Government Resources: Research Basics

Writing your topic as a question:

Depending on the discipline the research question may look different, but a common formula for research questions is the topic, narrowing issue, people group technique.

Begin by taking your topic. The topic should be very broad. You will use your narrowing issue to make it more manageable.

Next add a narrowing issue. After you begin research, you may have to adjust the narrowing issue to be more broad or specific.

Finally add a people group. The people group can include race, gender, age, occupation, geographic region, etc.

Example:

What are the most effective communication strategies for increasing voter turnout among those under 30?

• Issue: Voter turnout
• Narrowing issue: Communication
• People Group: People under 30 years old

The Research Question:

Defining Keywords:

Keywords are search terms that you enter into the database to describe the topic of items that you want to retrieve. Your keyword are typically main ideas and synonyms from your search question. You do not want to put your entire question into the database because too many search terms will limit or skew the results. 

Determining Keywords and Alt Terms:

Keywords come from your research question. They are main ideas of your question (your issue, narrowing issue, and people group). Then think of synonyms for those words. Try including terms of similar scope, and a few of broader or narrower scope. The ideas is not just to think of words that mean the exact same thing, but rather think of alternative terms that might lead us to helpful information about your research area. 

You can get ideas of keywords from:

• Thesaurus
• Article supplied keywords
• Article references/citations

Keywords for Searching

Video produced by NC State University Libraries with a CC-BY-NC-SA license 

Compartmentalizing and Synthesizing Sources:

Sometimes when you have a complex research question with three or four variables, you can find a lot of sources that touch on every aspect of your question. That's good! That means your topic is new and probably interesting. Now it is up to you to break up your keyword groupings and find resources that contain PART of your question but not all. But, then when you write your paper, you pull from different kinds of information to make something new and original. 

One Perfect Source?

Video produced by NC State University Libraries with a CC-BY-NC-SA license 

Types of Articles:

 Authors write articles for a variety of articles - some articles are written for experts in their field, others are written for novices in the field, some are research articles and some are reviews - in short, there are lots of different types of articles. Let's explore some of the common article types and how they can be useful for your research: 

• Popular Article - articles are written for a general audience that are usually easy to understand without specialized knowledge or study. Popular articles help introduce you to a topic and introduce you to how that topic is being discussed in society. Example: Time Magazine
• Trade Article - Trade publications are generally for practitioners in a discipline. They are focused on a specific field, but not are not intended to be "scholarly." Rather, they communicate the news and trends of that field. Trade articles are helpful for your research because they highlight trends and products in the field to increase practical understanding of the field. Example: Home Power 
• Scholarly Article - contains articles written by experts in a particular field. The primary audience of these articles is other experts. These articles generally report on original research or case studies. Many of these articles are peer-reviewed. Scholarly articles are the foundation of your research; they provide expert opinions, studies, and theories on your research question. Example: Journal of Mass Media Ethics 

Peer Review:

Peer review, or refereed, means that scholars in the same field review the research and findings before the article is published. Good peer reviewers don't review articles based on content but on the research process, even if they don't agree with the article's conclusions. Popular and trade articles are not usually peer-reviewed, but scholarly articles are. 

Note: Just because a journal is peer-reviewed, it doesn't mean that ALL articles have undergone the process, only the original research articles are peer-reviewed.

Researching with Books:

Books are helpful for your research because they are more in-depth than journal articles. Books are good for:

• Background Information
• Thorough coverage of a topic
• Historical overviews of a topic
• Image-heavy topics (art or architecture)

Books are much longer than articles, so they can devote more space to your topic. If we want a detailed biography of Walt Disney or the history of leisure time in the United States, we are not going to find it in a 10-page article.

Book vs Ebook:

The library has both ebooks and print books in its collection. There are advantages to using either format, ultimately it comes down to your personal preference. The library still collects both formats, but recently has been putting more focus on ebooks because they can be accessed off-campus and are searchable. The library has a built-in ebook reader so there is no need for an e-reader device.

Academic vs Popular Books:

Popular books, like your favorite murder mystery or fantasy novel, are great for entertainment but have limited value in academic study. Often these books lack significant scholarly backing, as indicated through footnotes and bibliographies that are common in academic books.

