Your success rate in researching your topic, subject, or idea will dramatically improve if you plan appropriately, develop a timetable to achieve your objective, and take the right course of action to gather information for your project.The quality of the information you gather is more important than the quantity. Assembling a large mass of material through your research does not mean that all of it will be useful or, for that matter, necessary. Therefore, carefully planning what you need to research is imperative.Planning Your ResearchAll undertakings, whether throwing a 50th-anniversary party for your grandparents, buying a new car, moving into your first apartment, or moving to another state, have one thing in common: They all take careful planning. The same goes with researching your paper. A well-developed plan will mean the difference between completing your project on time or ahead of schedule.Three logical steps you should take before digging for more information and to fulfill your research are:1. Set an agenda for your research2. Develop a list of the research tools and strategies3. Create a timetable or schedule for completionSetting an Agenda for Your ResearchPlanning in advance what you need to research can save you a tremendous amount of time and energy. You need a road map to take you in the right direction. Otherwise, you will be spinning your wheels and getting nowhere fast. To avoid this problem, you need to set an agenda for your research.Accomplishing this task is easy. Consider the purpose of your topic and the expectations that your instructor has for your paper. What should your paper look like? What do you hope to learn about your topic? What characteristics should your paper reflect? Is your paper supposed to examine a highly debatable political, cultural, or scholarly issue? Is your paper supposed to take a position or weigh both sides of the issue? Who will your audience be? If you're not sure what the requirements are, always ask your instructor so you are heading down the right path.Following this exercise, determine what methods of research will be appropriate to meet those expectations. What kind of sources are you allowed to use? How much evidence is needed to shape your paper? What variety of sources are required reflecting different viewpoints?Finally, look at what combination of research will help you fulfill the objective of your assignment. Decide which tools and references you should use to balance your research and that you plan to explore. The tools and strategies you select will guide you to finding the research you need to accomplish your assignment.Listing Your Tools and StrategiesNow that you have successfully set an agenda, you need a shopping list. Your list should cover those research tools and strategies you decided upon that are most suitable and most appropriate for your project.In doing your preliminary research to test your topic, you probably only scratched the surface. Consulting encyclopedias, newspapers and magazines, and the Internet probably fulfilled your initial needs, but now you need to broaden the scope of your research to other mediums to fully research your topic before writing your paper.Consequently, list other print and electronic research tools that you want to explore in earnest, and check them off after you've completed this task. Your list might be something like this:___ Check almanacs
___ Check biographical dictionaries
___ Check electronic databases
___ Check master bibliographies
___ Check microfilm indexes
___ Check scholarly journals
___ Check specialized subject references
___ Check other sources (such as government documents, statistical abstracts, and the like)
___ Check with a librarian (for helping you find any of the above or other relevant sources) Your list may look different from the above example, but, nonetheless, it will help you focus on your needs and help you to achieve them.As you embark on this phase of research, be diligent. Take notes of what research you have completed, including citations—particular information that gives proof of what you have researched—for each source you plan to use, such as the author, title, publisher, year, and Web address, and what you have left to finish. This information will be useful to you later, when you compile your bibliography or works cited page for your essay, term paper, or written project.Creating a Timetable/ScheduleNearly everything in life is scheduled or involves some kind of rigid routine. You may wake up at the same time every morning, have breakfast at the same time (or skip breakfast every morning—your choice), go to school at the same time, or do your school work at the same hour every day. While it may be redundant and suffocating at times, the fact is that having a schedule works best to allow you to accomplish all that you need to do.When embarking on your research project, how well you manage and schedule your time is equally important. Researching an essay, term paper, or written project involves many critical stages, each of them completed successfully and on schedule, if your project is to be successful, too.To accomplish your research with ease, establish a schedule that breaks your project into small, manageable tasks. Your research won't be completed in one day, and it shouldn't be. Researching your paper is a process that encompasses the commitment of time and energy of a scheduled period of time to attain your goals. Students may spend a day or so or up to two weeks, depending on the scope and nature of the assignment, first searching for a topic, then defining and narrowing it before gathering the necessary research to begin writing their project.Depending on the time you have to complete your project, you should develop a schedule that addresses your time constraints and pending deadline for your project. For example, if you have only two weeks, then you really should complete your research in the first week so you can spend the second week writing your paper. If you have a month, you may have the luxury of more time, but you should plan on completing all of your major research within the first two weeks.Following are examples of two schedules, based on the above scenarios, which you can adapt or change to fit your needs:Research Schedule #1Day One: Actively begin researching your topic on the first day. Locate what you consider will be the best resources to uncover useful information for your paper. Keep a log of the sources you have visited and what resources you need to check the next day.Day Two: Keep researching your topic. Check more sources on your list and make notes of what new sources you have found.Day Three: Continue down your list of potential resources. Keep accumulating