March 29, 2010

In order to write a research paper with confidence and credibility it is extremely important that you research the topic very thoroughly and use the best sources for your particular purpose. If you are researching a relatively new topic you are more likely to use articles and online resources that can be published more quickly than books that take a considerable amount of time. When I begin on this intimidating task I always start with online research. I simply begin by typing my topic into google, this not only gives me an idea of what sources and websites I can utilize, but also often gives me ideas that I can write about in my essay. Once I have established this foundation for my paper I visit the Washington State library website and search for articles on my topic using World Cat. Often I find thousands of articles that relate in some way to my topic, but I need to narrow down the results in order to find information that will actually be of some assistance to my paper. In order to do this I simply click on the options on the left had side of the screen specify the restrictions I wish to be enforced on the search of articles. By doing this I cut down the results of my search to a reasonable number that I can look through. Another search generator I use to find articles is JSTOR. These articles can most often be viewed online and therefore are more easily accessible than the ones that I must visit the library to retrieve. When looking for books to use as research I must go to the Holland Terrell Library. Once there I use the search engine to find locations of books that pertain to my topic. Although I have found that simply by going to the location of one book I find many others that are similar that did not come up when I searched. It is in this manner that I had discovered many useful sources on my own, with some help. I think the best way for me to improve my method of finding sources would be to visit the library first. Not only will I find the most reliable sources there, but I can also utilize the personnel that can help me in my investigation. By taking these steps I will be able to quickly and efficiently find sources for all my research papers in the future.