Quick Tips - Gathering Background Information
Read, think, research...Read, think, research...
When starting a research project, most people start with an online search engine (Google, Bing, etc.), and end up looking at Wikipedia articles about their topic. This is a quick and easy way to get started with research, and if you use it to gather background information, it 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
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.
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:
- CQ Researcher This link opens in a new windowWritten by experienced journalists, footnoted and professionally fact-checked. CQ Researcher provides in-depth coverage of the most important issues of the day.
- Gale eBooks This link opens in a new windowGale Virtual Reference Library is a database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
- Oxford Reference This link opens in a new windowMulti-part database of the online versions of seminal Oxford University Press texts. Each topical division contains the searchable version of the latest edition of published dictionaries and encyclopedias. Additionally, information about Oxford University Press is provided. Online texts will be updated after new editions of the print monographs are published.
- SAGE eReference This link opens in a new windowSAGE Knowledge includes an expansive range of carefully selected SAGE eBook, eReference and Navigator content, more than 5,500 titles in total, including scholarly titles, monographs, reference works, handbooks, series, professional development titles across academic disciplines. Titles are easily searchable by keyword or collection making this the ultimate social science digital library for students, researchers, and faculty.
Research Mindset Tip
Jumping into the middle of a conversation without knowing what has been said before is not usually a wise choice. You can "read yourself into context" by exploring background information about your topic.