relevant information from your other sources. Make notes of the sources you have reviewed.Day Four: Now review all your research. Evaluate what you have and organize your research for your paper. After organizing your research, prepare an outline for your paper, indicating what research you plan to use in your paper and to determine if you have everything you need for your project or still need more information.Day Five: If necessary, use this day to acquire any last-minute research that will be important to writing your paper.Research Schedule #2Week One: Aggressively research your topic and commit as much time as possible during that first week. Find the most promising sources to unearth the most meaningful material for your paper. Keep a running account of your success and make notes of the research that you completed, what sites or resources you have checked, and, by week's end, what research you have not completed.Week Two: Continue researching your topic. Find and evaluate more sources. Create a preliminary outline for your paper, based on your research, in the order of what you plan to cover. To accomplish this task, carefully review and organize all of your research by the subtopics you want to discuss that are relevant to your main topic. By organizing your research and also outlining your paper, you can determine if you need any additional research. If necessary, you should acquire it before the end of the week so you can start writing your paper.Finding Your SourcesEvery paper that you write for a class or school has one major characteristic in common: They require sound, credible evidence to support your paper's point of view, or topic. Now that you have narrowed and defined your research topic and are ready to research your paper, you want to examine every conceivable source and form of research for your topic, from print to electronic material, from the Internet to your local library. Books, magazines, newspapers, journal articles, popular references, and CD-ROMs are just a few of the potential sources you should explore and consider.To examine your topic more fully, the following traditional and electronic sources (explored in depth in Section II) will offer new perspective, new insights, and new evidence that will be vital to your success in researching your topic and, therefore, should not be overlooked.Using LibrariesWhile the Internet has become the chosen portal for information most preferred by students, school and public libraries offer substantial resources, not available on the Web or found in a single place, that you should use when conducting research for your paper. Using this wonderful resource will pay big dividends in the rich material that you will unearth.Approximately 93,000 school libraries and 3,658 college and university libraries exist in the United States alone. That includes 100 of the largest university libraries that describe themselves as "research libraries."Academic libraries differ in the services they offer to the general public. However, most colleges and universities allow public use of their facilities. You don't have to be enrolled as a student to utilize their computer databases, electronic catalogs, and Internet resources. Largely funded and tax-supported, major universities generally offer many more electronic resources than do most public libraries. For student use only, school libraries, from kindergarten through high school, also offer similar services and a wide range of computer databases that are invaluable instruments for research.Your local public library is another good choice. With more than 9,000 public libraries in the United States, each branch serves the community by providing reading material, recordings, videotapes, and basic reference and research collections. Public libraries also feature a vast collection of electronic databases, free of charge, which they license for public use. These include electronic periodical indexes, bibliography indexes, encyclopedias, general references, and special collections and archival material not found anywhere else.As an added bonus, most public libraries offer high-speed Internet access over a local network that can rapidly advance your process of doing research electronically—with one limitation: Most libraries limit use of the Internet to 30 minutes or less. But, given the rapidity by which you can acquire your research, it is well worth the effort.Whether you visit your school or public library, you will find some fantastic tools to get you started on your way to finding the research you need to complete your project. The following will help you locate relevant information for your project.Online CatalogsCard catalogs, at one time the primary source for finding every book available in your library, have become a thing of the past. They have been replaced by an online catalog, also known as Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs), that does the same thing, only much faster. These computerized catalogs feature information on what books, periodicals, special collections, and databases are available to use, to check out, or to research.Most online catalogs are easy to search. You can search your information by author, title, or subject, cross-referenced for easy use, and most libraries permit remote access to look up items in their catalog without making a trip to the library. You can access or locate quickly the holdings or items at your library or other libraries, any hour or day of the week. In addition, when using online catalogs, you can download or print records of titles you want check out, and renew or place material on hold. (For more information regarding OPACs, see "Finding Libraries.")Problems can arise in finding appropriate titles. This depends on the nature of your topic—how current or old it is, and whether the library carries books about that subject. Searching by title requires knowing the title you want to locate. The same applies when searching for a particular author. This does not mean you won't be successful in producing a list of titles that are relevant if you search a title using a common keyword. The only problem is if the words you choose are not compatible with how the titles are listed. In that case, you may not produce a complete listing of titles appropriate to your search.You don't have to know the author or title of the book to use the online catalog to find what you want. As with keyword searching on the Internet, the subject heading category allows you to enter the keywords of what you are interested in researching, and the online catalog will retrieve a listing of those titles the library currently has available. This includes popular reference titles that are unavailable for