Getting Started on your research project
- Start early!
- Pick your topic wisely!
- Think about Keywords!
- Use all your resources — books, periodicals, databases, internet, librarians!
- Think creatively — biographies and videos might be valuable resources!
- Evaluate your sources — is it reliable?
- Gather your bibliographic information as you go!
- Make sure there is enough information
- Skim an encyclopedia or do a quick search online
- Go to the library and browse the books
- Click through a database
- Think BIG; think small
- Look into a few topics before you decide
- Pick something that interests you!
- Spend 15 minutes now and it’ll save you hours later!!
- Words/phrases used to find information
- Keywords can be people, places, time periods, ideas, etc.
- Words/phrases found in the Index
- Words/phrases found in the text of a webpage or book
- Search Engines use keywords
Places to look for keywords
- World Book Encyclopedia
- Your text book
- Dictionary/Thesaurus
- Other Reference books
- ThinkQuest
- Kids Click
- Awesome Library
- Wikipedia
- A periodical is a magazine or other journal that is issued at regularly recurring intervals.
- You can pick up a magazine, newspaper or other journal. (Finding exactly what you want in a stack of magazines or newspaper can be pretty frustrating.
OR - You can search a database for articles.
- Are tools for research.
- Are an organized collection of magazine, newspaper and journal articles
- Are usually computerized
- Let you search for articles using keywords
- Give you access to information you might not be able to get in print (ex. International newspapers)
- Give you access to much better information than the free internet
Tips on Evaluating Web Resources
- You get what you pay for. The free internet is full of useless information.
- Pay attention to where you get your information and whether it’s reliable.
- Try going to a site dedicated to information. Museums often have great sites.
- Is the information related to your topic?
- Is the information easy to understand? Is it well written, spelled correctly and clear?
- Is the information current? When was it written?
- Can you tell who wrote the information? Are they an expert? Are they from a school or other kind or organization?
- Do you think the website is biased? Is the website or author selling something to do with this information?
- Is the website based on fact or opinion? How can you tell?
- Remember to gather your bibliography information! If you can’t find all the information (date, author, etc.), are you sure this site is appropriate for your research?
- Email Sharon! scolvin@mvlc.org
- Go to the Children’s Room
- Ask at the Reference Desk.
- InfoTrac has tips for getting started
