Meredith's Mega Guide

Choosing a topic

Choosing a topic often feels like an impossible first step. It can be helpful to keep your initial topic ideas broad, and then begin honing in on your research question as you encounter new research materials. It is often through the process of research itself that one discovers a research topic.

There is no correct way to do research, but the following guidelines might be useful to keep in mind as you begin:

• Pick a text that interests you and a theme or idea that you want write about
• Come up with a preliminary question, but keep it loose
• Brainstorm some keywords to help you begin your research

Finding background information

• Use web resources like Wikipedia and Google searches to brainstorm and identify additional keywords for your topic
• For authoritative reference resources (like scholarly encyclopedias) see the Reference Resources page. These resources:
  • Are written by scholars in their fields, so you can trust the information they provide
  • Give you an overview of your topic,  background information, and help define terms you aren't familiar with
  • Contain bibliographies to help you find more information related to your topic
  • Can help you find more keywords, phrases, people and ideas to further your research

Refining your topic

After gathering your background information, refine your initial topic and question based off of what you learned. A good rule of thumb: if there is an entire book on your topic, it is too broad for a research paper. On the other hand, if the topic can be discussed in a few paragraphs, then it is too narrow.

Example: "The role of women in the plays of Shakespeare" is too broad because hundreds of books and articles have been written on this topic; "The symbolism of Ariel's costume in the Tempest" is likely too narrow because there are not enough books and articles discussing this specific detail.

Remember, don't worry if refining your topic happens more than once!

Tips for entering searches:

• When entering search terms, use the * symbol to search for variant spellings and endings. The asterisk stands in for one or more letters. For instance, theat* searches theatre, theater, theatrical, etc. 
• If you're searching terms together as a phrase, surround them with quotes. For instance, "performance art."
• Use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) to search terms together. Find more on Boolean logic here.

Tips for exploring results:

• Use the facet boxes on the left hand side of the results page. These will help you narrow down results by format, publication date, author/creator name, location, language, subject heading, and more. 
• When exploring an individual record for an item, like a book or film, reaqd the table of contents and summary (if available) to help you determine the relevance of a source to your research goals. 
• Use linked subject headings in item records to try out new searches. 

• Text or email the call number to yourself. 

Beyond Barnard and Columbia

• Borrow Direct or Interlibrary Loan are great options for requesting a book that isn't currently available at the Columbia libraries. 
• Worldcat searches libraries worldwide. Using Worldcat, you can quickly find out if an item might be available at the NYPL, or another academic library (if the latter, try Borrow Direct or ILL to request from off campus).
• The NYPL catalog searches the circulating and non-circulating research collections at the New York Public Library. The Archives and Manuscripts search page allows for exploration of special collections.

Finding scholarly sources

• Use encyclopedias to find articles: Encyclopedias contain bibliographies, which can help you track down important and reliable sources to use and cite in your research. Encyclopedias are also useful for finding names of scholars on a particular topic, and can be an excellent source for keywords for your searches.
• Use relevant scholarly articles to find related scholarly articles: When you find an article that applies to the core of your topic, it's useful to look at the footnotes and bibliography to find additional sources for your research. 
• Search academic databases: I have listed a number of relevant academic databases to use in your searching. Each of these contains a huge number of scholarly articles. Databases like Google Scholar, Proquest and EbscoHost are quite broad in their focus, while others like Black Studies Center and Hapi Online have targeted and sometimes unique coverage. It is sometimes best to start with a larger database to get a feel for what is out there, and moved to smaller and more targeted databases to refine your searching.

Popular sources (advice from your professor)

Popular sources can be books and articles written by writers and journalists who are not necessarily academics. These resources are not peer reviewed, and they may not include a bibliography of cited sources. 

Popular sources may contain original research or reporting, or they may simply summarize specialized scholarly research for a general audience. Popular sources can be useful to your research because:

• They may be more likely to cover a very recent or still-developing event than peer reviewed scholarly research
• They may be easier to understand than scholar sources
• They may have a broader audience than scholarly sources, and may therefore help you identify issues in your field in which the general public has a serious interest

You can use them in your paper as a credible and authoritative.

Generally, a popular source is credible if:

• It is published in a reputable publication
• It is written by a well respected writer in the field

Generally, a popular source is authoritative if:

• it is written by a well respected writer
• It is not out of date

Do use reference resources to:

• Narrow topics and learn the key terms/concepts of your fields of interest ​
• Identify leaders in your fields of interest
• Learn about contemporary issues/controversies surrounding your text
• Link you to other resources (scholars, books, articles) on these topics and issues
• Help you understand terms, ideas, and contexts in more challenging readings

Don’t:

• Use them in an essay or annotated bibliography
• Quote or cite them as a source for an essay, even if you used them to help you understand more difficult readings
• Use encyclopedias alone to define a research topic or issue that you will pursue in a paper or project; always ground your research in more authoritative sources