• Choose a topic. Try to select something that interests you or reflects your field of study.
  Example: Distance Learning and the library

• Start to read about your topic. Begin to define the purpose of your research. Use general reference resources such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, directories, handbooks or almanacs. The index of reference books is usually a good place to start.

• Describe your topic in a sentence; begin to focus your research.  The topic could be a problem you want to consider or a question you propose to answer.  This sentence can become your thesis statement.
  Example: Students in Distance Learning programs need
  the same library services as on-campus students.

• Select the major concepts to be searched. These will serve as the main ideas of your paper. 

  Example:   distance learning   library services   students

• Use these keywords to find search terms that match. Use a thesaurus to find sysnonyms or a dictionary to describe related topics. Some of the online database resources can be helpful; look for hyperlinked Subjects or Descriptors.

  Example:

  Concept #1	Concept #2	Concept #3
  distance learning	library services	students
  distance education	resources	patrons
  off-campus	research	on-campus
  distributed education	catalogs	learners
  remote	databases	researchers

• If you have any questions, make sure you Ask a Librarian for help.

• Use the Research Strategy Worksheet to organize your thoughts and ideas.

• Using your keywords, begin a search in the library's online catalog.

• Choose general or subject-related databases that meets the search needs. Enter search terms.

• Learn to use the HELP feature which includes special search aids and vocabulary for each database.

Boolean Operators:

• Use and to combine the different concepts & narrow your search.

  Example: "distance learning" and library and student*

• Use or to separate similar terms in a concept & broaden your search.

  Example: distance and (learning or education)

Parentheses or Quotes:

• Use ( ) or " " to combine terms and define phrases. Some databases offer this as an automatic feature.

  Example: "Distance Learning" (library services)

Truncation:

• To search for a word and all the different forms of that word use the proper symbols (* ? !) inserted at the end of the root word. These symbols will vary between databases. Check in the help section for instructions.

  Example: educat* = educating, educates, educator, education