Research Resources

Research can be daunting, but knowing where to go and how to search can save you time and energy. Start by asking yourself a few questions:

• What kind of information do I need? Facts, opinions, statistics, case studies, literary criticism, assessment instruments, legal cases/decisions, and reviews are just a few to consider. 
• What types of sources do I need? Newspapers, magazines, journals, scholarly or peer-reviewed articles, government documents, electronic or print resources, microform, primary documents, e-books, print books, the Internet? 
• How current do my sources need to be? Primary documents from the past or the most current research available?
• Where do I go for the best information on my topic? Use the Beal University Book Catalog 
• How do I access databases to do my research? Log into CANVAS click the Student, Library and Learning Resources tab. Click on Databases and Search Engines and select your database.

"Libraries are for the common good. Period. This is what sets us apart from other popular institutions that provide information. When we wish our libraries could be more like Google and Amazon, we are doing it wrong. Google and Amazon have two things they want from you: your money and your life." - Barbara Fister, in "Some Assumptions about Libraries."

Things to consider when you're starting to look for information:

• How was this information created? Was it fact-checked? Was there an editor? An interview with someone who witnessed an event?
• What kind of project are you working on (research paper, short speech)? What kind of information do you need for that project?
• Who is your audience? What kind of information do they value? (For example, college instructors often value peer-reviewed scholarly work.)
• What kind of audience was the information created for? (e.g., general audience, experts in the subject, practicing professionals)
• Don't discount an information source just because of its format - valuable information comes in many forms!

There are a wealth of online resources beyond Google available from the Beal University Library that contain scholarly sources and are often available full text online.

This guide provides step-by-step help to prepare a quality research paper on almost any subject area and provides tips on how to: 

• articulate your topic
• find academic alternatives to Wikipedia
• locate scholarly articles and books 
• evaluate the sources you want to use 
• create an annotated bibliography
• cite your sources correctly