hss_rodrigues_research|Discover Your Topic, Search, Organize|Chapter Objectives

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Discover Your Topic, Search, Organize
Chapter Objectives

Whether you are working on a short documented essay or a full-length research project, you need to choose your topic carefully and then read widely so that when you write, you will be comfortable with the ideas you are presenting.

After completing this chapter, you should be able to:

List the possible topics that you would like to learn more about.

Describe the kinds of research typical for people studying in this particular field or working on this topic.

List some of the key journals in that field or about that topic.

Create a research log or journal.

Browse through the online resources of a library.

Browse through an online "subject directory."

Create electronic bibliography cards.

You might be surprised at how your research will improve if you take some time to read more about the topic, to talk to people who might be able to give you good suggestions regarding the topic, and to think about the possible aspects of the topic that you could study.

Very few people can write well about a topic that they do not know very much about. Once a person knows more about the topic, that person can think more clearly about it and can write more freely.

This chapter is designed to introduce you broadly to possible sources that you will use in your research, whether print sources from a library or electronic sources found on the Internet. You'll create your own research log so that you can keep track of what you discover in your research and where you have discovered it. You'll see how electronic bibliography and note cards can help you keep your research organized well before you begin to write. And you'll begin to understand what research typically looks like in particular fields.