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All research begins by learning basic facts about your topic and what others are saying about it.
Preliminary reading -- sometimes called background reading -- allows researchers/writers to familiarize themselves with existing information, current research, and various viewpoints concerning their chosen topic. This type of inquiry helps evaluate the viability of topics as well as refine or narrow broad topics into a manageable focus. To be clear, preliminary reading isn't about finding your sources -- though you may find some along the way -- as much as it is about finding your ideas.
Search below to discover books and other sources that the library has either in print at the L & LC or online.
Research is all about exploration. Sometimes we are exploring ideas, sometimes we are exploring current issues, sometimes we are exploring the lives of people or the repercussions of events. Asking questions is the key to this exploration.
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Think of research questions as a grocery list designed to guide you through a huge “store” of information. This list will allow you to efficiently locate and retrieve the most relevant knowledge possible to support your thesis, prevent you from getting off track as you sift through large quantities of information, and even help keep you organized as you begin writing. Your list of questions may change and/or expand as your research progresses.
After you've done your background reading and understand the basics about your topic AND after you've created some research questions to direct your exploration, you're ready to dig deeper and seek answers to your research questions. These tools below will help you do that.
Before you jump into hunting and gathering your information, be sure you know how not to be fooled by unreliable, false, or misleading information. It's not hard if you train yourself to ask some simple questions based on the CRAAP Test.
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While applying the CRAAP Test to a Web site, that Web site isn't always the best place to answer questions concerning authority, accuracy, and point of view. You can not always trust what an author or organization says about themselves, and there are sites that may look very professional and credible that are actually promoting a certain agenda or viewpoint.
If you are unfamiliar with a online source, it is good practice to open a new tab and perform a search on the author/organization providing the source. This process is called Lateral Reading. In addition to reading "down" the Web page in order to evaluate it, you open additional tabs and read "across" multiple pages to determine what others are saying about your potential source.
To learn more about lateral reading, check out our Lateral Reading - Consult Other Sources and our Tools to Use for Lateral Reading pages.
If you need materials (books, articles, recordings, videos, etc.) that you cannot find either in OneSearch or in our databases, we can get it for you. Check out our Interlibrary Loan page below.
Once you're done with your research, you're ready to write.
When you write a research paper, you use information and facts from a variety of resources to support your own ideas or to help you develop new ones. Books, articles, videos, interviews, and websites are some examples of sources you might use.
Citing these sources of information in your work is essential because:
Watch this short video from The Learning Portal to learn why you cite and when you cite. Watch, Learn, and Enjoy!
"Why You Need to Cite Sources" by The Learning Portal is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Your instructor should tell you which citation style they want you to use. Click on the appropriate link below to learn how to format your paper and cite your sources according to a particular style.
Use NoodleTools to create individual citations or full bibliographies, organize your research notes, and manage your research projects.
Learn more on the go with our library of how-to videos on YouTube.
Learn how to research like a pro with our credit-bearing MLIB 100 or our free, non-credit courses.