Picking a topic - Think about:
- a topic that interests you. You'll have to write about it -- try to make it fun!
- making sure your topic is manageable. Avoid researching something too broad or too narrow. Too broad will mean you will be overwhelmed. Too narrow will mean you might not find enough information to back up your thoughts. TIP: If you feel you are overwhelmed or not getting enough, you may need to refine
your search. How? Think about broader/narrower time span, a
larger/smaller place, broad/specific group of people, general/specific
event.
- making sure you
are clear about what your topic is. Its okay to adjust your topic while
you research. However, try to have a basic idea of what you want to do
when you begin.
- Avoiding research stress:
- Browse general reference resources
to give yourself ideas. You may not want to cite from these resources,
but try subject encyclopedias, newspapers, magazines, etc. to get the ideas flowing. These resources are located on the 3rd floor of the library.
- Be careful about time! Finding materials takes time. Interlibrary loans take time. Putting together your thoughts takes time.
Searching with your topic- Where can you search?
- In your own backyard: The Library Catalog
- use this link to find books, government documents, reserve items, music, movies and journal titles (NOTJOURNALARTICLES) that are located in the Potter Library.
- In someone else's backyard: Other Libraries
- VALECatalog: search in one collection or all collections for materials in NJ academic libraries. If you find a resource or resources you wish to use, you can either go to that library or have the resource(s) brought here.
- Want to learn more about getting materials from other libraries, click here!!!
- How can you search?
- Always go back and revise your search!
- For Example: I am writing a paper on Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House
- my FIRST search might be: Ibsen and "A Doll's House"
- DON'T STOP here! Revise your searches and use the results to find other material
- Revised Search: I want to focus on literary criticism on A Doll's House
- my NEXT search: "literary criticism" and (Ibsen or "A Doll's House")
- Look at using different terms and synonyms.
- Use proper keywords.
- Warning!!! Library lingo alert! Keyword
- Keyword =
Search method that looks for the use of a word or words anywhere in a
record (ex., author, title, abstract, references, text, etc.). Keywords
can be described as more natural language.
- How do you get keywords?
- Write
out what you are looking for. For example, I want to do a paper on
marital relations as shown in Ibsen's "A Doll's House."
- Look at the sentence. What are your keywords? I want to do a paper on marital relations as shown in Ibsen's "A Doll's House."
- "Marital Relations" and "A Doll's House" are what you would use for your search.
- When using a phrase, use quotation marks. The words in the phrase will then be searched together. Ex. "American Revolutionary War"
- Always switch to the Advanced Search page in a database. This will give you more control over your results.
- Always use Boolean Operators - AND, OR - when trying a search.
- What's Boolean? A way to narrow and broaden your search.
- AND: narrows your search. Ex. "A Doll's House"AND society
- OR: broadens your search. Ex. literary criticism OR criticism
- Always check your spelling if the catalog or database results are zero.
- To look for full-text use the "check availability at Ramapo", "primary catalog" or "check availability" links in the databases.
|
|
