Mr. Baird's Research Page
Databases
Remember: Look online if you need a database
Utah’s Online Library:
Gale Reference Collection
—>Global Issues In Context
—> Opposing Viewpoints
—>Student Edition
Topic Selection
Follow these steps to select a research topic:
1. Choose any topic or topics that have to do with Environmentalism. – “e.g., Global Warming”
2. Be a little more specific about your topic. – “e.g., effects of Global Warming on the oceans”
3. Be a lot more specific about your topic – “e.g., effects of Global Warming on plant life in the oceans”
4. Repeat these three steps three or more times to give yourself a few examples of topics to choose from. When you have a few examples, choose the topic that you feel meets your course requirements, the needs of your intended (or imagined) audience, and/or has the most relevant source material to support it.
If you are struggling to come up with a general topic check out the databases below for some ideas.
This video will show you how to get to Utah’s Online Library and use the databases to narrow your topic.
Google Tips
- If you aren’t getting the search results you want change your keywords. Make them more specific or less specific, use synonyms, or rephrase.
- Use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase.
e.g. “Wolves of Yellowstone” will only return search results with that exact phrase
- use search term site:domain to pull up websites with only a specific domain
e.g. wolf site:edu will only pull up .edu sites with “wolf” in them. You can do this for all domains, .edu .org, .gov.
- Adding ~ before a word will search for its synonyms.
e.g. ~energy will search for energy, electricity, fuel, and power.
- Add a dash (–) before a word or site to exclude all results that include that word. This is especially useful for words with multiple meanings, like Jaguar the car brand and jaguar the animal. e.g. jaguar speed -car
New York Times Access
You must have a Salt Lake County Library Card to access this database. If you don’t know how to acquire a card please come talk to the librarian Ms. Bates.
Go to the Salt Lake County Newspapers page–> click “Proquest Newsstand”—> Type in your library card number—>Click “Publications” located above the search bar-–>click the link that says “International New York Times”—> Scroll to the bottom of the page to search within the publication or select an issue by year and month.
Website Evaluation
How to determine if a website is CRAP:
Currency
- When was the page written or updated?
- If no date is given on the page, visit the home page to look for the date
- Is the information current enough for your topic?
- Why might the date matter for your topic?
Reliability
- Are there references given for the information on the site?
- Look for a bibliography or any list of materials used in the creation of the page.
- Is the content primarily opinion?
- Is the content biased or balanced? Why might bias matter for your topic?
Authority
- Who wrote the page?
- If there is no specific author, what is the name of the organization responsible for the site? You may need to visit the home page to find the answer.
- Is there evidence that the author or organization is an expert on this subject?
Purpose/ Point of View
- Why was the page put on the web?
- Are there ads on the site? How do they relate to the topic covered?
Example: an ad selling ammunition next to an article about firearm legislation.
- Is the content primarily opinion?
- What is the domain extension? How might this influence the purpose?
Citation Help
OWL at Purdue
Son of Citation Machine
Zotero