Scholarly books are written by expert authors (usually professors) and are often published by a university press (or another reputable publisher). They are very valuable to your research because they are very detailed providing you with thorough coverage of a topic. However, they can be overly detailed (on things that don't help your research question) and time-consuming to read; Scholarly books can have a linear timeline (a beginning and an end), but often they are a collection of standalone chapters that can be read without referring to others in the book. These chapters can be read standalone because they have a complete argument beginning with the thesis and ending with the conclusion. But, they are compiled in a collection of similar chapters on the related issue. Taken together or individually, these chapters can give you important insight into your research question. Don't be afraid to cite individual chapters in your research.

Reference Resources:

Reference sources generally summarize topics or assist in finding secondary literature. These sources provide background information or help you find other sources. They are helpful for quick facts, statistics, background information, or contact information, and can be useful for learning specific vocabulary.

Reference materials found in the reference section (southeast corner of the ground floor) are for in-library use only. They cannot be checked out. There are some reference materials found in the main stacks. They can be checked out.

Much like databases, there are different types of reference sources designed for targeted use. Below is an exploration of some of the most common ones

Dictionaries:

Simply, a dictionary defines words or phrases. But, like all reference sources, there are different types of dictionaries for different uses and needs. Here are some of the common types of dictionaries:

• General - cover all subjects, abridged (shorter version, may not cover all meanings for each word, and may not include more obscure words) or unabridged
• Etymological - traces the histories of words
• Foreign Language - translate foreign words into English 
• Slang and Dialect - have definitions of colloquial words, such as y'all
• Thesauri - contain synonyms and antonyms
• Abbreviations and Acronyms - lists full names and gives short forms 

Biblical Commentaries:

Biblical Commentaries explain scripture of the Bible verse-by-verse or section-by-section. There are dozens of biblical commentaries that vary greatly in detail of coverage, analysis, and intended audience. Commentaries can consist of only one volume of multiple volume sets. 

It's important to note that commentaries vary in affiliation or perspective. As in all theological authors, their published works typically reference their theological orientations, shaped by their denomination identities, current place of employment, and other factors. Make sure to pay attention to both the relevant biographical factors of the author and also to the publisher. Being aware of the author's and/or press's theological or ideological biases can help the user of the commentary be a more discerning reader.

Below are general types of commentaries:

• Advanced Commentaries - Example passages in great detail with varying viewpoints, fine technical points, literary styles, and critical theories. Critical commentaries may require a base understanding of the original language of the text. These are typically written by Biblical scholars and theologians.
• Homiletical, Expositional, or Pastoral Commentaries - intended to be a resource in sermon preparation or pastoral care. Working ministers are the targeted audience for these titles.
• Devotional or Application Commentaries - designed for laity or general readers, which focus on the meaning of the text and life applications.

For more information about biblical commentaries in the Nicholson Library visit our School of Theology libguide here.

Page text adapted from Louisville Seminary Biblical Commentaries Guide.
Page text adapted from Salem State University Reference Sources Guide.

Video: What is a Primary Source?

Video by Shmoop University with Permission to share
Libguide text adapted from PALNI's Information Literacy Modules: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources.

How to find a book on the shelf:

Begin by locating the call number in the library catalog (see video below). This number is very important so make sure to copy it down in its entirety. The call number is the roadmap for finding the book on the shelf. You'll notice that the shelve ranges have signs on the endcap that have a call number range listed. Find the letter range that your call number fits, and go to that range. Then follow the numbers on the spine of the book until you find the beginning of your number, then do the same for the second number (after the decimal), and repeat the process (for the third, fourth, fifth, etc number) until you find your book. 

Finding Books in the Library Catalog:

Search the catalog from the main box on the library homepage: library.anderson.edu.

Finding Primary Sources:

As noted in the lesson above, primary sources can come in many different mediums, which complicates where and how to find them. For example, you will find memoirs in the library collection, census data on the federal government website, and clinical trials from our library databases. Most primary sources are stored in physical format in archives; most archives have digital collections but the majority of their collection is physical, meaning you have to travel to the archives to access the materials.

