5. Considerations for Your Research
on January 30, 2012
Posted in: Locating Sources of Information
The starting point for most research nowadays is not the local library but the World Wide Web. To some this statement might seem blasphemous, but it’s true: students today are more likely to go straight to Google or Wikipedia than to a library catalog, which is not a bad way to begin your research. Unfortunately, many students never get past this initial stage.
Knowing where to look for information is the key to effective research. Scholarly sources, which are peer reviewed (read by expert readers), used to be available only in print but are now increasingly likely to be found online. Locating these sources, however, does not necessarily mean making a trip to the library. Today, many libraries make such information available through a variety of online sources such as electronic catalogs, databases, and library homepages, all of which function as portals to a vast sea of research data.
For the student researcher, wading through so much information can be overwhelming. Just knowing where to start requires an understanding of the different types of print and electronic sources at your fingertips and what they have to offer. For example, the library may not be the best source of up-to-the-minute information, but many online sources won’t offer the kinds of in-depth scholarly analysis provided by the books and printed journals found in most libraries.
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