| Plan
Your Research |
| Before
going to the library or going online to search for information, use the
research tools and worksheets on the library web page (http://www.iecc.edu/occ/lrc/assign.html)
and follow these steps:
1. Choose a topic.
2. Read about your topic in your textbook, a general encyclopedia, or
other appropriate source.
3. Jot down key points, keywords and phrases used in material you read.
Use the Search Strategy
Worksheet to record what you find.
4. Brainstorm ideas and approaches to develop a question:
“Will college graduates have difficulty finding jobs in
the 2000s?”
5. Develop investigative questions to explore:
Who
are the authorities in this field?
What is their perspective?
What are the pro and con positions of this topic?
Where is supportive data located?
What caused the development of this issue?
Did other generations face similar circumstances? |
6. Develop
your research plan
|
“I
intend to uncover how/why ____________________
“The authorities in this field are ___________________
“Their positions on this topic are __________________
“Important developments include __________________
“The outcome will be ___________________________
|
| Organize
Research Activities |
Now that you have a research plan, go to the library and follow these steps: |
1. Logon
to the library catalog at http://vufind.carli.illinois.edu/vf-iec/
and look up your
topic using keywords and phrases you discovered in
your reading.
Use the Research
Resource Worksheet to record what you find.
2. Check reference works to find statistical data and other supportive
information.
3. Go to the library web page at http://www.iecc.edu/occ/lrc/onlinedb.html
and look for articles about your topic in EbscoHost, FirstSearch, or
other relevant databases available to you. Pick up
an Information to Go sheet at the librarywith home access logins
and passwords or login to Entrata
and click on the Library link.
4. Try some of the search engines on the library search
engine web page to test the keywords and phrases
you gathered in your preliminary reading. Use the Searching
with Search Engines worksheet available in the
library to organize and collect your information.
|
The object at
this point of the research process is to identify a variety of materials
– books, articles, and web sites – that will give you an overview
of your topic. You will want to consider what kinds of materials are available,
as well as the quantity available, in order to finalize a workable topic.
The Library Visit Log
available in the LRC and on the assignments web page is a helpful planning
worksheet also.
|