A Guide to Library Research

Take an Online Research Tutorial, provided by Old Dominion's Perry Library!

Know your research task:
Have a list of possible subjects you want to research.

Keep a working bibliography and take notes: 
Keep track of where you find useful information in case you need to find it later.

Get an overview of your subject:
Check encylopedias for an overview of your topic. 
Check disciplinary guides for hot issues.
Check subject headings for standard words and phrases.
Check bibliographies for sources others have used. 

Locate sources:

• Books
• Biographies
• Periodicals
• Interviews
• Newspapers
• World Wide Web
• Govt. Statistics
• Computer databases

Check other available sources of information:
Check Books-on-Reserve for materials your teacher may have set aside for the whole class.
Request books and articles not available at your local library through Interlibrary Loan.
Look at related theses and dissertations kept on file at your University.
Ask the folks at the Reference Desk for help using the sources and finding the information you need.

Read sources with a critical eye:

• For relevance: How does this information fit with what you've previously found?
• For bias: Is the author of the sources using information to advance his or her personal adjenda?