Research Tips
A Quick Guide to Doing Research in the Library
Steve Poppino, Reference Librarian
Phone: 732-6504
e-mail: spoppino@csi.edu
Research Means...
- To search or to seek ("rechercher" in French)
- To look again ("re-search")
Build Your Own Web Of Information Links
- Start with a name, a date, or a concept
- Find background information (related names, dates, etc.)
- Use this data to look in other references
- Work outward to related subjects
Five Basic Tips
1. Look for information in different formats (Hint: It isn't all on the Internet)
- Books (Look in the Library Catalog)
- Magazines & Journals (We have printed & online indexes)
- Pamphlets (Go to the Vertical File, past the Reference Desk)
- Video (Listed in the Library Catalog, kept at the Check-Out desk)
- Internet
- People & Organizations (Associations, Government offices, etc.)
2. Note where you looked & what you looked for
- Which books or indexes did you look in?
- Did you use both technical search words and ordinary terms?
- How many different ways can you spell Tchaikovsky?
3. Note new clues as you find them
- Synonymns for your subject
- Other people who have written about it
- Related people, places, times, & things
4. Be flexible in setting your topic (until it is set)
- You may find a lot, and have to narrow it
- You may find little, and have to broaden your search
- You may find another, more interesting, topic
- BUT - Once your topic is set, don't get distracted
5. Ask for help anytime
- The Library is a complicated place. You can ask the Reference Librarian and the staff at the Check-Out Desk any information question, from "Where is the pencil sharpener?" to "How do I search for articles in this electronic index?"
Popular Literature vs. Scholarly Literature
Your professors will ask you to find research articles in "scholarly" or "professional" journals.
These are different than typical articles in Time or Newsweek. How do you know if you have a research article?
Popular literature looks like this:
- Examples: Time, People, Business Week
- Written for a general audience: language is plain & simple
- Authors are not always listed
- Lots of ads
- Available on the web
Scholarly literature looks like this:
- Example: Journal of Bacteriology
- Written for scholars & professionals in a field of study: lots of technical terms
- Authors always clearly listed (may be a team of authors)
- Common format for reporting a research project:
- Abstract (summary paragraph)
- Statement of problem
- Description of research methods
- Description of data
- Analysis of data (including charts & graphs)
- Conclusions
- List of cited references
- Alternate format: Review article
- Summarizes the results of several research articles
- Very few available for free on the web (use the online indexes)
Using Information From The World Wide Web
EVALUATE any site that you go to
- Anybody can put anything they want on the web. The information you find may be good, bad, or indifferent.
A Few Basic Questions To Ask
- Who made the web page?
- Is the information reliable?
- Is it up to date?
- Is it biased?
Watch Your Time
- Give yourself lead time
- To send for interlibrary loans
- To contact people & organizations
- Deadlines
- Course assignments
- Library due dates (especially Interlibrary Loans
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