FYS 100 (06): Technology in Fantasy and Society

Getting Started with Your Research

I recommend that you start by asking yourself concrete questions of the sort that will generate a plan of action.

• What do I want to know? (Make yourself an initial list of questions)

• Am I asking a question that can be answered with fact based research, or is this really a values/opinion/beliefs question? If the latter, what do I need to change to make this a question I can answer?

• Do I need background information on people, places, concepts, events? How does my topic fit into a larger system or structure?

• Who (what field of study, group of researchers, organizations, etc.) is likely to have published relevant information or ideas? Who are the recognized experts in those fields?

• Where and in what form are the results of their research likely to be published?

• How should I interpret or evaluate the information I find? Are there things I don’t yet know that would change my interpretation or evaluation of these sources?

• Are there primary (un-interpreted) sources I should consult?  Who would have created them? Have I come across the names of people, documents, programs, events, etc. that would facilitate my search for them?

• What new questions are raised by these sources, both primary and secondary? Has my original question been answered or just made more complicated (and interesting)?

• Remember, there are two layers of research:
  1) a broad search to discover resources and to read some background information
  2) specific searches for information once you've focused your topic.

Link to Narrowing Your Topic: 5 Quick Tips

If the full-text of an article is not available in the database you are searching, look for a "Locate it" button, which will link you to either the journal in which the article is published or to the article itself. 

If there is no button, use the Journal Titles tab in the red search box at the top of the main library web page to search for the title of the journal, or use the link below.  If we have a subscription, you will learn what years are available and in what database.  Some or all years of a journal may be available only in physical form in the periodicals collection on B2. 

For other journals we may have limited access, for example, not the most recent issues or not the earliest published issues. If we do not have access to the issue you need, use ILLiad.

Just because they call it "Google Scholar" that's no guarantee that everything you find here is scholarly. Use publications on university websites with caution, as you would any resource based on unrestricted self-publication. Articles published in journals will usually be scholarly, but you can always check out the journal using the Journal Titles search on the library's home page.