Public Services Librarian
Introduction
Now that you have explored your topic and have formulated a working research question, its time to use the your newly formed keywords to find the scholarly sources that you are going to use to build the arguments for your research project.
Some things to keep in mind as you search:
- Stay flexible.
- Searching is a process. It is likely that you will not find exactly what you are looking for on your first search. Try different keywords and different combinations.
- There is not one perfect source.
- It is very unlikely that you will find one article or book that will say everything that you want to say in your paper (if you do, you might want to consider refining your topic to write on a more original research topic). Consider the types of arguments you could make on your topic. How can you find a resource about the individual topics that you could then combine in your paper?
- Ask for help.
- Librarians are here to help. You can email me directly at emlang@owu.edu or email the reference desk at libraries@owu.edu, call at 740-368-3225, or chat with us on the library's homepage.
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Where to Search
The best place to start searching will depend on your discipline and your individual topic. Below are a couple ways of getting started. Finding the right place to search is a great stage of your research to come talk to a librarian for help.
The best place to start looking for popular and scholarly resources is Academic Search Complete. This is a general database that connects you to scholarly journals and popular magazines (as well as images and videos) on topics across many academic subjects.
Summon is a one-stop-shop for resources at OWU. Summon searches most (but important to note NOT ALL) resources at OWU. Recommended for browsing the resources available on a given topic to get a sense of what has been written on your topic or for looking for a specific article that you think OWU owns. The drawbacks are that it is difficult to organize your search and Summon does not directly link to resources that you have access to through OhioLink or Interlibrary Loan.
Librarians have created research guides for most departments on Campus. Scroll down this alphabetical list of guides to find the guide that best matches your research topic. Every guide will include a list of recommended databases for your discipline. Keep your topic in mind when you are looking at these guides. Your topic could have elements that would be represented in two different disciplines.
Limiting A to Z Database list by subject
Likewise, you can forgo the subject guides and limit databases to specific subjects on the A to Z Database List.
Searching Google Scholar is a great way to connect to sources that the Library may or may not have access to. Google scholar connects you to resources that are scholarly in nature (please note that your search results will contain items that are located on a scholarly page, but might not be scholarly in the traditional sense). If OWU owns access you will see a "Full-Text @ OWU Libraries" link on the right hand side of your screen.