But, fear not, there are lots of primary sources that are available in databases. These databases are often going to be specialized, only covering, one or two mediums of primary sources. (Newspaper databases for news sources, art databases for artwork, etc). The library has a handful of primary source databases in its collection. You can find them by selecting "primary source" on the types dropdown at the top of the database list or by following this link. 

To find more information about how to find primary sources visit the library's history libguide here.

Changing Mindset: Browsing over Searching

Primary sources often are not cataloged in databases, but if they are, they usually don't have as much searchable data. That means you have to change your mindset from refining your keywords to create the perfect search to browsing sets of information to find what you're looking for. Depending on the organization of the archives or the online record keeping, archival research can be more time-consuming and challenging than traditional library research.

Video: Primary Sources: How to Find Them

Video from the Massasoit Libraries with permission to reuse.

Defining Interlibrary Loan:

Think of every book ever published, every movie ever filmed, and every article ever written; combined their total equals over a billion items. It's impossible for one library to have everything. So, many libraries utilize a resource-sharing system known as Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

Interlibrary Loan( ILL) is a service that allows Anderson University students to borrow materials from other libraries around the world, at no charge to the student. 

Through Interlibrary Loan you can request:

• Books (both print and ebook format)
• Journal articles/book chapters
• DVDs/LPs/Musical scores
• Dissertations

Submitting an Interlibrary Loan Request

If there is no full-text option or call number associated with the book, we do NOT have the material in our library. But, don't worry, you can submit an ILL request directly from the database or catalog.

Clicking this button will open up the ILLiad client. Simply log in with your ILL account, or create a new one if you are a first-time user, then submit the request for the article or book to be delivered to you. The request form should auto-populate with the relevant information to complete the request.

Note that the request will take 3-14 days to process and complete, so make sure to start your research early enough to take advantage of this free service.

Copyright and ILL

The library follows the Copyright Law of the United States that governs the making of photocopies and other reproductions of copyrighted works. That means that the librarians may deny requests or modify requests to fit copyright law. A general rule of thumb is we will not scan more than five articles from a single journal title within the current three-year period. We also won't scan more than 20% of a book. At this time, patrons cannot borrow entire ebooks.

Library Tutorial about borrowing from other libraries:

Phrase Searching:

Searching by a particular phrase or word combination is one of the most precise ways of searching. If you type the words political activism into the search bar, the database will search for any appearance of the words even if they are not near each other. To search for an exact phrase or multi-word concept use quotation marks around the phrase. So, the search "political activism" would return results only with the words political and activism next to each other. 

Wildcards

Have you ever played a game where all ace cards are wild cards? That means that an ace can be used in place of any other card. The same is true in database searching: a wildcard can be used in place of a specific letter, multiple letters, or even whole words. In most databases, the asterisk (*) is the wild card character. Here are the most common uses for the wildcard character:

Note: most databases use the asterisk (*) as the wildcard character, but not all. If the asterisk doesn't work consult the database help page to find their wildcard character.

AND,OR, NOT

Advanced searching is like a math equation, but instead of using plus or minus, you use AND, OR, NOT. These words combine your search into a readable equation for the search engine, allowing you to expand and narrow your search using other terms. Note the capitalization. Many databases require these words (operators) to be in all caps, as do search engines like Google, which also allow for operator-advanced searching.

When using operators you want to combine like words with OR (OR = More) and combine unlike words with AND (AND = Less).

Using Parentheses with Operators

To make even better use of your operators, you can use parentheses () to nest search terms. Simply, the parenthesis group the search terms together to create a more sophisticated search.

This example will search for a record that has to have the word voting but only has to have either the word women or female. So, in a ven diagram, this search result would return a result in the shaded area:

Operator Video:

Defining Controlled Vocabulary: 

Controlled Vocabulary takes the guesswork out of searching; it makes the database easier to search. Since we have many different ways of describing concepts, collecting all of these terms under a single word or phrase in a database makes searching the database more efficient as it eliminates guesswork. 

