Chester Fritz Library Research How Tos

When your professor assigns a research project or paper, you might want to choose your topic right then, and go straight into researching and writing. But that's a little bit like starting a trip by just hopping in your car and driving. You might end up somewhere really cool by accident, but you'll have a better trip and get to your destination faster if you have a plan.  

Choosing a topic for your research project can seem like a daunting task, however, it might help to keep in mind that choosing a topic IS research.

• You may find that your topic will narrow or expand as you go through the research process.
• The initial topic that you choose may end up being something completely different from what you started with - it's all a part of the research process!
• Watch this short video for a brief explanation on how a topic might change as a researcher works!

Transcript to Picking Your Topic Is Research Video

• Skim first, read later: When beginning to find sources to learn about your topic, you can save yourself a lot of time and frustration by skimming an article first. If an article has an abstract, start by reading that -- it typically contains an overview of the content and a preview of the main argument. Then, if it looks relevant, you can spend some time reading it fully once you've selected a few sources to provide context for the topic or issue you've chosen to address.

• Check out the bibliography: Especially once you've located a solid source or two, take note of who they cite in their essays. Are there any names that come up again and again? Do any of the sources they cite sound like they'd help you learn more about your topic? When you find a potential source in a bibliography, make note of it and search for it in the UND databases -- we may just have it!

• Use varied search terms: Even if you strike gold with your first search, don't underestimate the value of using different or more specific search terms. Look for common terms and phrases that appear frequently in the sources that seem most relevant to your topic, and then use that vocabulary to make the search feature work more efficiently for you. Using this feedback loop will yield even better results. The broader your base of knowledge on a topic, the better prepared you'll be when you start using the information you've learned. While you do want to know when it's time to stop researching and begin writing, it can't hurt to have a little more information at your disposal!

• Ask questions: Even if your research is going well, be sure to ask a librarian or your instructor when any questions pop up. As experts in their fields, they will be able to quickly offer suggestions and solutions to most of the hurdles you may encounter. And ask your peers -- remember, they are researching too! Collaboration is a key component in learning, so don't hesitate to ask around if you encounter an obstacle during the research process.

Similar to planning a trip, you do a little research to choose a topic. You need to explore a little to find out what exactly you want to research and what kind of information you need. 

Wikipedia or an Encyclopedia?

While Wikipedia has articles that summarize main concepts and backgrounds of a topic, for academic research, you would use an encyclopedia.  

• Like Wikipedia, an encyclopedia contains very general information on broad topics, giving you a baseline knowledge of a subject. Entries can be input by anyone.
• Unlike Wikipedia, an encyclopedia is written by experts and cites reliable, academic sources. 

What are encyclopedias good for? 

• General information written by experts
  • Gives an overview of a topic to help consider different issues and ideas included in that topic.
  • Gives expert terminology and other words you might not have known or considered to search with.
• Giving a basic understanding of a topic which helps the researcher form better questions and to know what kinds of information they are looking for
  • Helps narrow down and refine a topic if it's too broad
    • It can help find subtopics to narrow the topic down
  • Helps expand a topic if it's too narrow
    • You can explore broader but related topics to find other ideas to incorporate into your topic to expand it.
  • Provides alternate search keywords you can use when you start to look for books and articles

What areas are encyclopedias weak in? 

• Narrow or specific topics. For example, if planning research on a special circumstance like the homeless LBGTQ+ population, this would need to be broken into broader topics of just homelessness and just LBGTQ+ issues
• Current / Recent events. Encyclopedias take around 5 years to write.
  • Experts review books and articles to create a summary, which is then placed into an encyclopedia. 
• Long search strings in online versions. Unlike Google, if you type in "what are some gender disparities faced by women in higher education?", results will be poor. Instead, search for something like "gender higher education" 

Examples of Topics that are Too Broad or Too Narrow

A good starting pointing for online encyclopedias: 

As an example, if you wanted to write a paper on cage free livestock, you would find that The Gale Encyclopedia of Diets has an entry for Free-Range, Grass-Fed, and Cage-Free Animals.

• Under The Purpose, it says: " Farmers or ranchers who practice free-range animal husbandry typically do so for one or more of five major reasons: humane considerations, feed cost reduction, happier and livelier animals, higher-quality food products, and sustainable agriculture, which involves raising crops and livestock on the same parcel of land without exhausting the land or damaging the local environment." This provides different sub-topics. 
• Under The Description, it introduces terms such as "pastured" and "organic." Finding smaller pieces of the topic like this will help narrow down what specifically you want to talk about. Instead of talking about every aspect of the cage free livestock movement, a choice can be made from these smaller pieces. 

Finding Keywords (excellent search terms)

Using the cage free example again, it started with three keywords:

• cage free
• livestock
• benefits

Using the same encyclopedia entry for Free-Range, Grass-Fed, and Cage-Free Animals, we can find other keywords. 

• In the Definition, the words "cage free" and "free range" are used interchangeably. This is important! It means if you only search for books and articles using "cage free." Anything that uses "free range" will be excluded, potentially missing a key piece of information. 
• Look for and identify other important words that are used by experts in the field and are related to those narrower issues and ideas that interest you. The following image pulls from the entry's The Purpose: 

• From the three keywords that started this search, there are now nine more:
  • Alternative agriculture movement
  • exhausting the land
  • grass fed
  • battery cages
  • agribusinesses
  • pastured
  • factory farming