RESEARCH TIPS Choosing a Topic This can be the easiest or hardest part of the research assignment. •You are assigned a topic. •You do not have the hassle of figuring out what to research. •Your research is focused. •You may not have much interest in what you are researching. •You need to choose a topic within a subject area. •Choose a topic you know. •Choose a topic you are interested in. •You are given a general topic of the Civil War •You are interested in medicine •Write your paper on medical innovations during the Civil War. •You can do this with any number of topics. Technology, Sports, Gender or Racial issues. Background Research •Encyclopedias •Print Versions in the Reference collection •R 030 •Encyclopedia Brittanica •World Book •The New Book of Knowledge •Online Versions •Encyclopedia Brittanica •Reference Works •Dewey Decimal Classification •000s General Interest •Books •Computers •100s Psychology & Philosophy •200s Religion •300s Social Sciences •Government •Almanacs •400s Languages •Dictionaries •Thesauruses •500s Science •600s Applied Sciences •Technology •Health •700s The Arts •Music •Theater •800s Literature •Contemporary Literary Criticism (810.9) •British Writers (820.9) •900s History / Biography •World Eras (902) •American Decades (909.82) •Country Studies (910) •Biographies (920) •Contemporary Authors (920) •World History (940 - 960) •US History (973) Narrow the Topic •From the background reading •Main topic is understood •American Law •Decide on a Narrower topic •Presidential veto power •Report topic •The constitutionality of the line item veto. Gathering Information •Online Catalog •Books in Elliott Library •Check out Local Resources for libraries in the Glen Ellyn Area.   •Online Subscriptions: Magazines, newspapers, transcripts, audio-visual •Galenet •Encyclopedia Britannica •OCLC First Search •Internet •ALWAYS evaluate the websites you are using •Authority •Accuracy •Objectivity •Currency •Coverage •Know the difference between a . . . •Search Engine •Search Directory •Meta-Search Engine •Citing Sources •Noodle Tools •Password required outside of Glenbard West •Glenbard Guide •MLA •APA •The Research Process •Glenbard Guide •MLA Guide •Getting an A on an English Paper •[ http://www.gl[ http://www.indiana.edu/%7ewts/wts/plagiarism.html ]Plagiarism •Final Reflection