Getting background info on your topic is a great place to start your research.
Learn about the history, issues, stakeholders, terminology, and more - before searching for more in-depth information.
Background sources are also a great place to find keywords on a topic and leads to helpful resources.
Search Tips:
You can also search your topic in the main search box on the library's homepage. This is Primo One Search and it will point you to articles and resources that are housed inside the library as well as inside the library's databases. As shown in the search below, you can enter in your simple search terms, then limit the results to narrow just to this kind of background article.
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Use the links below to search in library databases for current news and analysis of the news. You can also find editorials and opinion on the op-ed pages.
Sample search limited to magazines and newspapers of the keywords: depression OR anxiety AND pandemic AND college OR "higher education"
You can easily limit your search to find only print, physical books that you can check out and/or use inside the library.
Use the database links below to go directly to the library's collection of ebooks. Be sure to search by title, author, or just general keywords.
Multimedia refers to educational and documentary film and video, news and analysis in radio journalism and television, and some current issues podcasts.
Use the library's Films on Demand database to find streaming educational films & journalism in order to learn more about your topic.
Use the resources below to find a range of informed opinions on your topics.
Newspaper editorials are a great way to find reasoned opinions on current controversial topics.
Example 1: Academic Search Complete
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Example 2: Proquest
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Dive deep into a subject with scholarly research and analysis found in peer reviewed journals and in some academic books.
To find Scholarly Peer Reviewed Journal Articles, be sure to check the limiter.
To find book and book chapters that may be scholarly, be sure to assess if the author has academic expertise of the subject, if the discussion is in-depth and sophisticated, if claims and sources are thoroughly and extensively cited.
You will find a range of Web sources throughout the pages of this research guide, from advocacy and activist organizations, research institutes, not-for-profit support agencies, and governmental sources.
As with any source, be sure to assess for:
Target specific source types with URL searching within specific domains.
You can also use Google Advanced Search, linked below.
Keywords capture what you want to learn about. Identify useful keywords, keyword phrases, and keyword combinations to find relevant information.
Example: Arab Americans AND education
Click on the link and enter your subject term. Change "Any field" to Subject for subject headings.
You can mix and match subject terms or subject terms and keywords! The example below shows a search of the subject: Arab Americans and the keyword: education.
Books and articles are organized using "subject headings"--words attached to them that describe what they are about. Here is a list of subject headings used in the GRCC catalog; search these as subjects or keywords to find resources at GRCC.
