Overview of the Research Process

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Overview of the Research Process
Krannert Memorial Library
Library and Information Literacy Tutorials
Module 1
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• The Research Process can be simple or complex,
  quick or lengthy, depending on the complexity of
  your information needs.

Module 1 Overview of the Research Process

• But in general, the process goes like this

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Module 1 Overview of the Research Process
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• Having the big picture in mind is helpful it
  can keep you from getting bogged down in all the
  details once you actually start your research.

Module 1 Overview of the Research Process

• In the rest of this module, we will very briefly
  describe the kinds of activities you will do in
  each of the four steps of the research process.
  Later modules will cover in depth the skills and
  tools you will be using.

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Brainstorm
Talk to professor(s)

Module 1 Overview of the Research Process

Check encyclopedias, Internet, textbooks, etc.
for general information on your topic
Consult with Writing Lab tutors
State your topic as a question you want to
answer (or a set of questions)
Use your questions to identify keywords and
concepts
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• Brainstorm What kind of materials would have
  the kind of information I need to answer my
  questions
• Books?
• Scholarly Journals?
• Information from government or non-profit
  organizations?
• Popular or Trade Journals?
• Newspapers?
• ?

Consult Research Guides on the KML website

Module 1 Overview of the Research Process

Go to Databases By Subjecton the KML website
Consult with Reference Librarian
Talk to your professor
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Step 3 Access and search the resources
Find books and audiovisual materials
Search library catalog WorldCat
Module 1 Overview of the Research Process
Find journal articles
Search databases
Use Internet search engines and directories
Find Internet sites
Construct search queries that are appropriate to
each resource
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Step 4 Evaluate results and repeat Steps 1 3
as needed!
Module 1 Overview of the Research Process
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Step 1 Identify and refine your
topic Brainstorm Consult professors,
encyclopedias, Writing Lab, etc. Formulate
qustions Identify keywords and concepts
Step 2 Identify your best resources Brainstorm
Consult library Research Guides, Reference
Librarians, professors, Databases By Subject
library web page
Module 1 Overview of the Research Process
Step 3 Access and search the resources Construc
t search queries that are appropriate to each
resource
Step 4 Evaluate results and repeat Steps 1 3
as needed! For example, in your first pass
through the process, you may be exploring a
topic doing preliminary research. In the second
pass, you would focus your search on specific
issues you identified in your exploration phase.
In the third pass, you may need to find
additional information that you had not
considered before doing more in-depth research.
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• This concludes Module 1, our overview of the
  research process.
• The remaining modules describe and demonstrate
  the tools you will be using during this process.

Module 1 Overview of the Research Process