1. RESEARCH

2. STEPS TO RESEARCHING 1. Identify and Develop Your Topic 2. Find Background Information 3. Use Catalogs to Find Books 4. Find Internet Resources 5. Evaluate What You Find 6. Cite What You Find Using A Standard Format 7. Research Tips

3. 1. Identify and Develop Your Topic State your topic as a question. For example, if you are interested in finding out about the use of alcoholic beverages by college students, you might pose the question, "What effect does the use of alcoholic beverages have on the health of college students?" Or, "Are alcohol related deaths on the increase among college students?" Identify the main concepts or keywords in your question.

4. 2. Find Background Information  Look up your keywords in the indexes of general encyclopedias (e.g., Britannica Online).  Read articles in these encyclopedias to set the context for your research.  Note any relevant items in the bibliographies at the end of the encyclopedia articles.  Additional background information may be found in your lecture notes, textbooks, and reserve readings.

5. 3. Search the St. James Parish Library Catalog (DESTINY). Use keyword searching (e.g., drinking) for a narrow or complex search topic. Use subject searching for a broad subject (e.g., health). Print or write down the citation (author, title, etc.), the call numbers, and special location (e.g., Reference). Note the circulation status. When you pull the book from the shelf, scan the bibliography for additional sources, especially book-length bibliographies and annual reviews on your subject; they list citations to hundreds of books and articles in one subject area.

6. 4. Find Internet Resources Time Magazine Archives http://content.time.com/time/archive Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/index.htm l www.refdesk.com 10 Best Search Engines 2013-2014 http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/navigatingthenet/tp/top_10_search_engines_for_b eginners.htm

7.  If you have found too many or too few sources, you may need to narrow or broaden your topic.  Make use you do not plagiarize.  Ask me about Grammarly? 5. Evaluate What You Find

8. 6. Cite What You Find Using A Standard Format Format the citations to all of the references in your bibliography using one of the standard formats such as : MLA or APA http://citationmachine.net

9. 7. Research Tips  Work from the general to the specific. Find background information first, then use more specific and recent sources.  Record what you find and where you find it. Write out a complete citation for each source you find and print out the Web page, or e-mail to yourself; you may need it again later.  Translate your topic into the subject language of the indexes and catalogs you use. Check your topic words against a thesaurus or subject heading list.  Be organized, purposeful, and resilient.  Use Boolean Logic when searching terms or to broaden or narrow your search. For Example: AND, OR or NOT.