Discovering Ideas

Research Tools

In doing research for any topic, you should have access to some basic tools .  Now that many of these tools are available on-line, it is much easier to use them than it used to be.

First, of course, is the Library.  The Palomar College Library has collections of both books and periodicals that can be searched on-line using the Catalog.  You must, of course, go to the Library in person to check our books, but on-line searching can save you a lot of time.

In addition to the Library holdings, as a registered student you have access to a wide variety of on-line periodical databases.  These are excellent resources, and you can access most of them remotely, from any computer with Internet access, as well as on campus.  On most topics that you will be writing on for this class, the most useful general purpose database will be EbscoHost.  For many issues the CQ Resaercher and the Opposing Viewpoints database are very helpful.  But you should explore the other databases as well, especially if you have a specialized topic that is a little different from the mainstream.  You can now access the on-line databases with your student ID number and e-services password, just as you do Blackboard.  I strongly recommend that you always search the periodical databases before searching the Internet.

For searching the Internet, you might want to take a look at the Palomar Library's page on Internet Search Tools.  Right now, the search engine I usually use first is Google.

My basic advice on research priorities is this:  While there is a great deal of useful information on the Internet, the great quantity of material and the ease of posting it mean that the average quality of Internet information is not very high.  Your chances of getting useful, reliable information on a specific topic are much higher with print periodicals or books.  Therefore, I would recommend that in searching for information on most topics, you do it in this order.  First, look for books on the topic, unless it is very current, such as an event in the news within the past year or so.  Second, search the periodical data bases for periodical articles.  This is as easy as searching the Web and likely to produce a higher quality of information.  Third, use a search engine to find what it available on the Internet.  Of course, if you have the URL of a Web site or the name of an organization that you know has posted good information on the topic, go right to it.  But if you don't have specific clues or prior knowledge that there is material on the Internet that can help you, you can spend a lot of time just sorting through the mass of data of dubious quality that you will find through a search engine.  You will spend your time better looking first in books and periodicals, and going to the Internet after you have more information about your topic and can do a more focused search.

Discovering Ideas
Palomar College
jtagg@palomar.edu
This page was last edited: 01/05/09