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.
Database content is free for MJC students, faculty, and staff. If you are away from campus, simply log in just like you do for your MJC email or Canvas.
Why search here? Use this database for preliminary reading as you start your research. You'll learn about your topic by reading authoritative topic overviews on a wide variety of subjects.
What's included: Gale eBooks is comprised of subject, specialized encyclopedias with articles written by scholars and experts.
Why search here? Use this database to search our collection of thousands of eBooks the MJC Library owns through EBSCOhost. These books can be a great place to start your research.
What's included: Thousands of eBooks covering a wide variety of topics.
Why search here? This is a great database to use when you want to explore different viewpoints on controversial or hot-button issues.
What's included: It includes pro/con articles, court cases, primary sources, videos, media, editorials, and news on more than 800 hot topics in business, politics, government, education, and popular culture. Use the search or browse topics by subject or A to Z.
Why search here? Use this database when you want to explore your topic from a global perspective or to analyze and understand the most important issues of the modern world with a global awareness.
What's included: You'll find news, global viewpoints, reference materials, country information, primary source documents, videos, statistics, and more.
Why search here? Use this database when you want to find comprehensive, unbiased reporting and analysis to get background information on issues in the news.
What's included: Overview reports of topics related to health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy in America.
Who Am I?
by
Questioning Identity
by
Encyclopedia of the Life Course and Human Development
While you're doing your background reading, think about what you find interesting, what you find challenging, what you find puzzling. Take notes because you're actually starting to think about what you want to say in your paper.
Once you have an idea of the story you want to tell, your job is to find the best sources possible to help you tell that story in a compelling -- and credible -- way. As you begin to gather the best sources, be sure to pay attention to the number and type of sources required by your professor.
With your plan in mind, you'll next create research questions that will focus your search for information to support the points you want to make and help define the flow of your paper.
Think of research questions as your shopping list for information. Just as a list keeps you focused in a crowded store, your questions keep you on track in the vast “supermarket” of sources. They help you:
Locate the most relevant information quickly and efficiently.
Stay focused so you don’t get lost or sidetracked while exploring.
Stay organized as you gather evidence and start shaping your paper.
And just like a grocery list, your research questions aren’t fixed. They may grow, change, or shift as you learn more and further refine your topic.
As you shape your research, different types of questions will help you focus on different parts of your paper: introduction, body, and conclusion. The following are sample questions to help you get started. Think of them as a menu of possibilities—some will fit your project, others won’t. Use them as a starting point to spark ideas, and adapt them to fit the scope and goals of your research.
Use these to get background information and define your topic.
What is ___?
Why is ___ an important issue?
What background information is necessary to understand ___?
What are the different types of ___?
These guide you into deeper analysis and evidence.
What causes ___?
What are the effects of ___?
What are the arguments for ___?
What are the arguments against ___?
What is being done about ___?
These help you pull your thinking together and point toward implications or solutions.
What conclusions can you make about your topic, and why?
What can you argue about your topic, and why are those arguments valid?
What should be done to address your topic, and why?
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.
You can begin by using OneSearch, the MJC Library Catalog. Using OneSearch will help you discover books and other sources that the library has either in print at the L & LC or online.
All of these resources are free for you. When you are off campus, simply login like you do for your student email or Canvas.
Different academic disciplines use different citation styles—MLA, APA, Chicago, and Harvard are among the most common—but every style governs the same three aspects of your writing:
In English C1000, you will use the formatting style of the Modern Language Association (MLA).
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