checkout but that can be useful nonetheless.When searching the online catalog, you should have a clear idea of your topic or at least have narrowed your topic. If your topic is too broad, you may find too many sources and not all of them pertinent.If you have trouble locating a specific title or subject, ask the reference librarian or a library staff member for help.As noted earlier, most libraries use the Library of Congress classification system—beginning with "A" and ending with "Z"—for organizing and shelving books in subject order. Every book that comes up in your search will have certain call numbers next to the title, author's name, place of publication, publication date, and other relevant bibliographic information. Depending on what books you use as your source material, you will want to keep a copy of this information for your bibliography.To locate the book in the library, write down or print out a copy of the results of your search. You will need to know the call numbers so that you can track down the titles you are interested in perusing or checking out. The call numbers will correspond with those listed on the spine of the books and also tell you their location in the library. Libraries generally organize titles by topic.Popular ReferencesPopular references are a great resource of information and can help you thoroughly investigate your topic. Found in the reference room of your library, they can provide valuable background information and statistical data on almost every subject.As noted earlier, consulting the online catalog is the fastest and simplest way to find a title of interest. Sometimes you may find a title that you were unaware of by browsing the library shelves. More often than not, however, using the online catalog is your best bet to quickly locate newly published titles, specialty titles, or reference books, including specialized references, those that specifically cover the subject you are researching. (One great source for finding general and subject references is Robert Balay's Guide to Reference Books, 10th ed. [Chicago: American Library Association, 1996], which lists 10,000 reference books by subject area.)Another good method for locating other titles is to check out published bibliographies in your library that index books published on a specific subject. (There is more about bibliographies later in this chapter.) Or try the Library of Congress Subject Headings, a comprehensive A-to-Z catalog of subjects offered in any library using this system. To locate additional reference materials, you may also want to consult The New York Times Guide to Reference Materials by Mona McCormick (New York: Times Books, 1985), which features information on various reference sources.Reference works can provide droves of usable information for your paper. Some of it may be useful, supporting research focusing on a specific aspect, or a few helpful facts worth gleaning. When selecting a potential title for research, you should spend some time evaluating its content to determine how useful it will be. Reviewing the table of contents will help you see whether the general content matches the purpose of your research. That is something you will need to decide. Whether a book is useful or not will become obvious once you go through the process.Many general references, available in print and electronic form, may be useful to your research in a variety of ways. Your school or public library should have numerous popular reference titles covering most commonly written about subjects and specialties. Generally, eight types of references are available from your school or public library for research use only: general and specialized encyclopedias, biographical dictionaries and almanacs, dictionaries and handbooks, and bibliographies and statistical abstracts.Consulting general and specialized encyclopedias to obtain background and specific information about a specific field or topic is highly recommended. Encyclopedias exist on dozens of fields of interest, such as a biographical encyclopedia of American authors or a guide to legal and medical terms. They can be valuable tools in your research.Encyclopedias such as Encyclopaedia Britannica and Encyclopedia Americana function as primary sources for background information and general overviews on current topics. Entries are usually footnoted and include a bibliography of sources, used to write the information presented, that may be worth checking out on your own for additional material on your subject.Biographical dictionaries offer profiles of well-known figures and important people in culture, history, and world events from all walks of life. Many contain brief accounts, personal data, and biographical overviews examining the life and work of the individual that are well written and documented.Some of the best biographical references available today include Current Biography, detailing persons of various professions and nationalities; Dictionary of American Biography, offering brief biographies of more than 15,000 deceased Americans representing many professions; and Who's Who in America, featuring biographies of many living notables.Numerous other print and electronic subject-specific and regional "who's whos" list prominent individuals in particular fields of interest, covering the full spectrum of subjects. Titles in this category range from Who's Who in American Art to Who's Who in Rock & Roll. Almanacs offer a collection of miscellaneous facts, statistics, tables, charts, lists, and quick answers to questions you may have regarding different subjects of interest, including education, health, geography, sports, and countless others. Popular almanacs include Information Please Almanac and The World Almanac and Book of Facts.Dictionaries may be unabridged—very large dictionaries that enable you to check the meaning of virtually any word—or subject dictionaries that cover specialized terminology of a particular discipline. Examples include The Oxford English Dictionary to The Facts On File Dictionary of Music.Subject handbooks and bibliographies are two more valuable sources. Handbooks covering a variety of subjects are available through most libraries and provide a comprehensive overview on the concepts, procedures, techniques, and facts of specific topics. Examples range from Violent Children: Research Handbook to Social Change in America: The Historical Handbook.Bibliographies list other available sources most pertinent to your topic. These resources index articles and books in your subject area. They can be the quickest way to locate additional sources for you to use. Dozens of published bibliographies dot library reference shelves, such as An Annotated Bibliography of 20th Century