As you analyze your writing assignment, you will likely find yourself wondering where to begin. The key entry portal for research is your library’s homepage. Student researchers may also benefit from using research, or subject, guides, discipline- and course-specific lists of useful resources. Each research guide has been created by a librarian and is tailored to the kinds of assignments that college students get regularly.

Libraries own a variety of source types: books and e-books, magazines and newspapers (in print), some printed government documents, special collections, and multimedia items such as video and audio recordings. Researchers identify relevant items in the library’s collection by accessing a computerized catalog, which allows users to search online for sources by keyword, title, author, or subject from terminals in the library as well as from computers at home or in a campus computer lab. Some systems, like the one shown in Figure 23.3, allow users to narrow a search by subject, author, and publication date. Often the catalog will indicate not only where an item is shelved, but also whether it has been checked out and when it is due back.

Once you have a specific call number, use a library floor plan and the call number guides posted on shelves to locate the appropriate section of the library and the book you need. While looking for your book, be sure to scan the surrounding books, which are usually on related topics. You may discover other useful sources that you overlooked in the catalog.

College libraries subscribe to databases that list articles in periodicals, publications that are issued at regular intervals (daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly), such as scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers. Database entries usually include an abstract, or brief summary of the article, as well as information about the article itself (title, author, publishing information, and keywords used in the article). As with library catalogs, databases allow users to refine their searches by limiting results by date or publication type, for example. They also may allow you to email, print, or save relevant articles.

Many articles will be available through the database in full text. They may appear in PDF format, which usually shows the article just as it appeared in the periodical, or in HTML format, which is usually text only. For articles that are not available in full text, a librarian can help you request them via interlibrary loan.

Your library probably subscribes to a wide array of databases. Two general categories are general and specialized. General databases list articles on a wide range of subjects in both popular magazines and scholarly journals. Academic Search Complete, for example, provides access to the full text of all the articles published in more than 8,600 journals, magazines, and newspapers, as well as abstracts for another 12,500 periodicals (see Figure 23.4).

Specialized databases index either articles within specific academic disciplines, or fields, or particular types of articles, such as book reviews, abstracts of doctoral dissertations, and articles and essays published in books. Some examples of specialized databases are Book Review Digest Plus, Dissertation Abstracts, PsycArticles, Science Citation Index (Web of Science), and Sociological Abstracts.

Note: Names of databases may change, the number of sources a database indexes or includes full text for may change, and database vendors may make different packages of databases available at different times, so consult a reference librarian if you are not sure which database to use.

The Internet provides access to millions of Web sites, but you need to use a search engine to find them. Search engines allow you to find information by typing a keyword or phrase into a search box. Google is such a popular search engine that you might never have used anything else, but other excellent search engines exist, and some of them are listed below.

Because different search engines usually generate different results, it is a good idea to try your search on more than one search engine.

Note: If your keywords are too general, a search will return thousands (sometimes hundreds of thousands) of results, most of which will not be helpful to you. So use the strategies for keyword searching above to fine-tune your search.

While the Internet is an amazing resource for researchers, the quality of the content you will find varies wildly. As a result, researchers must evaluate content very carefully before relying on it. (For more on evaluating sources, see Chapter 4, and Chapter 22.)

News sites. Newspapers, television and radio networks, and magazines have companion Web sites that provide current information and late-breaking news stories. Some of the most useful are listed below.

General reference sites. Reference works are available online, through the Web or through the databases your library subscribes to. Some of the most useful general reference sites are listed on the next page.

Some of these sites may not be available for free through Google; check to find out if your college library provides access to these or other general reference sources.

Government documents. The federal government makes hundreds of thousands of documents freely available online every year on a vast range of subjects. Some government sites that students find particularly useful are listed below.

In addition, you can access many useful government documents through library databases such as CQ Electronic Library.

The Internet’s listservs and newsgroups are discussion forums where people interested in a particular topic or field of research can communicate and share information. A listserv is an email discussion group; messages are sent automatically to subscribers’ email accounts. Some listservs allow anyone to subscribe, whereas others require a moderator’s permission. In contrast, a newsgroup does not require membership, and messages are posted to a news server for anyone to read and respond to. A central network called Usenet provides access to thousands of newsgroups.

Consult the frequently asked questions (FAQs) for a listserv or newsgroup to determine if it suits your needs and, for a listserv, to see how to subscribe. Keep in mind that messages posted to listservs and newsgroups are not usually checked for accuracy and are not always reliable sources of information (though, in general, listserv discussions tend to be more serious and focused than newsgroup discussions). You can use electronic discussion forums to become familiar with a topic; obtain background information; discover new issues, facets, or approaches; and identify print sources of information.

To locate discussion groups, use a Web search engine to search for the term discussion groups or Usenet plus your topic.