Bell Library Research Guide

If you need further help with your research, you should ask a librarian.

STEP 1: Identify and Develop Your Research Topic

How to Develop Your Research Topic

• State your topic as a question.
  
• Identify the main concepts or keywords in your question.
  
• Use a thesaurus to identify synonyms and other related words.
  

*Use the keywords and synonyms/related words you have identified as search terms.*

Using the keywords, synonyms and related words that you identified in Step 1, begin your search with printed or online encyclopedias and other reference sources, including subject-specific handbooks, directories and almanacs. Articles in encyclopedias and similar sources will help you refine your topic. Note any relevant citations to books, articles and other information in the bibliographies at the end of the encyclopedia articles.

As you read, identify additional keywords that are related to your interest. Search for further information using newly identified keywords, synonyms and related words. If you need help, check with a reference librarian or your instructor.

Additional background information may be found in your lecture notes, textbooks and reserve readings. To find background information on a specific subject area, please consult the library's subject resource guides.

You can search the Bell Library Catalog (called Portal) using these categories:

• WORDS (words in title/name/subject)
• SUBJECT
• TITLE
• AUTHOR
• CALL NUMBER

Using words that describe your topic (identified in Steps 1 & 2 above), do a Words Search in the Library Catalog. Browse the list of results and select items. Look at the subject heading fields (located in the lower half of the item record) of the most relevant results and explore them by clicking and viewing the additional results. When you find something you want to use, look at its bibliographic record and print or write down the citation (author, title, etc.), call number, and location in the stacks. Note the circulation status. When you get the item from the shelf, review its bibliography for more potential sources.

STEP 4: Use Indexes to Find Articles

Periodicals are magazines, newspapers and journals, either in printed form or on the Web. Articles in scholarly (peer-reviewed) journals usually analyze topics in greater depth than do articles in popular magazines. The methods of research and analysis used by scholarly authors follow the standards of their particular disciplines.

To find periodical articles, visit the Bell Library's page of Databases, Electronic Journals, and Other Resources by Subject or use the Reference area's printed indexes. Using online or printed indexes and abstracts allows you to identify citations to articles on a topic of interest. For help with choosing an index appropriate to your topic, ask the Reference Desk.

If you would like to access the databases from off-campus, you must be a TAMU-CC student, faculty, or staff member with a current library account. You will also need to be familiar with which browser you use to access the Internet. Please consult the Remote Access Instruction page for more information.

If the full text of an article is not available online, copy or print the citation from the index and search for the magazine or journal title using the library catalog's Periodical Holdings List. You can use our Interlibrary Loan Services to obtain books or copies of articles not available at TAMU-CC.

STEP 5: Find and Evaluate Web Resources

Web search engines and subject directories are two different ways of organizing information on the World Wide Web.

The Bell Library's Electronic Resources page of Databases, Electronic Journals, and Other Resources by Subject is an example of a subject directory.

Google Directory and Yahoo! are examples of search engines combined with subject directories.

Frequently, the pages you find in a web search will contain links to other relevant sites. Once you have found some pertinent Internet sources, you should evaluate their credibility and usefulness for your purpose. You should evaluate all information you use, but it is especially necessary to examine information found on the Internet, where there is often no fact-checking or editorial control. See Thinking Critically About World Wide Web Resources for tips on evaluating this type of information. Another resource for evaluating Internet sites and search engines is Search Engine Showdown, the Users’ Guide to Web Searching.

STEP 6: Cite the Information You Find

When writing a research paper, you often need to refer to the work of other people- to describe their research or ideas, or to quote them. Whenever you refer to, paraphrase, or quote the theories or research of others, you will need to indicate in your paper the source of your information. This is important to avoid plagiarism.

You have several different styles of documentation to choose from when citing sources. In most disciplines a specific set of guidelines is the accepted standard. For example, MLA is the preferred style manual for English and Humanities papers, while the APA manual is commonly used in courses in the social and natural sciences here at TAMU-CC. For any paper that requires documentation, you should first ask your instructor or professor which citation style you should use.

Style manuals and guides are also available at the Bell Library's Reference Desk. If you require extensive help, please contact the Writing Center, located on the second floor of Bell Library in the Tutoring and Learning Center, Room. 216.

We invite questions and/or comments and look forward to hearing from you. Contact Edward Kownslar at Edward.Kownslar@tamucc.edu.

• Information Literacy Staff
• Information Literacy Hours

Webpage revised on 08/15/2007