Critical Studies of Women's Literature to Subject Guide to Books in Print.One of the best general print bibliographies is H. W. Wilson's Bibliographic Index, which lists bibliographies that have been published separately or in books or journals. The index is also available in electronic form and indexes more than 350,000 bibliographies published in English and other languages. You can also find bibliographies on almost any topic on the Web for easy access as well. Libraries often post collections of bibliographies on their Web page.Statistical abstracts offer statistical information that can be important to your essay, term paper, or project. Statistical Abstracts of the United States, prepared by the U.S. Bureau of the Census and published by the Government Printing Office, is the one of the best resources of its kind, containing vital facts and figures about Americans and the United States.PeriodicalsBesides finding relevant books and references for your research, you also should consult printed newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals. Periodicals are continuous publications published daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Your school or public library is a great place to hunt down popular periodicals. Most libraries have reading rooms that display the latest issues of national publications, local newspapers, regional magazines, consumer magazines, general interest publications, and trade magazines written for the public, as well as scholarly journals written by and for professionals in various fields. Many of these publications will be invaluable in providing you with in-depth, specific information appropriate for your topic.Newspapers range from local newspapers that serve a city, town, or state, such as The Boston Globe or The Los Angeles Times, to nationally published newspapers, like USA Today, offering general coverage. Popular periodicals lining library shelves mostly include weekly or monthly magazines that provide articles on timely subjects written by staff reporters or freelance writers. Common titles include Ebony, People Magazine, Reader's Digest, Sports Illustrated, Time, and Vogue.For substantive coverage of issues of vital importance to a broad, general audience, general interest publications, such as Christian Science Monitor, Economist, and National Geographic, are the answer. The information is presented in an easily readable manner, and articles are geared to any educated audience.Many scholarly journals, providing specialized treatment of important issues with articles written by scholars or experts in a specific field, also populate most reading rooms. Most journals contain articles based on new research and include references and bibliographies, or a list of sources, used to research and write them. Some scholarly titles are American Economic Review, JAMA: The Journal of American Medical Association, Journal of Marriage and Family, and Modern Fiction Studies.Trade journals cover a plethora of specialized subjects focusing on the practice, art, or technique of a profession or field with articles written by reporters or industry professionals. Most publications report the latest news and new developments, from breaking issues to new products, for their readership. Titles range from American Small Farm Magazine to Utility Week. Current issues of popular periodicals are usually displayed in the reading room of your library, arranged alphabetically by title, for easy access. Once a new issue arrives, back issues are relegated to reference shelves, where they are stored along with copies of other previous issues of each periodical, still accessible for research and reference purposes. Libraries vary on their policy allowing students or patrons to check out periodicals. Always check with your library regarding their policy and availability. If restrictions exist, you can always photocopy an important article that you need for future use.To find periodicals on your subject, most libraries offer both print and electronic periodical indexes, either on CD-ROMs or over the Internet, that you can use to locate titles, abstracts, or articles related to your topic. Printed indexes are updated and published annually. Indexes published on CD-ROM or available online are updated more frequently, so the information is more current.The best index to check first is the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. Found in your library's reference room and available in print and electronic form, this comprehensive directory lists articles, primarily from magazines, written on a particular subject. Articles are listed by the author and subject, the title and publication, and by the year published.Additional indexes to consult include the Alternative Press Index, covering non-mainstream publications, Essay and General Literature Index, which indexes essays, essay anthologies, and essay collections, and the Popular Periodical Index, which covers many magazines not listed in the Readers' Guide. Other sources include Standard Periodical Directory, which lists titles of periodicals; and Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory, which covers thousands of serials, periodicals, annuals, and newspapers worldwide.To access more scholarly articles, you will need to use specialized indexes, also located in the library's reference room. Similar to the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, they contain abstracts or short summaries of articles published in journals in one specific field. Indexes include: American History and Life, Art Index, Biological Abstracts, Business Periodicals Index, Communications Abstracts, Criminal Justice Periodicals Index, Education Index, General Sciences Index, Humanities Index, Index Medicus, MLA International Bibliography of Books and Articles on the Modern Languages and Literatures, Music Index, and Social Sciences Index. Check with your library regarding access and availability.Libraries also provide computer access to other popular indexes, such as SearchBank and FirstSearch. Published by Dialog, a leading provider of online-based information, both indexes include abstracts and some full-text articles from various publications.In addition, major newspapers, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, publish online and printed indexes to articles that appeared in past editions that you can peruse. In most cases, older articles, not accessible electronically, are available on microfilm or microfiche and are part of your library's collection of microform periodicals.CD-ROM and online indexes have a clear advantage over printed editions. Search engines enable you to find the article or issue that you want, quickly and painlessly. Subsequently, from