Getting Started With Your Research in 4 Easy Steps
Step 1 - Begin by answering these questions to create a list of words:
- What are the main words in my topic sentence?
- What are other words related to my topic?
- What part of this topic interests me the most?
Step 2 - Find general background information
Background information helps:
Library Spot, Encyclopedia Britannica, Infoplease, Encyclopedias found in Badgerlink
While reading background information, add new words and phrases to your list.
Background information helps:
- give a better understanding of the topic
- identify the parts of the topic that really interest you
- narrow your research
- find new words and phrases to use in searches
Library Spot, Encyclopedia Britannica, Infoplease, Encyclopedias found in Badgerlink
While reading background information, add new words and phrases to your list.
Step 3 - Find more in-depth, detailed information on your topic
Armed with your larger, revised list of words or phrases, use our school databases - Gale, Culturegrams, History Study Center, Academic Search Premier, and the many databases found on BadgerLink - to find more specific information on your topic.
Armed with your larger, revised list of words or phrases, use our school databases - Gale, Culturegrams, History Study Center, Academic Search Premier, and the many databases found on BadgerLink - to find more specific information on your topic.
- Take notes
- Rewrite the information in your own words, summarize
- Use quotation marks if the information is taken directly from the source. This shows the exact words did not come from you! Don't forget to include the source and page number where you found the quote.
Step 4 - Keep track of your research
Save time. Cut/paste citations from your sources as you read and take notes! It's much harder to go back later and find the citations.
You can use a bibliography service such as Bibme or EasyBib or cut/paste the citations onto a Word document.
Most of our databases have a citation button that will give you a correctly formatted citation. Always ask your teacher which format they prefer, for e.g. MLA, APA, etc.
Save time. Cut/paste citations from your sources as you read and take notes! It's much harder to go back later and find the citations.
You can use a bibliography service such as Bibme or EasyBib or cut/paste the citations onto a Word document.
Most of our databases have a citation button that will give you a correctly formatted citation. Always ask your teacher which format they prefer, for e.g. MLA, APA, etc.