Introduction to Chapter 31

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Instructor's Notes

To download handouts of the Learning by Doing activities and checklists that appear in this unit, and to access lecture slides, teaching tips, and Instructor’s Manual materials, go to the “Instructor Resources” folder at the end of this unit.

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Finding Sources

Although research begins with an intriguing question or issue, it quickly becomes a fast-paced hunt, moving among electronic, print, and human resources. Efficient search strategies will help you find substantial, relevant sources.

Many instructors advocate beginning your research via the campus library, through whose resources you can identify and access reliable information, especially “peer-reviewed” or “refereed” articles–those whose scholarship and research methods have been assessed by experts in the field before publication. Such high-quality sources allow you to draw solid, well-grounded conclusions for your academic audience.

However, instructors also know that for news-oriented topics or opinions on trending social issues you also can find up-to-the-minute, though not necessarily reliable, information on the Internet. Where you begin your research may depend on your experience and the nature of your topic. Even if you start looking for a topic on the Web, turn to your campus library for focus and depth.

Why Finding Sources Matters

In a College Course

  • You need to support your paper for the most demanding professor in the entire nursing school, so you know that means more than using Google and Wikipedia.

  • Your annotated bibliography is a third of your grade in history, so you need to find books and articles by reliable historians as well as original documents from the time period.

In the Workplace

  • You organize objectives for the next decade, using available projections for your profession.

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In Your Community

  • You organize focus groups for a community grant proposal, identifying sources to use to help inform participants.

image When have you needed to find specific types of sources? In what situations do you expect to do so again?