the results of your search, you can print a copy of the abstract or article (if full text). With the abstract information, you can find a copy of the publication in your library to check out. If the publication is unavailable, you can check out other libraries in your area to see if they have the issue you are seeking.Electronic DatabasesBesides enlisting periodical sources and browsing library catalogs for books and references, countless electronic databases, including periodical indexes and abstracts, are an effective tool for locating magazine and journal articles by subject, and for researching clearly defined subjects. Located in the reference area of your library, they serve as a guide to the contents of selected periodicals, published primarily in journals, magazines, and newspapers, in the United States and around the world.Most indexes and abstracts today are published in either book or electronic form, and exist for almost every subject or field of interest. Print volumes cover a specific period when the articles are published, either annually or monthly. Content of print indexes often includes references to newspaper articles, articles in books, monographs, and government documents. In some cases, print indexes cover topics not featured on electronic indexes.Electronic indexes are available via CD-ROM and online. Found on computer workstations in the reference area of your library, they come complete with searchable databases, and have a distinct advantage over their printed counterparts. While covering the same content, most electronic indexes offer "full text" versions of articles listed, though not in all cases, and the information is often more current.Most electronic indexes feature subject headings or keyword searching. Specific information about each entry in its database is listed, including article title, author, publication name, date published, and other abbreviated information that requires use of the index's abbreviation key to understand. You will want to write down the information as listed, so you can see if your library carries the magazine or journal you desire.Abstracts are similar to an index. They act and work like an index in the sense that they are subject oriented and offer specific information with each entry, including a brief description of what each article is about, which can help you decide whether the article is relevant to your research or topic.Like indexes, abstracts are available in CD-ROM form or in bound printed versions in the reference area of your library. Book abstracts list entries by subject, and therefore you will need to find your subject in the index to see if what you need is included. Each entry has a number or identifying code that you will use to find the article you want and its description in the abstract portion of the book.CD-ROM abstracts are much easier to use. You can instantly search your subject using a keyword search to produce a list of abstracts of relevant articles.Keep in mind that indexes often overlap in their coverage, so some periodicals may be listed in several different databases. Even so, depending on your topic, it is worth checking out many different indexes and abstracts that are relevant to your subject to uncover the best and most appropriate information for your paper.Indexes and abstracts cover a wide variety of subjects and types of periodicals. As noted earlier, the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature is a major index for general interest magazines (also available in the printed version). But to research many different disciplines, several outstanding indexes and databases, available at most school or public libraries, fulfill this purpose more than adequately. Tops in this category is Academic Search Elite (EBSCOHost), which covers a wide range of academic subjects from 1985 to the present. This online database features full-text articles from more than 3,000 scholarly journals and mainstream publications, including The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Another excellent resource is Expanded Academic Index (also known as InfoTrac), which thoroughly indexes the contents of both popular magazines and prominent scholarly journals, covering the full spectrum of subjects. Equally useful is the Expanded Academic Index ASAP. This massive database indexes articles dating back to 1980 from nearly 3,000 journals and 1,900 other periodicals, including full-text versions of many articles.When locating full-text articles in newspapers, NewsBank InfoWeb is one of the best databases of its kind. This large database contains articles from more than 500 newspapers. Another highly recommended database for tracking newspaper articles is National News Five, which indexes stories and provides full-text access to stories originally published in The Christian Science Monitor, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.For full-text articles of selected newspapers, legal publications, scholarly journals and trade publications, LexisNexis Academic Universe is the best choice. Another highly esteemed database is ProQuest Newspapers, which provides full-text access to more than 500 newspapers published in the United States and around the globe and articles indexed from 1996 to the present.Many other periodical databases are more specialized and cater to different fields of interest. CQ Researcher reports on current controversial, social, political, economic, and international issues, including summaries, opposing viewpoints, bibliographies, and more. Another alternative, A Matter of Fact, features commentary and statistics on topical social, economic, political, health, environmental, and public policy issues, including excerpts from speeches and written works, derived from congressional sources and general interest and specialized publications.Ethnic Newswatch offers full-text articles from ethnic, minority, and Native press newspapers, magazines, and journals representing a diversity of perspectives and viewpoints. For more pointed commentary and viewpoints, Alt-Press Watch features articles from alternative press journals and magazines, while Left Index covers political, economic, social, and cultural issues from leftist media around the world.Other subject-specific indexes provide unlimited access to abstracts or full-text articles in business, social science, general science, education, and more. For example, ABI/Inform indexes business periodicals and business-related articles. American History and Life is a popular journal index on the topic of history, and CINAHL covers nursing and nursing periodicals.Indexes also cover scholarly journals in other specialized fields. PsycINFO indexes several thousand articles