Basic Research Strategy
Basic Research Strategy
I. GETTING IDEAS
II. SELECTING A TOPIC
III. LEARNING MORE ABOUT IT
A. Developing an Overview - Background Reading
1. Encyclopedias
2. Contemporary Sources
B. Developing Focus - Researching In-Depth
1. Locating Books
2. Looking For Periodical Articles
3. Bibliographies
4. Bibliographic Aids\Style Books
5. Other Sources
________________________________________
I. GETTING IDEAS
Ideas for research topics may come from:
• class discussion or assigned readings;
• suggestions from your instructor;
• television news or documentaries;
• newspaper and magazine articles;
• personal experiences;
• library databases
II. SELECTING A TOPIC
Select a topic that:
• interests you or bothers you, like a popular assumption you'd like to challenge;
• can be handled completely in the time allotted for the paper;
• is amply covered in available published sources;
• is not highly specialized or technical, like many areas of the sciences and mathematics.
III. LEARNING MORE ABOUT IT
Once you've selected a topic you need to develop an overview of its scope and issues through background reading. You can then choose which aspect(s) you want to research in more depth. As you consult your background sources be alert for bibliographies or references to books or articles that treat your topic, or some aspect of it, in greater depth.
A. Developing an Overview - Background Reading
1. Encyclopedias
Encyclopedias are a good place to find a factual and historical overview of a subject without having to read multiple books, as they are generally written by experts in the field. Specialized encyclopedias are dedicated to a single subject or discipline and usually provide more in-depth information.
The Newman library provides access to numerous general and specialized encyclopedias both electronically and in print.
Electronic encyclopedias (available via the databases page):
General
• Funk and Wagnall’s New World Encyclopedia
• Grolier’s Encyclopedia Americana
Specialized
• Gale Virtual Reference Library (Search across 1000+ specialized encyclopedias)
• CQ Encyclopedia of American Government
• Health and Wellness Resource Center
• Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology
Print encyclopedias (available on the uptown side the second floor of the library) :
General
• Encyclopedia Americana (Ref. AE 5 .E333 1996)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica (Ref. AE 5 .E363 1998)
Specialized
• Encyclopedia of Finance (Ref HG 151.E625 2006)
• Encyclopedia of Sociology (Ref. HM 425.E5 2000)
• Dictionary of Art (Ref. N 31 D5 1996)
• McGraw Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science & Technology (Ref. Q 121.M3 1998)
• Encyclopedia of Religion (Ref. BL 31 .E46 2005)
• New Groves Dictionary of Music & Musician (Ref. ML 100 .N48)
2. Contemporary Sources
To gain an overview of contemporary topics you might find it helpful to consult the following sources:
• CQ Researcher provides factual and objective information on current, emerging and controversial topics. This full-text database, updated weekly, presents various opinions, provides milestone dates, explores the merits of opposite viewpoints, and leads to more sources for research.
• Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center provides information about current issues in the form of pro and con viewpoint articles, reference articles that provide context. The database contains information from full-text magazines, academic journals, and newspapers, primary source documents, government and organizational statistics, multimedia, including images and podcasts, links to hand-selected web sites, and more.
• Facts on File provides news summaries of U.S. and World news for the years 1980-present. Updated weekly.
• Credo Reference - Access to 276 titles and 57 publishers covering subjects as diverse as medicine, art, Shakespeare, and technology. Content is cross-searchable by topic, title, and publisher to provide contextual results. It also features information visualization capabilities through the Research Mapper, a visual map that displays how search terms in Credo Reference are interconnected. Credo Reference also includes 60,000 high-quality searchable images (photographs, fine art, scientific diagrams, line drawings, and more) and 90,000 audio pronunciation files.
B. Developing Focus - Researching In-Depth
Once you've developed an overview of your topic the next step is to develop focus, that is decide how much of it can be adequately addressed by your paper or project. Remember, you will still have the option to narrow or broaden your topic during the research process as your interest becomes more focused or diffused, or you find an extensive or restricted body of literature.
Once you've made a preliminary determination as to the scope of your research you will need to locate materials that cover it in depth. These can include books, articles or information in databases. The bibliographies or references included in your overview sources are excellent places to start identifying additional resources. Depending on the number of references and the currency of the overview source you might want to expand your search for materials.
________________________________________
Where to Find Materials
1. Locating Books
Books may be searched for in the CUNY+ catalog
http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/search/books.html
2. Looking for Periodical Articles:
Periodical articles are contained in multiple databases that Baruch subscribes to.
An A to Z list of databases can be found on the library’s database page, as well as a tool that helps recommend databases by subject area.
Specific periodicals may also be searched for by name using the full-text journal tool.
http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/search/journals.html
3. Bibliographic Aids\Style Books
There are a number of manuals and handbooks that can guide you in formatting your research paper, and usually include specifications for page set-up, graphic elements, footnotes and bibliographies. These manuals have examples of all the different citations you are likely to need. It's a good idea to check with your instructor to find out which format he or she prefers.
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for writers of research papers. New York: MLA, 2009. (Ref. LB 2369 .G53 1988 and at Reference Desk).
Turabian, Kate L. A manual for writers of term papers, theses, and dissertations. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2007. (Ref. LB 2369 .T8 1987 and at Reference Desk).
A useful online resource for citation is Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL)
If you are not sure where to begin a search or locate materials, please ask for help at the reference desk, and a librarian will be glad to assist you.