ENG 109 (Lamb) by Brea McQueen: Introduction and Getting Started

I'm Brea McQueen and I will be your librarian for this course. This research guide was created specifically for this course and the research assignment(s) given by your professor. The guide contains links to the most useful resources for the assignment(s) in this class. I've also included some instructions on how to use these resources as well as other helpful research tips.

If you have any questions at all during the research process, please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm here to help! My contact information is listed on the right-hand side of this page and I welcome drops-in for anyone who may be on campus.

Feeling overwhelmed by the research assignment? Not sure where or how to start your research? The following tutorials and videos will help you learn more about the early stages involved in completing a research assignment.

"The Research Process" tutorial takes you through the first steps of examining the details of the assignment, to choosing a topic, to conducting background information about your topic to getting started on more in-depth research and writing.

The "How to Narrow Your Topic" video will walk you through the first stages of the research process, from starting with a broad area of interest, doing background research, to narrowing and tweaking your topic as you learn more, to forming a research question and thesis. 

In "Beginning Research with Wikipedia/Google" you will learn how to use those sources to find out background information about your topic, determine appropriate keywords to use when researching your topic, and how using those pieces of information will make researching in library resources faster and easier.

Scholarship As Conversation (tutorial) describes how each person who conducts research and then writes or presents about their findings contributes to the information available on that particular topic. They all contribute to the large conversation about that topic that was started by others.

The "Anatomy of a Research Paper" video explains the main parts of a research paper and what should be included in each part. If you need assistance with the writing part of your research assignment, please contact the Regionals Tutoring and Learning Center.

Why Information Literacy Matters how the vast amount of information that we are bombarded with every day affects us and makes it difficult to determine what information is reliable and valuable. This tutorial also explains why it is important to evaluate information and provides some tips on how to determine which resources are best to consult based on the information you need to find.