published in behavioral science periodicals only. The British Humanities Index lists articles published in this field only, and the Social Sciences Index is geared specifically toward this individual discipline. If you are studying art, then the Art Index would be appropriate. Or, if you desire more scholarly and academic articles, then electronic indexes, such as LexisNexis Academic Universe or Academic Search Premier, are well worth your time. One of the best educational electronic indexes, available free of charge to anyone that has access to the Internet, is ERIC (the Educational Resources Information Center). The largest educational database of its kind in the world today, ERIC consists of 16 subject-specific information databases, or clearinghouses, providing full access to article abstracts, curriculum guides, and professional journals in education and related fields.Microforms: Microfilm and MicroficheToday, more often than not, most libraries also house older back issues of popular newspapers on microforms—a general term for microfilm and microfiche. Many complete collections of major metropolitan newspapers, popular magazines, journals, and retrospectives of historical newspapers from various towns throughout the United States dating back to the 1800s are available in this form, arranged alphabetically and stored in chronological order in the reference area of your library. Collections also include dramatic works, dissertations, manuscripts, government publications, pamphlets, and other materials of great value to researchers.Subjects represented in microform collections are also wide ranging. They include histories of African Americans, art, diplomacy, economics, labor, military, religion, theater, and women, as well as oral and photographic histories.Most titles or collections will be listed in your library's online catalog, and guides to major collections are also available in the reference area of your library. To search the item of interest, you need to use the relevant title in combination with the search term "microform" (New York Times AND microform). If your library possesses that publication in microform, your search will produce a citation listing all pertinent information. Unfortunately, since libraries do not always fully catalog microform titles, your subject search may produce less than desirable results. When in doubt, consult the reference staff of your library for further assistance.When locating microforms of older published newspaper and magazine articles not found on the electronic databases discussed earlier, your best source to find many more articles related to topic is the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, available in print or electronic form through your library. This valuable index lists article citations for previously published stories in major magazines, newspapers, and journals, by subject. Information provided includes the title of the article, the author's name, the publication name, section and page numbers, and the month, day, and year of publication. Using the article citations you have found, you can check with your library to see if they have microform sets—either microfilm or microfiche—of the past newspapers, magazines, or journals corresponding with the back issues you need.For additional source material, you also should consult individual printed indexes to microform collections of major newspapers, such as The New York Times or The Washington Post, and magazines and other periodicals. Each index features citations of additional articles that you research.Indexes also exist for historical publications, such as the Index to American Periodicals of the 1700s and Index to American Periodicals of the 1800s. Combined, both directories index 400 periodicals published on microfilm in the American Periodicals Series. (Also available is an electronic database corresponding with both editions.)Major public and university or college libraries usually feature extensive collections, and the size and scope of collections vary. For additional information on other microform titles or holdings held by other libraries throughout the United States, check with your library regarding printed resources to aid your search.To find descriptions of all microform publications in print today, also check the Subject Guide to Microforms in Print. This popular reference lists 10 classes and 400 subheadings of microform titles published and sold to libraries around the world, covering such topics as religion, language/linguistics, geography, history, and more.Various directories also list information about other newspapers published in microform. In this case, you should consult Newspapers in Microform, United States, 1948–1972 and Newspapers in Microform, Foreign Countries, 1948–1972. Each directory lists thousands of microform U.S. and foreign newspaper titles held by libraries around the United States.Another solid source of information is Union List of Microfilms, which catalogs 25,000 microform titles housed by 197 institutions.Microfilm is stored on plastic spools, kept in boxes, and marked by the respective dates of when the issues were originally published. Arranged alphabetically by title, each spool is a long, continuous 35-millimeter filmstrip of every complete issue of whichever newspaper you choose to research. It is viewed on an electronic reader that enables you to see the text of the article you are looking for. The "forward" and "reverse" buttons enable you to scan through a number of articles and issues quickly, until you locate the article you want. For a small fee, you can print positive or negative copies of articles that you find.By comparison, microfiche is individual flat sheets of cut film. While smaller in size than microfilm, it is capable of preserving a considerable number of pages and printed text in reduced form. Photographic images of articles and entire issues are stored on small cards that can be viewed on a separate machine. The viewer not only allows you access to articles you want, but also the option to print copies of the article, again for a small fee.If you haven't used a microfiche or microfilm reader before, ask for help from a nearby reference staff member.Interlibrary LoansNothing is more frustrating than identifying a book, magazine, or journal you need and finding that your library does not carry it. Requesting an interlibrary loan can often be the right solution. If your library is part of a network of libraries, or shares materials with other libraries in your area, you can request an interlibrary loan, and that periodical or book will be forwarded to your branch for your use. This is where it helps to plan ahead. Some interlibrary loans can take