Use this page to learn more about developing your topic, choosing search keywords, selecting appropriate resources, identifying scholarly articles, evaluating resources, and determining bias. Understand the key differences between library resources and internet resources.
To develop your topic and find your focus, do some brainstorming to break it into smaller pieces. Ask these questions:
It might also help to think about:
You may need to do some preliminary searching for introductory or background information about your topic to help you at this point. Books, reference books, magazines, newspapers, and websites are useful for this.
As you look for information, pay attention to anything that may help you later:
Choosing Search Keywords
Before you start to search for information, you should take some time to think about what search words (keywords) will get you to information about your topic.
Most search tools default to a keyword search (even Google). This type of search looks for your search words exactly as you typed them. If those words appear anywhere in an item or website's title, summary, publication information, and sometimes even the text, that item or website will show in your results.
Because of this, you'll want to be direct, precise, and specific with your search keywords. Do not search using entire sentences or questions. Focus on important words that have the most meaning in regards to your topic. Sources may use different language to discuss the information you are trying to find. Brainstorm a list of possibilities, including synonyms and related terms.
Learn from the information you are finding to pick up new or different search keywords as you go.
Combining Search Keywords
You can combine search keywords in a few ways to help make your search more precise.
Connecting search keywords using AND, OR, and NOT (known as Boolean operators) allows you to work with multiple keywords in one search.
Most search tools automatically add "and" in between your search words, though you may not always see it in your search. If you have a phrase that you want to search for in its entirety, group the words in the phrase together using quotation marks so that the search tool will search for them as one idea instead of separately. Example: "climate change"
It's also important to mix and match your keywords. Different combinations of keywords will lead you to different results.
Make Adjustments
If you aren't finding enough information, your search terms might be too specific. In some resources, you may need to take a step back and search a bigger idea. Sometimes sources about a broader idea will include information that can be applied to your more specific topic.
Our friends at Credo Reference have more suggestions for how to adjust your search to find relevant sources. Watch their video here.
Think about your topic, the information you need to present about it, and the questions you have about it. Decide what types of materials and sources are likely to give you that information and those answers.
You might need to use:
These sources may all be about the same topic, but the information they give about that topic can differ greatly. For very new or recent topics, you'll likely use newspapers, magazines, and web sites. For topics with a longer history, books, reference books, and scholarly journals might be options.
Using a variety of sources is generally recommended because it leads to a well-rounded, comprehensive paper, but some sources are more appropriate to use for academic, college research than others.
Your professor may ask you to use specific types of sources but not others. Always follow their requirements.
Evaluating Sources for Credibility
How do you determine what you are reading is accurate, reliable, and trustworthy? How do you decide that a source is appropriate for academic research?
When working with a potential source, ask yourself if you know the source, it's reputation, and the reputation of the information itself. If you don't, you will need to look further into it with some additional searching. This might mean looking for the author and publisher's expertise, reputation, background, or their agenda. Or it might mean confirming the individual pieces of information in other sources and considering what the consensus is.
If the source credits their sources, trace any claims or questionable information back to its original context. It's usually better to use the original source of the information, not the secondary source. This may lead you to more information and other sources you can use as well.
You'll also want to make sure that the information is current enough for your topic.
Lastly, remember your purpose. Does the source really meet your needs and answer your questions about your topic? Does it give you the information you need? The source should be the best source for your needs, not just any source or the first source you found.
It can be especially difficult to determine and avoid bias.
Determining Bias
Bias is an unfair belief or opinion for or against something.
Biased sources often purposely omit information about a topic. They may overemphasize, overly simplify, or make assumptions. Often biased sources give only one viewpoint and contain opinions and emotional language. The information they include can be difficult to confirm in other sources.
Unbiased sources will present multiple sides of an issue fairly. If the topic is controversial, they will discuss the reasons it is controversial and the facts related to any and all arguments about it. Unbiased sources are more likely to link to evidence and the sources they got information from.
Additional resources for evaluating information:
Scholarly or peer-reviewed articles will present very specific ideas about your topic. They will detail research studies that have been done about it or will analyze a topic in depth.
They are unlikely to provide basic or general information about a topic, so they may not always be a good fit for what you are trying to find. Look for other, reliable, credible information sources to use for background information.
Some topics (especially if they are very recent) may not have a lot of scholarly, peer-reviewed research or studies connected to them specifically, so they may not be a useful source for every topic. You may need to look at larger ideas connected to your topic that there is scholarly research for.
If your professor requires you to use scholarly, peer-reviewed research for your assignment, you will likely use that information to answer specific questions or present specific ideas or evidence in your speech.
How can you tell if something is a scholarly or peer-reviewed source?
Online and in databases, it can sometimes be difficult to know if the sources you are seeing in your results are scholarly or peer-reviewed.
If it's from a scholarly and peer-reviewed journal:
Some other sources look very similar to these articles at first glance. But there are key differences to look for as you start to read over the details and full-text of the sources.
If it's from a magazine:
If it's from a newspaper:
If it's from a trade or professional journal or magazine
Examples: Control Engineering, Electronic Design, Education Monthly
For help searching for these articles in our databases, see the Articles in Library Databases tab.
Many sources available from the library, like newspaper, magazine, and journal articles, can be difficult to find and access with a basic internet search. They might require a paid subscription in order to read them and may not be meant to be available to the general public. The library pays for access to these articles through our databases so you can use them for your research. Library database search results are also unbiased, which is not always the case with Google and other search engines (which can include frequently visited websites or sponsored and paid advertisements in its results).
Library resources compared to Internet websites
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Library |
Internet |
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Information and content from thousands of academic and popular sources including books, encyclopedias, magazines, journals, newspapers, films, and more. From collections the librarians chose. |
Information and content from millions of personal, commercial, government, professional, educational, and popular websites. Every publicly available website is searched. |
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More likely to have been published after a review process. Quality of information is consistent. |
Less likely to have been reviewed prior to being posted. Quality varies from website to website. |
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Are free to NCC students (part of the library's subscriptions). |
Some information is free, but you may also encounter pay-walls and be asked to pay a fee for information. |
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Publication dates stated clearly. |
Currency and update history not always clear. |
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Search tools will search for exactly what you enter into the search. |
Search engines may auto-correct your search or try to predict the answers you are looking for based on previous searches or searchers. |
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Searching an entire question, request, or sentence does not work, because every word included is searched for. |
Searching an entire question, request, or sentence works. Less important words are automatically ignored/removed. |
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More control over your search and results, more search options. |
Less control over your search and results, fewer search options. |
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May be difficult to search. Not easy to find/use the right search keywords. |
Generally easy to search. Less difficult to use the right search keywords. |
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May not have to evaluate the results very critically. |
Have to evaluate results and sources more critically. |
While we generally recommend you use our library resources over internet resources, the librarians can help you search both places for the information you need. One is not necessarily better than the other. Which you use depends on your assignment, your topic, your professor's guidelines, and the information you need to find.