4. HOW TO DO RESEARCH:
SEVEN STEPS OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Step 1: Identify and develop your topic
Step 2: Find background information
Step 3: Use catalogs to find books and media
Step 4: Find internet resources (if appropriate for
the assignment)
Step 5: Use databases to find periodical articles
Step 6: Evaluate what you find
Step 7: Cite what you find
Amended with permission by the Librarians at the Olin and Uris Libraries of
Cornell University
5. HOW TO START YOUR RESEARCH
State your topic as a question
Identify main concepts or keywords
Test the topic – look for keywords and synonyms
and related terms for the information sought
Subject headings in catalogs
Built-in thesauri in many databases
Reference sources
Textbooks, lecture notes, readings
Internet
Librarians, instructors
8. BACKGROUND RESEARCH
Background research = Reference and Encyclopedias
Library catalog
Look at Databases/Reference tab in the Writing Seminar
research guide for a link to the library’s databases as
well as links to electronic encyclopedias and reference
materials
9. CATALOGS – BOOKS AND MEDIA
POLAR Catalog – Search for physical and electronic items
(ebooks and ejournals) that are available from Heterick
Memorial Library and Taggart Law Library
10. FIND A BOOK – POLAR: KEYWORD SEARCH
Looks in several locations
Subject
Article title
Abstracts
Table of contents
Does not require an exact match
Generates comparatively large number of hits
Good if you are not familiar with terminology
Good for a beginning search
11. FIND A BOOK – POLAR: SUBJECT SEARCH
Looks at the subject headings in the records
Requires an exact match
Provides a results list with related headings to use
for broader and narrower searches
Generates comparatively smaller number of hits
Good if you are familiar with terminology
Good for a next step after a keyword search
14. FIND A BOOK – OHIOLINK
Materials owned by 92 other libraries in Ohio:
colleges, universities, public libraries
Can submit request for an item to be delivered to
Heterick Memorial Library
Most requests arrive in 2-3 working days
No charge to request items (unless they become
overdue)
Maximum of 25 requests at a time
Items can usually be renewed
15. FIND A BOOK – OHIOLINK
From POLAR results list:
Button will recreate the POLAR search in OhioLINK
From an item record:
Button will go directly to the same item
Use if the copy in POLAR is checked out
Direct link to the OhioLINK catalog:
http://olc1.ohiolink.edu/search
16. FIND ARTICLES – DATABASES
What is the basic definition of a library database?
A library database is an electronic (online) catalog or index
Library databases contain information about published items
Library databases are searchable
The library subscribes to many databases so the ONU community has
access to these resources. When you’re searching a database, you
are not searching “the web.”
What types of items are indexed by library databases?
Articles in Journals/Magazines/Newspapers
Reference Information (i.e. entries from Encyclopedias, Dictionaries,
etc.)
Books & other documents
Source: http://web.calstatela.edu/library/whatisadatabase.htm
17. WEB RESEARCH VS. LIBRARY DATABASES
Internet
Material from numerous
sources, individuals,
government, etc.
Search engines must work
with material prepared
without regard for specific
software
Quality of material varies
Generally do not access for-
profit information
Content often anonymous
and undated
Databases
Usually created by a single
publisher
Content pre-arranged for
easy searching
Quality-controlled by editorial
staff
Most are available only to
subscribers
Sources are usually identified
and dated
Databases often focus on a
specific subject or discipline,
but some cover several areas
19. FIND ARTICLES – DATABASES
General Databases
Academic Search
Complete
Business Source
Complete
JSTOR
Lexis-Nexis
MasterFILE Premier
MEDLINE with Full
Text
Databases by Subject
20. ARTICLES – POPULAR VS. SCHOLARLY
Popular = Magazine
Scholarly = Journal
Magazines tend to have glossy pages, lots of
pictures, and can be read and understood by the
general public
Scholarly journals are usually peer-reviewed and
tend to be aimed at professionals in the field
24. WHAT IS INCLUDED?
POLAR
Article-level searching for all EBSCO databases
Article-level searching for a variety of other
databases: JSTOR, Hoover’s, AccessPharmacy,
etc.
Title-level searching for most other databases:
IEEE, CIAO, Proquest Nursing & Allied Health
OhioLINK Central Catalog
