What is a Reference Resource?
Reference resources are usually encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, manuals and other books that you would refer to when wanting to know a definition of a word or concept, a general overview of a topic, specific information about a certain period of time or event in history.
How do you find evidence to support your argument?
Background Sources - Materials that provide an overview of a topic, such as core concepts and facts
- Used for information that is well established in the field
- Sometimes don't need to be cited if considered "common knowledge," which is information in a discipline or subject that is universally accepted by those in the field
- Example: The existence of natural selection is a given in biology, so Darwin's On the Origin of Species does not need to be cited to prove it
Exhibit Sources - Materials a writer is interpreting or analyzing
- Used to provide an example of or give evidence for a claim
- Depending on your topic and discipline, exhibit materials can be a novel, a data set, an interview, experimental results, a diary, scholarly books or articles, and much more
- Example: If you are researching depictions of working women on TV, an episode of 30 Rock could be an exhibit. If you are researching changes in employment in the United States, a data set from the Bureau of Labor Statistics might be your exhibit
Argument Sources - Information from other authors you are agreeing with, disagreeing with, or building upon
- Used to make claims related to your thesis statement and the argument you're making
- Citing them puts your research in the context of other scholarship on that topic; it brings you into the conversation
- Constitutes the literature review section in many disciplines
- Note: You use your exhibit sources as examples of why you agree with, disagree with, or want to add more to what was claimed in your argument sources
eReference Databases
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Credo ReferenceProvides full-text online versions of hundreds of top quality reference books in all major subjects from art to medicine, psychology to history, and technology to literature. Includes bilingual and biographical dictionaries.
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Gale eBooks (Virtual Reference Library)Full text database providing subject specific dictionaries, encyclopedias and general reference books as well as the online version of the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Subjects include science, history, medicine, psychology and mental health, literature, drama, film, popular culture, business, law, and more.
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CQ ResearcherA database of in-depth, authoritative reports on a full range of political and social-policy issues extending back to 1923. Each report is footnoted and includes an overview, background section, chronology, bibliography and debate-style pro-con feature, plus tools to study the evolution of the topic over time.
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Films On DemandA web-based digital video delivery service that allows you instant 24/7 access to over 6,200 full-length programs and 65,800 video segments grouped into prearranged subject-specific categories: Humanities & Social Sciences, Business & Economics, Science & Mathematics, Health & Medicine, Technical Education, Family & Consumer Sciences, Careers & Job Search, and Guidance & Counseling.
Mind Mapping
Mind mapping is a simple technique for drawing information in diagrams, instead of writing it in sentences. The diagrams always take the same basic format of a tree, with a single starting point in the middle that branches out, and divides again and again. The tree is made up of words or short sentences connected by lines. The lines that connect the words are part of the meaning.
Here our research question is: What are the health implications on humans due to Climate change?
