Osterlin Library: How Do I Research & Write a Paper?

1. Identify Your Topic	State your topic as a question. Identify the main concepts or keywords. Example: "What are the ethical issues involved in physician assisted suicide?" (keywords = ethics and physician-assisted suicide)
2. Gather Background Information	Use encyclopedias to find general information about your keywords. General encyclopedias like World Book or Britannica are located in the Reference Section. Check the Osterlin Library Online Catalog (WebCat) to see if the Library has subject encyclopedias related to your topic, such as *The Encyclopedia of Bioethics* [REF QH332 .E52 1995]. Use this information to help set the context of your research and help to brainstorm synonyms/keywords for your topic.
3. Find Books About Your Topic	Search Osterlin Library Online Catalog (WebCat). Start with keyword searches (physician assisted suicide) Review your hits by viewing the records. See if there is a good subject heading to use to broaden or focus your search (assisted suicide or euthanasia). See if any of your hits are government documents. Government documents are good sources of statistics and background information. Be sure to note the bibliographic details: author, title, publisher, date, call number. Is the book or document checked out? Or try the NetLibrary collection of over 10,000 eBooks. See Step 6 to evaluate what you have found so far.
4. Find Articles Using Journal and Newspaper Indexes	NMC has online and print journal & magazine indexes. If you need articles published previous to the most current 10 years, you will probably need to use our print indexes. From the library's homepage, choose either Find Articles Online or the Alphabetical List of Databases. For general searches, two databases to try initially are EBSCOHOST Academic Search Elite and InfoTrac. The librarian can assist you in selecting which databases to search. Generate a list of citations relevant to your topic. If not full-text, check to see if the article is in the library in print or online by checking the Osterlin Library Journal & Magazine List.
5. Find Internet Resources	Use Internet search engines and subject directories to find materials on the World Wide Web. Check Step 6. Be sure to evaluate the information you find on the Internet. Check to see if the library has any research guides or bibliographies you might use.
6. Evaluate Your Information	Read and synthesize your gathered information. Evaluate the quality and authority of your sources with these tools: Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other Periodicals and How to Critically Analyze Information Sources. If you have too much or too little information on your topic, ask for help from the librarian or your instructor, or visit "How do I know if I've found enough or the 'right' information?". Begin to write.
7. Cite Your Sources	Check with your instructor about the format of your bibliography. Consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA Manual of Style) [REF BF76.7 .P82 1994 ] or the MLA Style Manual {REF PN147 .G444 1998]. Use "How do I cite sources in a bibliography" for instructions and examples on citing print and online Resources. Be sure to read the guide on avoiding plagiarism!

Reference Librarians are always available to consult or help with difficulties.

Tips for Doing Research:

Expect the research process to take time.
Library research is a complex and non-linear, ever-changing process.
TIP: Estimate the amount of time you think it will take to conduct your research, and then double it!

Expect to make a visit the library. Many of the library's resources are accessible from off-campus, but you may need to make some trips to the library to use materials or research tools that are not accessible off-campus. Remember, you want to look for the best information for your information need, not JUST what is available online from home.

Allow time for gathering materials that are not available at NMC. The Interlibrary Loan service can borrow articles and books from other libraries, but this process takes anywhere from 5 to 10 days.

Allow time for reading, taking notes, synthesizing, and revising your research strategy or conducting additional research as new questions arise.