Tips for Using a Database - How to find articles for your paper.

Choosing and developing a topic

Narrow your topic. Many topics start off broad. Identify narrow controversies within a topic so you can discuss it in a short research paper.
Careful with obscure topics. If you have a hard time finding sources for your topic, ask a librarian or your instructor for help. You may have a more challenging topic or you may need to research something for which there is more discussion.
Don't choose a topic 'out of the blue'. What is being argued about? Who is arguing? How does it impact them? What do people want to do about it? Choose a topic after exploring. Be curious as you read. You'll get a sense of who cares about your topic, why they care about it and what they want done about it. This makes for an easier research and writing process.
It may not be a part of your routine to check the news, but it will help you choose a topic, explore your topic and find sources.

Find Viewpoints

Doing research on the Web or in databases can be exhausting. That's usually because you don't know enough about your topic to craft an effective keyword strategy.

Do you know the answers to these questions about your topic?

What are other ways people talk about my topic? What are related terms?
What are people arguing about?
Who cares about this topic?

Probably not! That means you need to do more research (see Choosing and Developing a topic page). What you learn about your topic will allow you to search more flexibly.

If my topic is mental health on campus, here's what I learned so I can search more effectively:

What are other ways people talk about my topic? What are related terms? (depression, anxiety, loneliness, isolation, suicide, addiction)
What are people arguing about? (funding for mental health services,social support, counseling, therapy)
Who cares about this topic? (university administrators, professors, parents, students)

Viewpoint or Informational

How Can you tell the difference?

Distinguishing between facts/information and viewpoints/opinions is a skill. Keep the following in mind:

A journalist observes, gathers, assesses and presents news and information. They are also called reporters. Journalists are trained to be fair and impartial - they keep their opinions out of the story.
A columnist or a critic works to persuade to convince you of a viewpoint based upon their expertise or experience.

When deciding if something is a viewpoint or informational....

Don't mistake quotations from interviews done by a reporter as an expression of a viewpoint by the reporter. It is the viewpoint of those being interviewed.
Is the writer using the first or second person? That's a viewpoint.
Remember, while journalists, reporters, columnists and critics all write for the same newspapers and magazines, these publications have entire sections, pages devoted to columns, editorials and opinions to make it clear what you are reading.
Many publications do have a viewpoint - they are proud of it and state such in the About page and in author bios. Do background research.
Is the author biased? Head to the Evaluate Sources page at left.

Evaluate Sources

Evaluate every source, no matter how you found it, using these guidelines:

Credibility:
Who is the author? Is he/she an expert on the subject, a representative from a credible organization, a columnist for a newspaper? What gives the author authority to represent that side of the controversy? (ex: US Secretary of Commerce? A lawyer? A reporter for a student newspaper?)

TIP: If there is no information on the author, try a web search on that person and the publication

Bias:
Does the source (newspaper, magazine, website) generally lean to one side of controversies (examples: liberal vs. conservative; free-market economics vs. government-regulated economy)?

Evidence:
How is the author supporting her claims? Can you find this information elsewhere to confirm its accuracy and credibility?

Currency:
Are you considering the most up-to-date research on your topic?

Nacca, Elise. "Help for RHE 306/309 students". University of Texas Libraries. 39 Sept. 2019. University of Texas. Web. 15 Jan. 2020. https://guides.lib.utexas.edu/c.php?g=955536&p=6942117

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