ENG 111 (Lawrence): Home

We all know the basics of research, but I thought the resources below could offer some quick insights to get you on track on working on your topics.  

Here is a worksheet I've used at the beginning of a project to get my ideas down and start thinking about other directions to turn.  Feel free to make a copy and type your own terms and ideas in.

Video - The Research Process (3:31)

Choosing a Topic (tutorial)

Background Research Tips  (tutorial) -- as a follow-up, see our Reference/Background page for sources to use for background information (Wikipedia is great, but these might offer additional information, including useful statistics, that can help shape the direction you work toward. 

Video - How to Narrow Your Topic (3:34)

If you have questions on narrowing your topic, or where to look next, please contact me using the options above and I'll be happy to make some suggestions.

• Be specific when you search, using multiple keywords to describe your question.
• In library databases, use “Limit by Subject” and “Subject: Thesaurus Terms” to focus your search to subject terms used in that database.
• In addition to printing articles, keep in mind that you may also email them to yourself or save them to your M: drive so you may retrieve documents from home or on campus.
• Remember that you can also email yourself the citation for an article from the email function, or use the "Cite" button to view and copy a citation from the screen.
• If an item does not have a PDF or HTML full-text link, click on “Find It!” to see if the article may be found in full-text somewhere outside the database you are using.  This will also allow you to see if Miami owns the periodical in print or microform at one of our libraries. 
• If there are articles that cannot be found in full-text from other Miami or OhioLINK Libraries, you may use Interlibrary Loan to request articles from other libraries.
• Ask a librarian!  We are happy to help you.