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.

A. Choosing a Topic

 Start with General Ideas

        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.

• Choose a subject that you find interesting.  If the subject is intriguing to you, then you will enjoy the research much more.

• Keep your topic broad at first.  This will make preliminary research much more successful.

• After you have chosen a general topic, be sure to approve your choice with your instructor.

         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. 

• Does your paper need to be a certain length?

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.

• When is your paper due?

The amount of time you have to write your paper is crucial to your research.  Be sure to allot plenty of time to research.  If you need to supplement your research with materials through Interlibrary Loan, the process may take 1-2 weeks to complete. 

• Is there a certain approach you wish to take with your paper?

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.

• Is your subject overworked? Or is your subject not worked enough? 

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.  Another good source to use is the Library of Congress Subject Headings located with the periodicals.  A library staff member can assist you in using these sources if needed.  

B. Locating Sources

          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.    

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. 

Finding Books

         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 catalog.  You may wish to consult Lesson 2: How to Find Books, on the use of iPAC.

Searching Periodicals

         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 5: How to Use Electronic Databases.  Print indexes may also be used to locate articles; use of these guides is detailed in Lesson 3: How to Find Articles.

        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.

Surfing the Internet

        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. 

C. Organize Your Sources  

            After you have begun the research process, you will need to organize your sources.  You need to consider what sources are most important to your topic and from which sources you want to quote.  You will also need to keep up with the bibliographic information for your sources.  There are many ways of doing this, but one of the easiest is to write the information on a note card.  After you have organized your sources, and retrieved all the information you need from the library, you may begin writing your paper.  Later, you will need to document your sources and you can find this information in Lesson 7: How to Cite Sources.

  You may now proceed to the exercise for this lesson.