Explore Topic Ideas in Gale eBooks Reference Collection

Reference, or Subject Encyclopedias, are a good place to:

• browse for and explore topic ideas
• find a narrower focus for a broad topic
• Note: Once you start to learn about your topic, return to reference sources to get informed about the basics. 

Sample search

As shown in the image below, you can start a search with an idea and basic keywords. such as "Solar Energy" - and gather ideas from the results list (the articles that come up).

(click on image to enlarge)

Once you see a list of results, take note of the topic of the larger subject-specific encyclopedia the shorter article comes from. This will give you a little more information about how the topic will be discussed.

• Use the limiters on the right side of the screen to narrow the results by larger subject area
• Or try searching for specific words inside the articles themselves; this is a quick way to narrow your results to relevant articles as well.

(click on image to enlarge)

Explore Gale eBooks Subject Guides

Type in a starting broad topic and browse the list of subtopics. Click on any to dig deeper.

Browse Gale eBooks for Topics by Subject Area

1. Click on an area of interest

(click on image to enlarge)

2. Click on a title that interests you and browse the index for ideas. 

The image below is of a search of the Social Science Collection. I clicked on the title Inequality in America: Causes and Consequences.

(click on image to enlarge)

Use Gale eBooks to narrow a broad starting idea

1. : Type in your Starting Idea -for example, Global Warming

2. Scroll through the list of article titles to gather ideas about global warming you could research.

3. Click on the filter for Subjects for a list of Subtopics 

4. Skim through a relevant-looking article for ideas on how to narrow and focus. The excerpt below is from the start of an article on Renewable Energy. Possible subtopics include solar or wind energy and coal production.

(click on image to enlarge)

Explore Current News & Culture Media for Ideas

In library news databases:

In Online Soures

One Search

You can use the Holman Library One Search to find Books (and more) in the library collection.

You can also use the One Search to explore ideas. Type in a search and skim the results list to see what journalists and researchers are discussing on the subject.

• Build your search slowly with multiple search terms. 
• When relevant, use quotation marks to keep words together, as a phrase. Example: "affordable housing"

Note: You may find it helpful to go to individual databases for fewer results, more subject terms, up-to-date streaming video content, and more.

(click on image to enlarge)

Browse for Ideas

While I found too many sources (31,378) with my search of affordable housing AND homeless*, I see ideas on how I could focus my topic. For example, these sources are talking about affordable housing, homelessness, and: mental health, policy, emergency shelters, community development, homeless individuals, poverty, and much more. 

• I can also use the limiters on the left to filter your results by source type, subject, date, language, and more.

(click on image to enlarge)