Find Information Quick Start Tutorial

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LIBRARY AND LEARNING RESOURCES

FIND INFORMATION QUICK START TUTORIAL

Library and Learning Resources Home > Databases and Articles

FIVE STEPS FOR FINDING INFORMATION:

Identify Your Topic
Find Keywords That Describe Your Topic and Create a Search
Get Definitions and Background Information
Find Journal and Newspaper Articles and Books
Document Your Information Sources

[NOTE: To access any of the resources noted below within the Empire State College
Library you will need your MyESC login and password]

1. Identify Your Topic

First, determine what kind of information you need for your assignment, then develop a research topic and question:

Identify the Assignment Type - for questions about the assignment requirements, consult your instructor.
Develop a Research Question or Thesis that describes your topic.

[More Information: Writing Resource Center and Designing a Research Project]

2. Find Keywords That Describe Your Topic and Create a Search

Once you have a research question, you need to extract key words from it. A simple way to find keywords is to use a "concept chart." This is a visual way to analyze the concepts of your research question so that keywords can be identified. Try using a thesaurus, dictionary and or specialized encyclopedia for locating alternate terminology. Then insert them into a chart as below and use the AND search operator between each set of concepts to create a search. OR is used to combine synonyms, and parentheses are used to group them.

Example research paper topic:
Compare "Contingency Management" and "Theory Z" styles in the United States.

Break this question down into it's main topics and find alternate terminology:
~~Compare~~ "Contingency Management" / and "Theory Z" / ~~styles~~ / in the United States.

Concept 1:

"contingency management"

AND

Concept 2:

"theory Z"

AND

Concept 3

"United States" OR America

Possible search query: "contingency management" and "theory z" and ("United States" or America)

Tips for creating a search query:

Use double quotes around two or more words to search for an exact phrase.
Try mixing and matching your keywords to create the right search for the resource you are using.
Look for options to limit the search to scholarly or peer-reviewed journals.
Look at a relevant article or book list of references to find related resources.

[More Information: Selecting Keywords and Using Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) (print version) and Additional Search Techniques]

3. Get Definitions and Background Information

You can use dictionaries, specialized encyclopedias and biographical resources to get background information. If you can find entries for your topic, it should give you some good, basic information about what the topic is, alternate terminology, etc. which you can then use to inform your more in-depth research using the journal and book resources mentioned below (note: encyclopedias are not considered sufficient to use as the only or primary source for most research assignments).

[More Information: Reference Shelf and Locating Background Information]

4. Find Journal and Newspaper Articles and Books

For most any academic research you need to use library resources:

Why Google should not be your primary research tool.
To locate articles and books, click on the All Research Databases link in the upper left of the library home page, or if you prefer, the Subject Guides link just below it. The former lists all the resources that the library provides access to, organized by type: journals, newspapers, books, reference and images. You might also try the Multi-Database Search tool located in the center of the home page.

Each entry in the list includes a 1) subject focus, 2) brief description, and 3) where available, a link to a tutorial.

icons indicate the resource contains full-text material:

Here are four major, full-text, multidisciplinary resources. These are a great place to start . They contain lots of scholarly and trade full-text publications; each covering all the major disciplines:

EBSCOhost - journals and newspapers
E-Book Catalog (under the "Books" section) - search 40,000+ electronic books
ProQuest - journals and newspapers
JSTOR - scholarly journals going back to the 19th century

WorldCat

[More Information: Library Research Tutorials and Using Online Database Services]

5. Document Your Information Sources

Three things to continually keep in the back of your mind while compiling information for a research assignment:

Evaluate your information sources - you must analyze them for accuracy, currency and possible bias.
Avoid Plagiarism and Understand Citations (opens in a new window or print version) - take notes, avoid plagiarism and recognize parts of a citation.
Cite your sources - organize and format your sources for in-text citations and bibliography using MLA, APA or other style.

[More Information: Academic Integrity and Documenting Sources and How to Take Notes]

For a more in-depth overview of conducting research using the library, see A Six Step Approach to Research and Library Resources Orientation / (or print version)

Ask a Librarian for more information, or contact a librarian via e-mail at librarian@esc.edu



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