three to four weeks before the material you requested has been received by your library from the other library or branch.To request an interlibrary loan, you will need to provide the reference librarian or a library staff member with the specific information about the material you need. When requesting books, you need to provide the author, title, publisher, and date of publication; for articles, the article title, journal title, author, volume, date, page numbers, and the name, year, and page number of the reference source (where you found the article listed), will do. Without this vital information, your library would be hard pressed to fulfill your request. So write it down.Other Library ResourcesWith most libraries becoming more technologically driven, many, especially larger academic and public libraries, offer a vast amount of other resources for research that complement the more traditional methods described above. Among them are the Internet, CD-ROM, and video collections, featuring information on a variety of subjects.Using the InternetBecause of its unlimited resources and scope, the Internet (also commonly known as the World Wide Web, or the Web) is the obvious first choice as a preliminary research tool for most researchers today, mostly because so many people have access, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Connecting millions of users through thousands of networks in more than 50 countries, the Internet provides the ability to research your topic in the privacy of your home or, if high-speed access is something you lack, at your local school or public library. One disadvantage is that some libraries have only a few computers with Internet connections, so sometimes you need to sign up for them in advance. Others limit use to 30-minute or one-hour blocks so that everyone can enjoy the rich benefits of the Internet. Of course, if you have other traditional research to do, you can work around this potential snag until a computer becomes available.Researching on the Internet can be a rewarding experience. For researchers, one of greatest advantages of the Internet is the large and growing number of potential resources it offers. From uncovering the truth about Alzheimer's disease to learning more about the benefits of space research, this information superhighway boasts not only an abundance of Web sites but also large amounts of data and information on practically any subject. Internet research can be time consuming, mostly because the Web offers such a wide array of choices and potential sites to research. Therefore, when researching your topic on the Internet, you should allow ample time in your schedule to utilize this great wonder of the world.Using the Internet to research your topic has many advantages. You can use it to access online catalogs to see what types of books are available at your library or other libraries in your area. You can also access books and references, plus special collections. You can also check on availability of a book or periodical, or request one to check out.Beside these basic privileges that can expedite the process of your research, the Internet offers many other pluses. Whether you use your library's Internet connection or your own, you can tap boundless other outlets from which you can find and retrieve information pertinent to your topic or paper.Standard reference sources, such as almanacs, dictionaries, directories of people and places, encyclopedias, and other great references, also reside on the Web. Many are accessible through a popular reference site, Refdesk.com, which features links to a wide assortment of online references.The Internet offers countless straightforward directories that group Web sites into categories and subcategories. Directories are an excellent place to research general or more specific groups or subgroups for types of information. Yahoo! is one of the most popular of all directories on the Web (www.yahoo.com), featuring a myriad of directories on a wide range of topics. Yahoo!'s directories are well organized and list links to numerous sites relevant to your topic or subject that you can individually research. Another remarkable site, with a searchable database, is Libdex Open Directory (www.libdex.com), featuring thousands of directories for all kinds of subjects and categories, including online references, such as almanacs, books, bibliographies, and encyclopedias.Literally thousands of major metropolitan, regional, out-of-state, and small-town newspapers—more than 4,000 and counting—in the United States alone also publish online. Newspaper Web sites offer either full or limited access to previously published stories dealing with important issues, and can be accessed from any place at any time of day. One popular resource, with links to seemingly every online newspaper throughout the world, is Linkname: Steve's Online Newspapers, or http://www.mediainfo.com:4900/ephome/npaper/nphtm/online.htm). Many daily, weekly, or monthly newspapers and magazines that specialize in a specific field, likewise have a presence on the Web and offer searchable directories. (See Chapter 13, "Finding Newspapers, Magazines, Journals, and Radio and Television News," for more details.)Thanks to the Internet, millions of data sites and popular source materials are completely accessible to explore. They can provide perspective and information on national, state, and local issues relevant to your topic. This includes everything from state and local public records, to vital records and facts (from the latest U.S. Census to economic data), to federal, state and local government Web sites, to government agencies and government documents. (See Chapter 11, "Finding Government Publications and Agencies," for more information.)In addition, virtual libraries populate the World Wide Web, many with databases you can use to search contents of their sites for archives and archival collections, corporation profiles, crime statistics, electronic journals, health and safety information, medical information libraries, polls and surveys, and more, if you know how. These and many other resources, including how to access them, are discussed in the next section.With all that the Internet has to offer, with its alluring possibilities and potential sites, it is important to note that the Internet is not a perfect research device. Not all Web sites are reputable, credible, accurate, or reliable in terms of content. Personal Web pages abound and should be avoided since they often contain information that is either incorrect or misleading. It is important to rely on sites that are operated by a recognized entity, government, group, or agency, or a credible news source. To avoid using poor resources, part