Controlled vocabulary is a list of standardized terms used by librarians to describe the content of a source material. These terms are also known as subject headings, subject terms, thesaurus terms, or descriptors.  The advantage of using controlled vocabulary is that once you find the correct term, most of the information is grouped together in one place, saving you the time of having to search under all of the other synonyms for that term. The controlled vocabulary term is indexed  in the record, so searching with controlled vocabulary will only return results that also include that subject term in the record.

Let's look at an example: to have an exhaustive search about children, you would need to use many different terms. Your search might look like this: (Children OR Child OR adolescent OR "young adult" OR teenager OR youth OR juvenile OR minor). If you use subject terms, all of these words would be combined under one unifying term: DE: Children. 

Finding Controlled Vocabulary

Controlled vocabulary is not always natural language, so have to identify the term in the database to use it. There are two main ways to identify terms (1) through the record or (2) through the thesaurus. 

Controlled Vocabulary in the Record

Controlled vocabulary is indexed in the record, that way it can appear when the subject term is searched. The terms are visibly indexed with links, meaning that you can click the link directly from the record to search by that controlled vocabulary term (the term might be indexed under subject terms or descriptors depending on the database). You can then use AND,OR,NOT to add to your search to refine it further. Note: databases may have different terminology for controlled vocabulary, but if it is grouped under a heading with like terms then it is considered a subject term.

Searching the Thesaurus for Controlled Vocabulary

Some databases have a thesaurus to search controlled vocabulary terms (sometimes called headings or subjects). Databases have different terminology for controlled vocabulary some databases use the word "Subjects," but they also may be referred to as "Subject Terms" or "CINAHL Headings" (on CINAHL) or "MeSH Headings" (on Pubmed and others). Although different names, these subject headings all function very similarly.

 To navigate to the thesaurus, click on the "subjects (or something similar) tab." To search articles from the subject term, search a term then check the box to the left of the term that best matches. Then press the "add to search button." You can combine multiple search terms with AND/OR using the drop-down. Combining subject terms can be very helpful to narrow down your results to a manageable list, but it can also narrow your search too far by only giving 1 or 2 relevant articles to your search question. You can broaden your search by checking the explode box where you can expand your search to include all the nested terms under that controlled vocabulary term.

For more information about searching the thesaurus visit the EBSCOhost help article here.

Understanding Controlled Vocabulary:

Video produced by Librarinofdoom linked with permission.
Page text adapted from MSU Libraries Research Gude.

The CRAAP Evaluation Method: 

The CRAAP method is a common strategy for evaluating all sources; although it tends to work the best with academic sources (books or journal articles). CRAAP is an acronym that stands for currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose. Let's explore the five components of the CRAAP acronym. 

*an acceptable date depends on the discipline. Sources in the science disciplines usually becomes out of date five to seven years after publication. Sources in the humanities discipline can remain current for much longer depending on their content and use.

Use the CRAAP worksheet from Illinois State University to help evaluate your sources.

How Library Stuff Works: The CRAAP Test

Video Produced by the McMaster Libraries. Reused with permission.

Mike Caulfield, HAPGOOD)

The SIFT Method:

The SIFT method, developed by Mike Caulfield, is a method to evaluate news or popular sources. In the SIFT method, the evaluator slows down and intentionally analyzes the source. SIFT is an acronym for Stop, Investigate, Find, Trace. Let's explore the acronym in more detail.

Stop: Check your emotions. Is this designed to make you feel angry? Outraged? Sad? Are you familiar with the source? Why are you reading this? 

Investigate the Source: Who is writing this (and do they have an agenda)? Is it written by an expert? Who published the source?

Find other coverage: Sometimes you don't care about the particular article or video, but you care about the claim the article is making. Look for similar claims in other sources. It doesn't have to be the consensus claim, but it should be represented in different types of sources with varying publishers and authors.

Trace claims, quotes, and media to the original context: Sometimes what we read as been taken out of context. Try and find the original unedited transcript or video of the quote or event. Does the unedited version match the version in your source? If you can't find the unedited original, trace and connect it with the context of the consensus.