WR 122 Schumacher: Get Started

Use this guide to help you with your final essay. 

You'll need at least ten sources, at least two of which need to be peer-reviewed. You can use databases to find the other sources and material you'll need as well, including: 

• Visuals (charts, graphs, etc.)
• Specific examples
• Credible quotes

Use the tabs above to navigate to the other pages of this guide:

• Find Sources - These links will help you find print books, electronic books, and articles from popular or scholarly journals in the library databases.
• MLA and APA Citations - Check here for tips and tools for citing your sources and avoiding plagiarism. 
• Get Help - Get help from a librarian 24/7, assistance from a tutor, or find a handout or tutorial to help you get started with your research.

Using web searching to help you develop a topic can be incredibly useful.  Googling your topic and exploring the kinds of results that you get can help you get a good lay of the land. As you use Google to find sources, think about trying to locate professional, academic, and governmental organizations that focus on your topic; don't just haphazardly pick pages where your search terms show up.  Just remember that as you move toward greater focus in your research, you will want to move away from Google and toward more precise tools (like library databases).

Wikipedia will definitely come up in your search results.  Use the entries to increase your knowledge of a topic and to direct you to other potential sources but do not cite Wikipedia in your paper.