Choosing and Developing a Research Topic: Research Your Topic

• Encyclopedias are useful for reading overviews, topic outlines, and summaries.

• Encyclopedias are also good for identifying keywords you can use to search the online catalog, databases, and the Web. Keep track of the keywords you come across as you read.

Examples:

• From The Encyclopedia of Diets:

plant-based diet => vegetarianism

• From the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture:

facelifts => Botox => plastic surgery

gangsters => mafia => organized crime

Sample Search Terms:

• women and wages
• "title IX"
• "animal rights"
• "social media"
• "gun control"
• "factory farming"

Example: "The Debatabase Book"

To find articles published in journals, magazines, newspapers or other periodicals, you will need to use the library's online databases. 

Multidisciplinary/General Reference Information:

Academic Search Complete

Films on Demand Streaming Videos

 Current Controversial Topics:

CQ Researcher

Opposing Viewpoints

*Additional databases can be found on the LPC Library website:

Databases Listed by Subject

Databases Listed- A to Z

If you are using any of the library's online databases from off-campus, you will need to log in.

Username: Your W Number*

Password: First 2 letters of first name, first 2 letters of last name, and last 4 digits of W# (e.g., Jane Doe:  jado6789)

* If you don't know your W#, look it up in Class-Web.

Searching Tips:

*Use quotation marks around phrases:

Example: "American Indian"

*Use connecting (boolean) words such as and | or  to connect multiple terms or phrases:

Example #1: tribe and casino

Example #2: tribal and (gaming or casino)