1) Academic Search Complete is a great database and a great way to fin research on a topic.
2) When researching on a database it is helpful to use Boolean Operators in order to navigate and either refine or expand your search results.
3) Wikipedia is a good way to find background research on a subject matter in order to get a general idea before researching in depth but should never be a source that is cited in a bibliography for a research paper.
4) When using a database refining your search by using the specific fields available– such as title, author– it is a helpful way to find what you need quicker without having to filter through other results.
5) It is helpful to know and use the Google search commands effectively such as– Google Books– to find trustworthy research on a topic.
6) Using quotation marks “…” is a helpful way to search in search engines like Google if you are looking to find a specific set of words. For example: “cotton candy” without the quotation marks you will receive numerous irrelevant results that have nothing to do with cotton candy.
7) Using the asterisk (* ) at the end of an incomplete word is helpful when using a search engine. For example if you want to search about a topic such as sampling music you could type sampl* in order to not only results that say sampling, but also sample, sampled. By doing this it expands the amount of relevant results having to do with your topic.
8) It is helpful to make a concept map when researching on a topic in order to brainstorm ideas.
9) It is important to always do background research on a topic before choosing the topic and formulating a research question.
10) It is also important to do background research on the author of a source so you would be able to know if the author is trustworthy or not.
