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Introduction
Genre
Topic
Scope
Thesis
or Question
Research
Introduction
Types
of resources
Evaluating
sources
Taking
notes
Outline
First
Draft
Revisions
Proofreads
Additional
Resources
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Writing a Research Paper
Research
So you've found some books online but the shelf
is bare?
The obvious advice is to avoid getting yourself in this bind in the first
place by starting research early (even if you're a last-minute writer).
But here a few suggestions for coping with this stressful scenario once
you're in it:
-
Don't limit yourself to your own campus' library. Try nearby
colleges or universities. You may not be able to take the books
out since you're not a student (or maybe you can if a friend who goes
there is willing to take books out for you), but you can still take
advantage by merely taking notes.
-
If you live in or near a large city's public
library, you may well find your resource untouched there.
-
Remember the gift of interlibrary loans.
Your reference librarian will show you how to fill out forms (often
you can do it right online!) so that you can get your hands on a book
from another library without going there yourself.
-
Don't neglect anthologies, the journals
of the book world. Sometimes students can be lazy and expect there
to be entire books dedicated solely and precisely to their topic;
if only it were that easy! Very often, your topic will be a chapter
or article in a larger edited work which you might miss by only looking
at the title of the entire volume. So occasionally do some broader
searches and see if some of the 'authors' in the results of those
searches have "Ed." next to their names, signaling an anthology with
multiple contributors. A 10-page focused article is often more valuable
than a 500-page dense interpretation.
-
Again, don't rely on the obvious. Journals, video documentaries,
online essays, interviews, newspapers--many a library resource is
restricted to library use only or simply
aren't snapped up as fast as books are.
-
See if you can place a hold. In campus
libraries, placing a hold usually means the person currently with
the book cannot renew it because the hold indicates that the book
is in demand. For books that can be taken out longer than the usual
three weeks, there is often an early recall of that book just for
you.
-
What's the best solution? If you expect the resource pool to be a
problem--especially if you anticipate everyone in your 500+ lecture
class will be writing on the same novel or historical event-- be
as original as you can. Presenting a unique take on the
subject matter, within the parameters of the assignment of course,
is your best defense. It
-
keeps your motivation up
-
gets you thinking creatively about some facet that interests
you that hasn't really been addressed in class, or at least not
thoroughly
-
is, if done well, an incredibly refreshing change for your professor
because it displays initiative, ingenuity, and a thirst for challenges
and
-
allows you to sigh more contentedly when it comes to resource
hunting!!
Back to Types
of Resources
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