This Library Research Guide will provide information about some of the most significant research materials available from McFarlin Library.
If you're just beginning your research or you want to develop a basic understanding of your topic, check out our books/E-books. Books often synthesize the available scholarship on a topic. This makes them an excellent resource when you need a lot of information quickly (including historical information), you want to put a topic in context with other issues, or you need a good summary of research.
McFarlin Library provides over 990,000 book titles in both print and electronic formats.
If you're doing more in-depth research, such as for an upper division class or a senior project, you'll probably want to track down some journal articles on your topic. Scholarly journal articles are a vital secondary source of information for serious researchers. Articles are much shorter than books and focus in-depth on very specific topics. Published by academic presses or associations and written by scholars and professionals in their fields, they provide detailed information on the most current research and developments in the field.
McFarlin Library provides access to over 500 databases and 54,000 electronic periodicals.
Selecting a research topic is much like deciding on a travel destination. Once you have narrowed your ideas to an interesting subject, write down a brief statement about this topic. For example: "Rock groups of the 60s, their popularity and major influence on the music industry." Once the topic is selected, write down specific questions that you'll want to answer. The research process will drive your destination. Your original topic may develop into something entirely different. You may choose to follow an alternate path and go down a different road.
After determining the topic, you can map out your route. You must identify the types of sources that will provide the information needed, then determine where to find these sources. Types of sources that should be considered include books, periodicals, the Internet, and other libraries (through interlibrary loan).
The key to finding books is the online library catalog called Discovery. Search in Discovery by selecting a keyword that best describes your topic. You can also search by title, author, subject, or keyword. In addition to books, the catalog allows you to search for periodicals, government documents, audiovisual material, and Special Collections.
If you get lost during your sight-seeing trip, stop and ask directions. The following reference sources will be most useful to acquire quick answers to any questions you may have.
Begin with Encyclopedias, then to get off the main drag, use Subject Encyclopedias.
What does it mean? Use a Dictionary.
How much, how many? Find Statistical Information.
Who? Find Biographical Information.
How can I get in touch? Use a Directory.
Where do I go from here? Bibliographies.
Periodicals include newspapers, magazines, and journals. They are published regularly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly. Journals are periodicals containing articles written by experts in a particular field of study. If the researcher wrote the article, is it a primary source. If reporters write the article, such as in popular magazines, it is a secondary source. Typically, journal articles contain extensive bibliographies that lead to additional sources.
Journal List - If there is a specific journal that you are looking for, this will take you directly to McFarlin's holdings.
Discovery - If there is a specific article that you are looking for, you can search Summon with that article's title.
Database List - If you don't have a specific journal or article in mind, then McFarlin's databases will allow you to search multiple journals with a keyword.
In research, it is very important that you cite the sources that you use to form and articulate your ideas. While there are many difference citation styles, mostly depending on the discipline, there are three citation styles used most often:
The links above will take you to the citation guides created by the Writing Center. Your professor should tell you what citation style you will be using for their class; if you aren't sure which style you should be using, please ask your professor.
For an excellent and free citation management software option, check out our page on Zotero.
