How to Do Library Research

• How can you break up your research question into narrower questions?
• What do you need to know about your topic?
• What kinds of people or publications might have published the kinds of information you need?
• What kinds of information do you need?
  • A broad overview of your topic?
  • A definition?
  • The latest research studies that have been done on your topic?
  • Videos or images?
  • Writings on your topic by scholars, journalists, or everyday folks? 
  • The latest popular news on your topic?
  • Perspectives from different political viewpoints?
  • Statistics or data?
  • Information that has been fact-checked, or peer-reviewed?
• Each of these different answers will point you to a different kind of resource. 

What publication formats (encyclopedias, books, chapters, magazine articles, newspaper articles, journal articles, websites, etc.) will you need?

All of these types of sources can be found in Multisearch. Do a search, then use the options on the left under "Source Types" to limit your results to the kinds of sources you want. 

Here's an idea that might be new to a lot of you: the point of a research essay is not just to prove what you already believe; it's to learn new things, integrate those things with prior beliefs and experience, and communicate those conclusions, supported by evidence, to your audience.

In composition, you will practice:

• examining your own assumptions
• examining competing viewpoints on an issue
• using confirming and opposing evidence on your topic

​Here are some strategies for finding alternative viewpoints:

• Think about who might argue something different from you. Is there a nonprofit or advocacy group that advocates for the other side? Is there a newspaper, magazine, website, or news channel that leans towards a different political spectrum and might publish viewpoints contrary to yours? Go to those sources and see what they have to say about your research question.
• Read widely. When you do a search, read beyond the first page of results. Look out for the arguments expressed in the headlines, and read some articles that don't necessarily support what you say. If you read enough, you're bound to come across an argument that differs from yours.
• Even articles that support your argument likely contain opposing viewpoints. Just like you'll have to do when you write your essay, other writers will usually address the other side in their writing too. So read the article or book and look out for when the writer addresses the other side. What do they say the other side says? Whom do they attribute those views to?
• Search the database Opposing Viewpoints. This database usually selects "viewpoints" representing multiple sides of an issue.
• Remember, an alternative viewpoint in your essay doesn't need to be the opposite of your argument. Maybe someone else has proposed a different cause of the problem, or a different solution. Maybe they see a slightly different angle on the same issue. The world isn't black and white, and well-constructed arguments usually aren't either.