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How to Do Library Research


Depending on your topic and type of assignment, the resources you’ll need for your research may include books from academic publishers, articles from scholarly journals, data and statistics, primary sources, articles from trade journals and popular publications, government documents, standards, images, music, videos, and more. All of these types of sources can be found in the Libraries and on the Libraries’ website.

When getting started on a research assignment, the first thing you’ll need to do is make sure you have a pretty good grasp and understand the project’s scope; including the details of expectations identified by your course professor.  In addition to carefully reading any assignment prompts, directions, rubrics, etc., that your instructor has provided, you may also want to consult these tips and tools for specific types of research assignments and writing in particular fields.

Once you’ve become familiarized with the specifics of your research assignment, you’ll need to start thinking about a topic you want to pursue. Some of the times, your professor assigns the topic.  However, if that is not the case for your assignment, review the information under the Search The Topic link on this page for successful strategies for doing just that.