USE SOURCES TO FIND MORE SOURCES
Research is the process of taking what you do know and using it to find what you don't know. In a phrase: “USING SOURCES TO FIND MORE SOURCES” or as Eugene Garfield, founder of Web of Science put it, "systematic serendipity". Here you will find a brief explanation of the basic steps involved in research while applying this principle.
Identify terminology: Make a list of authors, titles, and keywords that you already know. Turn your topic into a title. Use the keywords from the title as key search terms. Identify synonyms, broader terms, narrower terms and related terms, alternate spellings, scientific or technical terms as well as common terms. Consider your selected terms within their related subject hierarchies: Doctrinal Theology -> Salvation -> Christianity. The easiest and best place to get this kind of information is the Library of Congress Subject Headings Online.
Tools to search. Using the authors, titles and terminology you now have:
Go to the Powell Library Discovery Catalog to locate library materials related to your topic. Apply “Systematic Serendipity” to your search results by examining the Subject field in the Description portion of each record. This will provide more appropriate terms with which to find more relevant resources. Check for additional records by searching the call numbers or use the "Browse the Shelf" feature and the authors (hyperlinked for easy searching). And when you locate materials that are helpful, use their respective bibliographies to identify even more sources.
Get acquainted with your topic by searching broad range tools like encyclopedias and dictionaries. These will give you a basic outline, the broad parameters of your topic and some general information on the subject. This will help you focus your research topic as well as enhance your understanding of the topic as you read more detailed resources. The bibliographies and authors of encyclopedia articles are excellent sources for further research. To easily identify encyclopedias and dictionaries on any topic, Search Discovery Advanced using the search string “encyclopedias OR dictionaries” in the Subject field AND’d with your topic either in the Subject field or as a keyword. Limit the Format “Book”. If you can’t find anything on your specific topic, try searching its broader context (e.g. search the broader concept of “medicine” if a search for “osteoarthritis” doesn’t retrieve any results)
In addition to searching books, you may want current information not yet published in book form. Periodicals will need to be searched for the most current scholarly information available on a subject. Searching periodical indexes and abstracting sources will identify for you the articles available on your topic. These can be accessed through “Discovery” by limiting the format to Articles. Better still, use “Find Databases” for a more focused search of specialized indexes and databases related to the selected category. Use the authors, keywords and subject headings you discovered from your reading of encyclopedia articles, the records that you found in your Discovery search and the bibliographies from the books you’ve found.
Recommended Reading for help in Library Research:
Badke, William. Research Strategies: Finding Your Way Through the Information Fog, 6th ed. Bloomington, IN: IUniverse, Inc., 2014. ISBN: 9781532018039 Call # 001.42 B142r 2017.
Kibbe, Michael. From Topic to Thesis: a guide to theological research. Downers Grove: IVP Academic. 2016. ISBN: 9780830899814 ebook
A Research Worksheet is available designed to take you step by step through the process described above.
Last updated November, 2019.