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Finding your materials, part
1: If you do a database search too early in your project you will get an overwhelming number of results. This is too much to sort through. So you'll probably only look at the first few articles. This approach will give your paper a very narrow foundation. And it will increase the chances that you'll make errors that a broad foundation will help you to avoid. The trick is to allow reliable authors do your work for you. They'll give you a good overview of your chosen topic. When you have this solid foundation, you'll know enough to ask the right questions. THEN you can do a Librarian can help you design a precise database search. A precise search will yield a manageable number of results. And then you can find the info you need with little trouble. Do you see how this saves time? Wrap your brain around an overview by competent scholars. And then you won't need to wade through a gazillion journal articles to grasp the basic information in your chosen field. A variant of this strategy is to find a good children's book on your topic that's aimed at an 8-12 year old audience. This is especially useful when getting a basic grasp on something that's entirely new to you. Your initial response is probably "WHAT??-- a children's book?!?" But you see, children in the 8-12 age range adore facts. And only a competent person can satisfy this audience. It takes knowledge and skill to present the basics of a topic in a clear and engaging way. A good children's book will give you a quick and easy overview. Then you'll have the understanding to make good use of the more "grown-up" books. And a good children's book will often have a bibliography for further reading. Consulting a children's book--and "snowballing" off the book and its bibliography--is a legitimate technique. But remember to leave the children's book out of your bibliography. And in your paper call your bibliography a "Select Bibliography." This indicates that you're listing the most important of the sources that you used. Why leave the children's books out of your Select Bibliography? Because before reading a book or paper, a savvy reader will look at the bibliography. And-unless your paper is ABOUT children's literature-a children's book suggests that you don't know what you're talking about. So, use the children's book as a tool, for "snowballing." If there's If there's useful info in it, find that same info in a more scholarly publication. You'll also be double-checking that the children's book author got the facts straight. |