Harold & Wilma Good Library: CORE 190: Crossing Borders (Hostetler): Starting your research

The Recommended Process for open ended research assignments

With an open ended research assignment it is best to follow these steps:

1) Consult a scholarly reference work. Read the bibliography.

2) Look for books. (Books often contain information that has been researched extensively. Articles tend to contain information that is very very specific)

Other tips:

Once you find a few books, then you might want to venture into articles, but you might not need to either. If you do get articles, you will definitely want to consult a librarian because where and how you search will largely depend on your subject discipline.

Always consult with a librarian. They know how to search things faster than you do. Using them is not cheating.

Order your Inter Library Loan Materials early and often.

Step 1: Online Encyclopedias

CREDO Reference This link opens in a new window
Professionally developed subject encyclopedia collection. Similar to Wikipedia yet with articles written by known subject experts.
Credo Reference is a multidisciplinary collection of subject encyclopedias and dictionaries. Developed with beginning researchers in mind, it includes resources to help develop search terms, as well as bibliographies that directly link to the library catalog. A strength is the robust quality of the articles written, while a weakness is that it is missing obscure topics. Subscription.
Oxford Reference Premium Online This link opens in a new window
Broad selection of books for reliable, brief entries on many subjects.
Oxford Reference is a collection of electronic encyclopedias and dictionaries published by Oxford University Press. Its strength comes from Oxford University Press reputation, but many of the results are very short entries. Subscription.

Step 2: Good Library Search

Search for an item at Good Library:

CQ Researcher

CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive reporting on issues in the news; pro-con essays from experts

Newspapers

Newspaper Source Plus This link opens in a new window
News from around the world.
Newspaper Source Plus provides articles from newspapers, newswires and news magazines from around the world. Includes television and radio transcripts and daily updates from popular news sources. INSPIRE.

Statistical Sources

For links to sources of statistical and demographic data on a variety of topics, use our Statistics Research Guide.