.Let us help you navigate through the information maze!
This research guide was designed to help support students with the research process when writing informative essays.
Twenty-first century students don’t need to spend a lot of time learning how to find information, after all, many of us are online every day retrieving information and 'Googling' what we need to know.
However, information retrieval is not research! Research requires that you find information, of course, but it also demands much more from you.
The MLA Handbook defines research in terms of exploring ideas, probing issues, solving problems, or making arguments relating to existing ideas. Yes, students need information to complete these tasks, but the depth and breadth of information needed moves far beyond a single source. Within the research process students also need considerable time to read the information they find, time to reflect on new information in terms of what they already know and what they are learning, and time to write multiple drafts of speeches/papers so that they can present your research as clearly, logically, and successfully as possible.
This guide offers you a set of steps to follow that will move you beyond the mere gathering of information, and into the realm of real academic research. It will help you develop a research strategy that will, with time and practice, enable you to become a more efficient researcher, saving you time and sanity.
I welcome your comments and suggestions for making this guide more useful, so please feel free to send me your feedback by e-mailing me on the right column of the welcome page.
Each of the next five pages in this guide addresses a section of your assignment--in order. Click a tab in the top navigation bar to move to a new page.
The boxes on each page provide information, and often videos, about how to answer each question in that section of the assignment.
For example, if you need help with question 2 (in the Background Information section of the assignment), you would select the Background Information link in the nav bar, then find the box containing information about questions 2-3.
The Cañada College Library, on the third floor of Building 9, offers computers, textbooks, technology, research help, printing, and group study rooms.
Library computers do not require you to log in and do not have a time limit so you can come and stay all day. Chromebooks, hotspots and calculators can be checked out from the circulation desk after you complete a technology loan agreement.
Search for textbooks available at the library. If you do not see your textbook, fill out the Textbook request form for students.