Locating+Information

Locating Information == A good way to begin your research is to locate and read articles (or book chapters) that will give you a broad overview of a topic. You can find background articles in a variety of reference materials—books, encyclopedias, journals and magazines. Also, these resources often provide bibliographies—lists of books and articles that will allow you to discover what else is available on a subject. These bibliographies can also provide additional resources for your research. ==

= Sources for Locating Background Information  =

== Online Encyclopedias: == == Since they are designed to cover all branches of knowledge, general encyclopedias are likely to have some information on every topic. They are often good sources to consult first, since they introduce the main concepts about a subject and suggest other sources that may be helpful. Finding information in general encyclopedias requires only that you do a subject heading search. Be aware that general encyclopedias can only be used to gather background information—they are not to be used as cited sources in your extended essay. ==

The Dhahran Campus LRC subscribes to Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Please see Mr. Smith for information on how to access this source.
= Online Databases: = == Sometimes articles in newspapers or general interest magazines (Newsweek, Time, National Geographic, etc.) can provide a quick overview on a subject. These articles are typically meant for the everyday reader and do not contain references to other resources. However, you can use your library's full-text periodical database to find these articles and peer reviewed articles written by professionals in a particular field. Journal articles—those written by specialists in a subject area—do often contain bibliographical references to other sources. To give your own research credibility, it is best to cite articles written for peer-reviewed journals. ==

Go to: [|http://search.ebscohost.com]
User ID: ns177898main Password: main

Gale: Go to: [] Username: xdhahran Password: school

**Magazines/Journals:** The Dhahran Campus LRC subscribes to over 100 magazines and journals. You can browse through this selection of magazines and find some that are related to your EE subject. Browse through the magazine's index and see if there are any article titles that sound interesting to you. If you find an article that is interesting, you can request a photocopy of the article. See Ms. Dina for help.

== Books:  ==

You can also find background information using books found in your library's collection.
== Keep in mind that many of the best resources are only available in print, so don’t ignore books! Not everything is available on the Internet! Remember—copyrighted material is not freely distributed via the “public” Internet. == == To find books in our collection, you will need to do a keyword search in the library's online catalog (the LRC currently uses Alexandria). Search for your broad topic with keywords like "Latin American history," or "history Latin America." (Note that online searching does not require the use of capital letters.) Ask Mr. Smith for help with how to search our collection using Alexandria. ==

**Internet:**


 * It is certainly possible to find good information on the internet, but you need to be very careful about the information you come across. Much of the information available on the internet is not high quality, well-research information. One way to search more effectively on the internet is to (gasp!) NOT use google as your search engine. Try using one of the following search engines that have been created by librarians and teachers to filter out all the useless garbage that tends to show up on your google results page: **


 * Go to: [|www.sweetsearch.com] **

**Go to: [|www.ipl2.org]**

**You should also take some time to explore the following...** = Free Online Sources: =
 * = Scholarly articles: Google Scholar =
 * = Video lectures: Academic Earth or You Tube Edu or [|TED] =
 * = Newspaper articles: Paper of Record =
 * = Primary sources: Digital Librarian, Federal Resources, UNESCO,Repository, American Memory =
 * = Online books: Archive.org, Google Books, Open Library, Gutenberg =

== Research Tip: Pay attention to the copyright of print resources. Consider the date of publication in relation to your chosen topic. If you are writing about a topic from an historical viewpoint, a copyright from the 60s or 70s may be appropriate. All libraries have books in their collections that need to be “weeded” out, but many are still on the shelves. Just because a book is in the collection doesn’t mean it’s the best resource to use. On the other hand, an older copyright date does not necessarily mean outdated information. You will need to evaluate resources as you research. You will also find that many of the best resources are only available in print, so don’t ignore books! Not everything is available on the Internet! Remember—copyrighted material is not freely distributed via the “public” Internet. ==

== Research Tip: Once you’ve settled on a subject area for your extended essay, it’s a good idea to keep copies of all the articles that you read. First of all, having a copy—whether its printed from a periodical database or the Internet or photocopied from a print resource—will allow you to highlight as you read and give you a place to make notations in the margins. Whenever you make a copy of an article or chapter in a book, make sure you have page numbers and all reference documentation that you’ll need for a works cited page. You never want to go back and reconstruct a reference citation after the fact. It is too difficult and time consuming and often like trying to find a needle in a haystack! == Portions of this manual were developed by Duke University librarians and appear on the web at[] and from Dr. Sharon Vansickle, Librarian, Riverdale High School, Fort Myers, Florida