Gather background Information using reference materials from your library

When people think of reference books, they often picture rows of dusty encyclopedias. Well, we have those, but a whole lot more, including searchable sets of online reference materials, such as: 

Read, think, search...Read, think, search...

When starting a research project, most people start with an online search engine (Google), and end up looking at Wikipedia articles about their topic. This is a quick and easy way to get started with research. Using these freely available online tools to purposely gather background information can lead to better searches using library tools. 

Use online search engines to discover: 

• various facets of your topic
• current (and past) conversations about your topic
• who is participating in the conversations about your topic
• the vocabulary people use to discuss your topic

TIP - Using your concept map or research notes, keep track of the variety of vocabulary you encounter, peoples' names or groups that are affiliated with the topic, and any interesting aspects of your topic that you may not have thought about before.