When you first start your research, a good technique is to scan broadly for background information. You may use some of the background in your assignment, but its main purpose is to help you gain a sense of the conversations around your topic -- both in popular culture, and also in academic scholarship.
Background research might begin with a general feature article or information from a book or interview (popular culture). Or you can often find academic topic overviews in subject reference encyclopedias (scholarship).
These resources can help you gather together who might be involved in your topic, and specialized vocabulary that researchers (or others) use. If your overview mentions other studies, statistics, or research-- you can trace that information to find similar sources, too.
No research "rule" is absolute, but generally speaking, librarians do not suggest beginning with scholarly research articles or searches of general article databases for background (database examples: ProQuest Combined or EBSCO CINAHL). Why not? These types of sources can be focused on a specific aspect of your topic, causing you to miss other perspectives if you narrow your search too quickly.
Use reference articles to understand the general view of what is happening with an issue, who is involved, and why there is debate over it.
In the image below, the student is browsing an overview article titled "Body Image Issues and Women" from the SAGE Encyclopedia of Psychology and Gender to gather multiple keywords and ideas related to major connections researchers have made between women's body image, self-esteem, eating practices (or disorders), cultural body ideals, and other concepts (the highlighted terms):
(click image to enlarge)
Look at: "What is the conversation?" and "Who is the assumed reader? (or viewer?)" -- is it someone from that community, or another "normalized" point-of-view?
You can use this to think about: how might this affect communication with those involved? and What questions does it raise?
(click on the image to enlarge)
Find background information on your current topics in library databases. When searching, be sure to ask yourself these questions!
Who: Who does this impact? Who is involved?
What: What are the key issues?
When: When is this an issue? What is its context & history?
Where: Where is this an issue?
Why: Why is this occurring? Why does it matter?
How: How is it currently being addressed? How can it be changed?
Off-Campus or on the WiFi network: You will need to log in to the Green River portal to use the library databases. To do this:
On-campus, you don't need to worry about logging in to use library databases.