Hello! Welcome to the wide world of research. Over the years you have probably been taught a number of ways to do research. You may have even gotten confused, mixing one teacher’s requirements with another’s, leaving you with an inefficient way to gather data for assignments. This webpage is designed to help clarify the research process, allowing you to do research more quickly and effectively.
While you still need to follow procedures set forth by your individual teachers, if no special instructions are given, you can look to this webpage to answer research questions that you have. There is general information about the library, what resources are available, how to properly cite resources, and basic essay formatting guidelines. Also, remember that your friendly media specialist is a wonderful resource for information about choosing a topic, how to research it well, and where to find the materials to do so. Feel free to ask for help. Good luck in your search.
In the beginning…
The first thing you need to do before starting research is to know what your topic is. Whether you have chosen your subject or had it assigned, you want to make sure it is as specific as possible, in order to make the research process quick and effective. For example, if your topic is:
How do drugs affect the brain?
You will get more specific results if you narrow your topic to:
How does alcohol affect the brain?
Zeroing in on a specific aspect will help you find the information you need more efficiently. Using a more general topic will net you much more information, but you will need to spend time weeding through it to find what you really want.
One way to work towards narrowing down your topic is to get an overview of it. The best way to do that is using an encyclopedia, such as Encyclopaedia Britannica. This will give you basic data about the subject and help you find key words and phrases to use for more in-depth searching. You can also look in subject specific encyclopedias, such as Encyclopedia of Global Change or McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology.
Once you have your specific subject and key words/phrases, you are ready to begin researching. First, take a minute to review the information about plagiarism, evaluating resources, and citing sources. These sections will remind you how to use the information you find properly and get citation information when you have your hands on a source the first time. This can save you from having to waste time later repeatedly searching for resources used.
A good place to start looking for resources is in the databases the media center provides. They can be found on the Electronic Database page. When using these links you have the benefit of having them pre-screened to be from quality information sources. When finding sources on the internet you must be careful to choose authoritative websites. Review the Evaluating Resources section for information on evaluating web resources.
