AMER STD 0: Academic Achievement Program Scholars

Unsure how to start a paper or research project? Think maybe you could stand to brush up on search strategies?

If this sounds familiar, Library Workshop: Research 101 has you covered. This interactive tutorial explores six stages of the research process. You can view it from start to finish, or focus on specific sections as needed:

1: Begin Your Research

Starting strategies, from choosing a topic to finding the right keywords.

For background information about your topic, or to look up facts, dates, terminology, or biographical information, look for reference sources.

Online:  Library home > Electronic Resources > Electronic Resources:  Types A-Z > select a type (atlases, biographical information, dictionaries, encyclopedias, image databases, etc.)

Printed reference sources:

Search OskiCat:

african american* encyclopedias
harlem renaissance encyclopedias
harlem renaissance dictionaries
jazz encyclopedias

or ask for research assistance.

Example:

Topic:  Image of African American women in advertising

potentially relevant disciplines:

African American Studies
Gender and Women's Studies
Ethnic Studies
Media Studies
Psychology
Sociology
Business
etc.

Developing appropriate keywords/search terms is an essential part of research.  First, break your topic into components.  Develop a list of synonyms and alternative terminology for each component.  Think about broader and narrower concepts and word variants.  What words can you exclude?

Topic: Image of African American Women in Advertising

Remember to be creative with your terminology!  More examples:

people of color and environmental activism*
environmental justice
environmental justice and hazardous waste*
environmental equity
environmental discrimination
environmental racism
environmental injustice