ETHN106 (Iyengar)

Before You Start Searching...

1. Take a second to brainstorm some search terms about your subject, and take the extra step to write them down. Think about where they are from, what medium they work in, what some of their most famous works are, or what themes or events have influenced their work or life.
2. Start a research document. Consider creating a place to put the things you find as you search. A research document could be a page in your notebook, or something like a GoogleDoc. Consider it a dumping ground for the words, articles, URLs, citations, and other pieces of information you find along the way.

Why use the library? Isn't it all on Google?

It's easy to fall back on using Google as your primary research tool, but there are some big advantages to using library resources:

• Higher quality resources, already vetted. These resources have been selected by the library and are primarily academic. You still need to be critical with all of your sources, but with library resources it's easier to determine authority and to cross-reference sources.
• Access to full-text journals, magazines, and books that you can't find for free online. Not everything is available online for free. Libraries pay to get full access to millions of articles and books unavailable for free online.
• Easy to track sources and create citations. Library databases have features that allow you to easily email resources back to yourself, copy links, and generate citations.
• Impress your instructors! Instructors love to see a well-researched paper with tons of great resources. Having some quality library resources not only can improve the quality of your work, but can also impress your professor.