Selecting a Topic
Are you at a loss when it comes to subjects for papers or projects?
GO TO THE LIBRARY'S HOME PAGE (www.frederick.edu/student-resources/learning-commons/library.aspx) AND BROWSE THROUGH THE RESEARCH DATABASES.
OFF-CAMPUS
Students please log-in with your
myFCC Username: W + Student ID (ex. w1234567)
myFCC Password: Default password is first two letters of last name + Last five digits of student ID (ex. sm34567). If you have changed your default password use your current MyFCC password.
Faculty/Staff: please log-in with your Network username and password.
• Facts.com: Issues and Controversies
• Films on Demand (Collections)
USE AUTHORITATIVE WEB RESOURCES FOR TOPIC IDEAS
Public Agenda A nonprofit, nonpartisan research and citizen education resource, founded by social scientist, Daniel Yankelovich and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. Includes statistics, results of polls, policy proposals, and more
Pro-Con.org Award winning nonpartisan site on controversial issues.
Idea Generator by Old Dominion University, Library (VA)
http://guides.lib.odu.edu/ideagenerator
Hot Paper Topics by St. Ambrose University, O'Keefe Library (IA)
http://libguides.sau.edu/hottopics
BROWSE PERIODICALS FOR ARTICLES OF INTEREST
GO INTO GOOGLE, CHOOSE A TOPIC OF BROAD INTEREST TO YOU AND BROWSE THE TOP SITES.
It's necessary to do some "pre-research" at the beginning, simply to select a topic. Many students decide on a topic first, and THEN try to find out if there is sufficient information on that subject.
After doing some pre-research and finding an area of interest to write about, state and define your research topic as completely as you can. Use the grid below as a guide to list your major concepts and to help you find synonyms or related terms that will help you when you search for information. Thesaurus.com will help you do this.
|
FIRST CONCEPT |
SECOND CONCEPT |
THIRD CONCEPT |
|
OR |
OR |
OR |
|
OR |
OR |
OR |
|
OR |
OR |
OR |
Here's an EXAMPLE: I would like to find information on the effects of violence on television on children.
|
FIRST CONCEPT |
SECOND CONCEPT |
THIRD CONCEPT |
|
violence |
television |
children |
|
OR brutality |
OR TV |
OR adolescents |
|
OR bloodshed |
OR media |
OR youth |