Research Guide: COMP 250

Things you should know before you start your research:

• You must update your library account every semester. Just bring your ID to the Circulation Desk.
• Reed Library relies heavily on borrowing aggreements with other libraries, so give yourself plenty of time to obtain the materials you need.
• Whenever you find a useful source that contains a bibliography, "mine" the bibliography for more sources. Chances are they will be useful, too.
• Reference librarians exist to help you with your research. Any time you have a question, please ask!
  

Step 1: Focus your topic

Reference sources can be extremely useful for narrowing a broad topic. The following online reference sources are most useful during the initial phase of a research project:


Britannica Online

Hint: Some articles have tables of contents on the left and "expand your research" links on the right. Both these features can be very helpful for topic narrowing.

CQ Researcher

Hint: Some search results may, at first glance, appear unrelated to your topic. Click on a result and see which section(s) of the article are highlighted in purple. Your search term(s) appear in those section(s).

         
Also, take a look at the library's print reference collection. Try an advanced search of the library catalog. Limit the location to reference, then enter keywords that are broad in nature (since you are still at the background information/topic narrowing stage). For example, try the keyword "humor." You'll get 3 results, any of which could be browsed for ideas.

Step 2: Borrow some books

Books contain both general and specific information, and can be useful during all phases of the research process. However, they take longer to read than reference sources and periodical articles, and since they often come from other libraries, they can take longer to arrive. That's why we suggest that you start looking for books as early as possible.

TALON, the Reed library online catalog

Hint: start with a keyword search. (And remember to use Boolean operators! Ask a librarian if you don't know what that means.) When you find a useful book, notice the subject headings assigned to it. Click on the subject headings to find similar books. This technique works in most online library catalogs, including Prospector and WorldCat (see below).

Prospector--one search, 23 libraries. Materials arrive in 3-4 days or less, can be kept for three weeks, and renewed once. HIGHLY recommended.

Note: Look at the list of libraries that own the item you want, and if you see Fort Lewis on the list, there's no need to order it from Prospector.
Hint: The Prospector interface works the same as TALON, with the obvious exception that you must click on "Request this Item" and follow the instructions to have it sent to Fort Lewis. Check in with the Circulation Desk a few days later to see if your item has arrived.

WorldCat and OpenWorldCat

Hint: The content of these two databases is the same, but the interface is different. Choose WorldCat for the FirstSearch interface which is good for complex searches, and OpenWorldCat for a Google interface that is better suited to simple searches. Pay attention to subject headings ascribed to materials you are interested in. To request items, go to the library home page and click on the Inter Library Loan link at the top.

Step 3: Find some articles

Academic Search Premier (on EBSCO)

Academic Search is a great place to start looking for articles on any topic. It offers bibliographic citations with abstracts from scholarly and popular periodicals, and covers just about everything--literature, psychology, engineering, physiology, and other fields in the humanities, social sciences and physical sciences. Academic Search includes full-text of articles for over 3000 periodical titles. Coverage is primarily from 1980 to current.

Wilson Omnifile

Wilson Omnifile is a multidisciplinary database that contains all full-text articles on topics including art, the humanities, education, law, information science, the social and natural sciences, business, technology, and more. Coverage is from 1994 to current. Other Wilson databases, including Art Abstracts, Biographies, and Book Review Digest Plus can be searched simultaneously.

J-STOR

J-STOR is a broad, multidisciplinary journal archive, so you need to be very specific when searching. Because the J-STOR search interface always searches the full text of articles, you are likely to get results that are not very relevant. However, it is worth it to wade through the irrelevant hits to find a few useful articles.
Hint: Use the print button on the J-STOR page, not the print function of your browser. If you need help, ask a librarian.

Step 4: Create your bibliography

It is strongly recommended that you start creating your bibliography before you start writing your paper. As soon as you know you are going to use a source, create and format your citation using Reed Library's online guide. Doing so will save you lots of time and frustration at the end; just remember to delete from your bibliography any sources you ended up not using. If you have a tricky source for which there is not an example in the online guide, a reference librarian will be glad to assist you.

Author: Jacqui Dacko Grallo, Visiting Reference Instruction Librarian, Fort Lewis College. 
Page created January 12, 2007.