists ways to differentiate between scholarly and popular publications.
Scholarly Journals |
Popular Magazines |
|
Identify authors for articles |
May not always name authors for articles |
|
Experts write the articles |
Writers are not always experts and articles are written for general entertainment |
|
Usually, articles do not include photographs, but do have graphs and charts |
Articles often include photographs, but rarely graphs and charts |
|
Provide bibliographies and/or footnotes |
Do not cite references |
|
Are written for a specific field of study and include specialized language |
The magazines have many advertisements |
At times, the Internet can be a great
place to find helpful articles and sources for your research project.
However, you must be very careful doing research on the Internet.
Very few rules cover what has been posted on the Internet, and sources
cannot always be verified as dependable. Also,
you should consult your instructor before citing sources from the Internet.
Your professor may or may not want you to use Internet sources.
You can learn more about using the Internet in Lesson
4: How to Search the Internet.