RD 115 -- Theresa Love

tlove@pcc.edu
Librarian: Robin Shapiro robin.shapiro@pcc.edu
Term: Spring 2009

Reading Research Project:

This project is an opportunity to find out more about a topic of interest to you, and share your knowledge with the class. Please see your assignment sheet for details.

Research Process Notes:

 

Where do I start?

Research starts with an information need. (Task initiation, in Kuhlthau's terms)

Your assignment should give you some ideas about how big a topic you need. Make sure you know how much information you'll need, and how you need to use it -- you'll be presenting your topic to the class, and answering questions about it.

Topic Selection

Always choose a topic you care about! If you're bored with your topic, research won't be any fun and your audience will be bored at the end.

Prefocus investigation

Read to explore your topic, and to learn about different aspects. This is a good time to use reference books, like the online encyclopedias linked to the "Reference Shelf" at the bottom of the Research page.

Focus Formulation

Write down a few interesting research questions, and some of the terms you've thought about. Many students use Wikipedia to find out about the issues and controversies related to their topics. If your topic is at all government-related, CQ Researcher is a terrific source for further exploration. Now you're ready to find some information!

Information Collection -- How do I find information on this?

Start with the library catalog, to find books and videos. If you start early, you'll be able to use Summit to request books from our partner libraries as well.

The PCC Library subscribes to dozens of article databases. Databases provide access to thousands of articles from newspapers, magazines, trade journals, scholarly journals, and more. The library groups some databases together for ease of searching, and each database is also searchable individually. Use the Research Tools menu on the right sidebar to access Databases by Subject.

Magazine and Journal articles

can be found in the following databases:

EBSCOhost

SIRS

News articles can provide commentary and discussion that further inform your essay.

LexisNexis Academic Universe provides access to thousands of newspapers and news magazines around the world. If another state or country has experimented with merit pay for social workers, you can find out what their experience has been.

Evaluating Information (not one of Kuhlthau's steps)

Is this information what you need in order to share your topic with the class? Do you need more information, or different information? Will you be able to answer questions your classmates might ask?

Search Closure

This is the decision that you have enough information to complete your project. Double-check to make sure you have all your citation information, and make sure you have more sources than you need, in case you decide that some aren't helpful.

Using Information Appropriately

Make sure you paraphrase accurately, give credit where it is due, and keep your presentation to the assigned length! When you provide good citations, you also strengthen your argument by showing that it's based on respected sources, and help your audience find more information on your topic.

Need some help with your citations? There are some great citation makers available online! These will do most of the work for you, but you should always check to make sure your citations fit your instructor's requirements.

Try OSLIS Secondary MLA Generator -- it's designed for middle and high school students, but it works pretty well for college too.

Easybib is another popular citation maker -- but make sure your speakers are muted; the site is free because there's advertising, sometimes including video commercials.

 

Any questions? Ask a librarian!

 

Related:
Class Pages, Subject Guides A to Z