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| Research Tips |
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| Getting Started |
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| General Research
Tips |
- Work from the general to
the specific. Find background information first,
then use more specific and recent sources. (The Grace Hauenstein
Library reference collection offers specialized encyclopedias,
dictionaries, atlases, and similar books to help you
find background information.)
- Record what you find and where you found it. Write out a complete citation
for each source you find; you may need it again later.
- Translate your topic into
the subject language of the indexes and catalogs
you use. Check your topic words against a thesaurus
or subject heading list.
- Need help clarifying your topic? Need ideas about
where to look next? Want to be sure you're using a
reference source effectively? Ask
for help at the reference desk!
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| Citation Styles |
| Information on the web
also needs to be cited in your work in a way that allows
others to go directly to the source themselves. |
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| Grace Hauenstein
Library Handouts (pdf) |
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| Online Citation Help |
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Online Citation Builders
Beware - Errors in formatting may occur when using these tools. It is up to you to check the accuracy of your citations. |
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| Distinguishing
Scholarly v. Non-Scholarly Sources |
| Do you
know what it means when a professor's assignment
requires that you use a scholarly or professional
journal for your information sources? In short,
a scholarly journal provides articles of primary
research in a specific field or discipline. This
site lists some comparative criteria that will help
you determine if the journal you are using meets
your assignment's requirements. This comparison
isn't about the accuracy of the popular magazines'
information; it has to do with the level of scholarly
information that is made available. |
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| Evaluating
Web Sites |
| Information on the web needs to be evaluated for
accuracy, scholarship, and timeliness just like
paper sources available in the library. |
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