Gingrich Library: ENG 101 -- Composition: Research Starters

Overviews and Quick Looks

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Collection of fulltext online reference materials. Content includes dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, and subject-specific titles from art to accountancy, science to Shakespeare, and law to literature. Coverage varies by title.
Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
ONCE LOGGED INTO GALE, IF ASKED FOR A PASSWORD AT THE SIGN IN BOX, TYPE albright.--
GVRL is a collection of electronic reference materials in a variety of subjects.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Nexis Uni™ features more than 15,000 news, business and legal sources from LexisNexis—including U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1790—create a free account to use personalization features such as Alerts and saved searches and a collaborative workspace with shared folders and annotated documents.

Basic Research Steps

Select an interesting and doable topic.
Identify each component of your topic.
Select appropriate terms to describe the components and use truncation as appropriate.
Determine the correct use of Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT).
Select fields to search if appropriate (author, title, subject).
Limit your results as necessary (date, scholarly vs. popular, etc.).
Evaluate your results and rethink your strategy as necessary.