developing a research strategy
background sources
- General or specialized encyclopedias and textbooks (For electronic encyclopedias use Gale Virtual Reference Library)
- Provide authoritative summaries that give an overview of a topic
- Help identify and define key terms, and identify important people
- Suggest other sources for more information on the topic
- Identifies specific issues that can be used to focus your research question
books and ebooks
- Click on “Find Books” at the left of the screen to search the MHC Library Catalog
- Search for titles and authors recommended by background sources
- Do a “Subject” search using appropriate Library of Congress Subject Headings from the red books at the Research Assistance Desk or the WorldCat database
- If you can’t find a good subject heading or the ones you find don’t produce any results in the catalog, try a word search using various keywords
- For more help with the catalog see Library Catalog Search Tips
- To locate a book, use the location and call number information from the catalog
- To view an ebook, click on the long link below location and call number
- If our catalog doesn't provide access to appropriate or sufficient resources, inquire about interlibrary loan
magazine, journal and newspaper articles
- To find articles on a topic, use a periodical index. An index will tell you in which journal or newspaper (title, date and page) articles on your topic can be found
- Click on “Find Articles” at the left of the screen to select a general or subject specific periodical index database
- For help with searching databases, look for a Help or Search Tips link within the search screen or ask at the library Research Assistance Desk
- If you find an article that is not available in full text in the database you searched, use the “Journal Title” search at the top right of this screen to see whether the library has the magazine or journal in which the article was published
- If the publication is not available at MHC, ask about interlibrary loan
finding information on the web
- The Web offers access to a vast array of information, including top quality resources critical to good research as well as much that is biased, inaccurate, undocumented and/or out-of-date
- The most effective way to find information on the Web is to use web directories created by people (often librarians or subject experts) who organize websites by subject and often evaluate the quality of the information provided.
- To access general Web directories, click on “Find Websites” at the left of the screen. To access subject specific directories, click on “Resources by Department” at the left of the screen, choose your department, and then “Web Directories”.
- Websites found by using search engines such as Google should always be carefully evaluated (evaluation guides)