How to Do Library Research

• Are ample sources of information available on the subject? (Why or why not?)
• Does the subject encourage research in the kinds and number of sources required by the assignment?
• Will the subject lead you to an objective assessment of sources and to a defensible conclusion?
• Does the subject suit the length of paper assigned and the time given for research and writing?

Aaron, Jane E. The Little Brown Compact Handbook. 9th ed., Pearson, 2016. Writing Handbook for Saint Mary's College of California, 4th custom ed., Pearson, p. 349.

Now that you've seen what Jenny's research process looks like, what does your research process look like? Try drawing it out. What will you try to change about this process the next time you have a research project?

Your topic will depend on whatever guidelines your professor has given you. But here are some general tips for choosing a topic if you don't have any idea where to begin:

• Flip back through your course syllabus and readings. (Either this course, or another one!) What interested you? Confused you? Made you want to learn more?
• Go to a news website or app (for instance, the New York Times, NPR, Wall Street Journal, or Apple News). Pick a section of interest to you, such as Health, Business, or Entertainment. Scan through the stories. What is interesting to you and could be explored further? 
• Browse some of the issues and opinion articles in a database like Opposing Viewpoints. 

If your topic is too broad, your essay could end up unfocused, and you could end up overwhelmed! Try these tips for narrowing down your topic:

• Do a search (in a library database, Wikipedia, a news website, etc) for your topic. What subtopics or issues come up?
• Find a book on your topic and flip to the table of contents. How did the author narrow down the broader topic into narrower chapters? Could even one of those chapters be a narrower topic for your essay?
• Approach your topic from a specific disciplinary, geographic, or cultural lens. How might different people see your topic in different ways?
• Turn your topic into a research question. What do you want to know about your topic? Why?

Table from Joanna M. Burkhardt and Mary C. MacDonald, Teaching Information Literacy: 50 Standards-based Exercises for College Students (Chicago: American Library Association, 2010), 31.