Introductioniq9医家园 What better way to start a research project than at the library? Public and school libraries are incredible treasure troves of information, but locating the right resources can be tricky. This outstanding program will teach you how to form a research plan, begin your background reading, and develop a preliminary bibliography — so you can find better materials inless time!iq9医家园 For easier studying and maximum success, we recommend that you view the program over a number of short sessions: don’t try to absorb too much at one time. Review the entire program, or specific sections, as many times as you find necessary in order to master the material.iq9医家园 Perhaps most importantly: Don’t forget to take advantage of your “pause” button while viewing the program. Keep plenty of scrap paper handy so you can jot down ideas, work through concepts, and more. And finally, be sure to use the myriad on-screen graphics to take notes for yourself — when you’re done, you’ll have a notebook you can refer back to again and again.iq9医家园 About Your Instructoriq9医家园 Karl Weber, M.A., is an educator, editor, and bestselling author in fields ranging from business to politics to test preparation. He has worked on books with such noted figures as management guru Adrian Slywotzky, Loews Hotels CEO Jonathan M. Tisch, and President Jimmy Carter.iq9医家园 Part 1: Primary and Secondary Sourcesiq9医家园 As you do your background reading, look for research sources that help to answer your research questionand either: iq9医家园 • strengthen,iq9医家园 • challenge, iq9医家园 • modify, or iq9医家园 • illustrateiq9医家园 your working thesis. These may come in the form of primary or secondary sources.iq9医家园 Primary sources are “raw materials” that directly reflect the topic you are writing about. They are usually created by participants or others who lived at the time of the events you are writing about. iq9医家园 Secondary sources are reports of the research done by other people into your topic. They are usually writteniq9医家园
after the events you are writing about by people who didn’t participate in or witness those events.iq9医家园 Part 2: Your First Source: iq9医家园 The LibraryLibrary collections typically offer four main categories of materials:iq9医家园 • Books iq9医家园 • Periodicals iq9医家园 • Other printed materials iq9医家园 • Non-printed materialsiq9医家园 In addition, many libraries offer: iq9医家园 • Computer access to Internet sourcesiq9医家园 Sometimes it’s tempting to restrict your background reading to books and periodicals only. Resist that temptation: be sure to look for relevant materials from all of the categories mentioned above. Depending on your topic, you might find some fascinating and appropriate sources that you wouldn’t have otherwise considered.iq9医家园 And don’t forget to ask the reference librarian about what interlibrary loan options exist at your library!iq9医家园 Part 3: The World of Reference Materialsiq9医家园 Here are nine main categories of reference materials: iq9医家园 • Encyclopedias (general and specialized) iq9医家园 • Biographical dictionariesiq9医家园 • Periodical indexes iq9医家园 • Dictionaries of quotations and concordances iq9医家园 • Atlases and gazetteers iq9医家园 • Chronologies iq9医家园 • Dictionaries (general and specialized) iq9医家园 • Handbooks and sourcebooks iq9医家园 • Bibliographiesiq9医家园 Some of the reference materials mentioned above will be too general for you to refer to within your research paper, but they can often be helpful in this early stage of the research paper process. They can help you track down the most well-respected books and articles about your topic, make sense of sources you’ve located, put them in context, etc.iq9医家园 Part 4: The Catalog: Your Key to the Libraryiq9医家园 Investigate whether your library has made its catalog available online. If so, write down its website address here (along with any username and/or password information that may be required to log in):_______________________________________iq9医家园 Before you start searching, be sure to read any instructions, tutorials, FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), or other HELP materials that are provided online. You might even wish to ask a reference librarian for a quick introduction. If the library’s catalog utilizes Boolean searching, consult the next program in this series:iq9医家园
Writing a Great Research Paper: Finding the Best Sources.iq9医家园 Bibliographical data to record for any sources that might potentially be helpful: iq9医家园 • Call number iq9医家园 • Name of the author/editor iq9医家园 • Title and subtitle iq9医家园 • Edition/volume/issue numbers iq9医家园 • Place of publication iq9医家园 • Name of the publisher iq9医家园 • Copyright date iq9医家园 • Chapter/section/column/page numbers iq9医家园 • Features of the book that seem promising (especially bibliographies)
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