of your research should include evaluating the resources you find. If you feel a site that you found may not be credible or worthy, don't use it. Many techniques to properly evaluate electronic sources are discussed later.Using CD-ROM CollectionsWith more than 16,000 titles in circulation, CD-ROM collections represent another popular source of information and research. Like books and references, most collections cover a specific discipline. Government documents, census data, genealogy, historical information, and vital statistics are among the many subjects available in this format that have great value to researchers.Either preloaded directly onto the computers or transmitted over a network to your library's computers, CD-ROM collections are often mixed with online databases, listed on a menu by subject or title, in most cases. In the case of large databases, libraries pay an annual license fee allowing them to offer these databases, accessible on computers available to their patrons. One primary advantage of the online versions is they are updated much more frequently than their CD-ROM compatriots.To access these databases, you may require help from the reference librarian, who may have to key in a password before you can use them. Depending on the size and nature of your library, plus its annual budget, the selection of titles varies.Using Video and DVD ResourcesAnother form of electronic media that holds tremendous potential for research is VHS and DVD collections.More than 4,000 titles or virtual databases are available for home use—from dictionaries, to encyclopedias, to other mainstream reference—that combine audio, graphics and animation in addition to text, and put millions of pieces of data and images at your fingertips. (See Chapter 10, "Finding General References," for more details regarding video and DVD resources.)Using Specialized SourcesTo fully complement your research, you should also check out specialized sources, described in Section II. Many, but not all, of these sources are available at your local school or public library. While researching at your library may be more convenient, you might also consider, if your research warrants it, visiting other libraries, archives, or associations specifically dedicated to your topic or field of interest, including government libraries, independent research libraries, special libraries, and state facilities.Topping the list is a host of archives and archival collections on many subjects, including local and Internet-based collections, throughout the United States. Featuring historical and rare material covering the history or life of an individual, group, or organization, they range from private papers and manuscripts, to letters and diaries, to personal photographs and other unique artifacts. Specialized associations and societies can also offer a wealth of information.Finding and researching biographical information about notable figures can be accomplished with ease at your local library. Among your library's specialized sources you'll find many resources—biographical indexes, popular biographical references, volumes on regional figures, references on international figures, references by subject, biographical information in electronic form and online—covering people of every trade and profession.In addition to standard publications discussed earlier in this chapter, electronic databases, CD-ROM collections, specialty electronic journals, zines, and newsletters are also vital tools in your research. This includes subscription-based journals, accessible at a library, and free journals on the Web.So are e-mail discussion groups and newsgroups, which are fast becoming an acceptable source for research. Comprised of professionals, experts, and enthusiasts, these online groups regularly exchange ideas and information covering many fields of interest. You can access these groups in the privacy of your own home simply by joining. Membership is usually free.General references are also useful and widely available. Beyond the books and references highlighted earlier, your library most likely features other, more specialized references, including atlases, bibliographies, chronicles by eras and decade, chronologies and daybooks, dictionaries and directories, encyclopedias and guides, and references on popular quotations, public opinion polls, and statistics.Sources also can be found at your library to research most state, local, federal, and foreign governments and agencies. These include printed guides and catalogs, in addition to free online sources.Newspapers, magazines, and radio and television news are also important sources of information. If you research them only at your local library, you may only touch the surface. While most public and academic libraries offer sizable collections of print and electronically published publications, both popular and academic, finding the right publication often involves knowing where to find it. Later text details numerous magazine indexes, databases, and publication Web sites addressing a specific topic or research.To aid you in your research, the Web itself also offers a bevy of references and research sites on virtually every subject. With so many Web sites available, the task of researching the Web at times may seem daunting—unless, of course, you have this book. Later text highlights the best research sites, references, and databases on the Web that are accessible free of charge.Finding and using the right search engines on the Web can mean the difference between success and failure in researching your topic. To greatly improve your chance of success, later text discusses search engines, including traditional search engines, metasearch engines, and search engine directories.Knowing When to StopAs important as researching your topic and reading and organizing all the evidence you have retrieved for your written assignment is knowing when to stop researching. You can determine this by asking yourself a few key questions:- Does your research fulfill the intended focus of your paper?
- Do you have any unresolved questions? Did you answer all the questions you set out to research?
- Have you answered the "who," "what," "where," "when," "why," and "how" for your topic?
- Is your research balanced or does it only present one point of view?
- Are you confident in your research? Does it do the job and provide all the evidence needed?
If you can say "yes" to all of the above questions, then your job is done. If you are unable to answer yes in every case, then review what you still need to research and seek the material you need to satisfy your assignment and—more importantly—your instructor.
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