Getting Started

When starting a project, there are a few simple guidelines to keep in mind:

Know the guidelines of the assignment. Your topic should be specific or broad enough to be dealt with satisfactorily.

The topic should be of interest to both you and your audience.

Your topic and the statements you make about it should be supported with reliable information.

Plan ahead! Set a time line and allow for unexpected developments and planned revision.

When beginning, a good way to obtain background information and ideas to build on your topic area is with reference materials such as encyclopedias, almanacs, and abstracts. Once you have established your topic, state your thesis or theme in a sentence or two. From this sentence, identify the keywords and use them in your search statement.

Other suggested places to find background information:
CSA (database) - Hot Topics section link located near the top of the screen.
Congressional Universe (Lexis/Nexis database) - Hot Topics section covers relevant publications on key American public policy issues.
CQ Researcher - located in the current and bound periodical collection.

Using the Boolean search operators of AND & OR will define logical relationships between keywords in a search. You can use these operators to create a very broad or very narrow search.
And combines search terms so that each search result contains all of the terms.
For example, travel and Europe finds articles that contain both travel and Europe.
Or combines search terms so that each search result contains at least one of the terms.
For example, college or university finds results that contain either college or university.

The following table illustrates the operation of Boolean terms:

Each result contains all search terms. The search heart and lung finds items that contain both heart and lung. Each result contains at least one search term. The search heart or lung finds items that contain
either heart or items that contain lung. Library Catalog
Search for materials in Randall Library by using the online Library Catalog located on the Randall Library homepage at http://library.uncwil.edu. Searching the Library Catalog will give you call numbers and locations for books, maps, N. C. documents, U.S. Government documents, special collections, microforms, music scores, periodicals, audiovisual materials, and reserve materials.

Perform a search for library materials with a keyword search using your keywords, such as "cultures". If you would like to combine related keywords use the connector AND . For example: "cultures" and "encyclopedias" will bring back a list of encyclopedias that deal with cultures.

Suggested series to look at in the library's collection is "Opposing Viewpoints". To find a listing of these books, simple do a title search in the library catalog using "Opposing Viewpoints Series" This source is also available online

Finding Articles
Connecting to Databases - On Campus

1. Go to the Randall Library's Homepage (http://library.uncw.edu)
2. Click on "Databases and Articles" Databases are listed alphabetically.
3. Select the database you want to search from the list.

If you are connecting to Databases from off campus, complete instructions for off-campus set up are located at http://library.uncw.edu/web/research/pin.html

EBSCOhost -- Academic Search Premier & MasterFILE Premier
indexes periodicals in various disciplines, and are therefore very broad in subject scope. However, they may not be as deep in the subject you are particularly addressing. These interdisciplinary databases can provide citations to magazine and scholarly/academic/peer review journals as well as each offers some full-text articles. Coverage of the social sciences, humanities, general science, multi-cultural studies, general reference, business, health, education, and much more.

Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
Newssection can provide you with U.S. & international newspapers, magazines, newsletters & journals, transcripts from Television & radio news broadcasts, and student newspapers.
Reference section provides access to biographical info to politicians, business executives & more, Polls & Surveys from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research and Quotations from over 10,000 quotes from the famous & not-so-famous.

Web-Site Evaluation
The reliability and quality of information from Web sources has created much debate in the academic world. Researchers must always remember that the Web is a vast, unregulated information resource that ANYONE with the proper tools and a little money can create a site on the Web. When viewing a site for research purposes the three most important features to consider are:

Authority : Who's responsible for the page content? Are there any clues about that person's qualifications?
Content : Does it seem accurate? If you don't know much about the topic yet, consider these other questions. Are there citations to other works? Has the page been updated recently? Are there facts you could try to verify?
Audience/Objectivity : Who designed it? And for whom? Is there obvious (or not so obvious) bias? Is the page nothing more than a marketing tool? What level of audience is it designed for (e.g. children, adults, students, professionals)? If you choose to use a website as a source, don't forget the Guide for Evaluating Web Resources when evaluating the website.

Bibliographies

See the Randall Library Website for help in citing your resources http://library.uncw.edu/web/research/citation/citingsources.html. Remember that citation style guides are available at the Randall Library Reference desk.

Helpful Links

Randall Library Homepage [http://library.uncw.edu/]

Randall Library Reference Desk phone number - 962-3760
Last Update: March 29, 2006

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