The Research Process
There are four basic steps to the research process:
- Pick a topic
- Get background information:
Start with subject encyclopedias and dictionaries as it's a good idea to get a
working knowledge of your topic before you start
digging for more detailed information.
- Get detailed information:
Use books from the library's main stacks or other
collections
- Get current information:
Use library databases to find journal articles
The Research Map will help you find your way through
these four steps. Information is broken down by
discipline.
It's important to develop a search statement and pick out keywords in
that statement. Also think of synonyms for those
keywords so that you're armed with good search terms.
Think of ways to link those terms using Boolean operators.
For additional guidance, use the
variety of guides put together by the reference librarians to
help you with your research.
Check out this short PowerPoint presentation if you are having a hard time distiniguishing primary versus secondary research/sources.
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Using the Online Catalog
Use the Voyager Online Catalog to locate books and other
media at McIntyre Library as well as other UW libraries
(through Universal Borrowing or Interlibrary Loan if the material is not available
through the UW system). Click here for a guide to using the online catalog,
which includes information on how to limit by location,
item type, medium and more.
Search Tips:
- Use a builder search to do
more advanced searching
- Set limits if you want only
certain materials or items from certain collections
- When you find an item that
looks really good, cross search its subject headings
to get to other similar materials.
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Finding U.S. Geological Survey Materials
The library gets most of the materials published by the U.S. Geological Survey as part of the government publications depository program. The U.S.G.S. is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior so all materials are located in the US goverment documents in the I (for Interior) 19 section.
Documents include:
- Geological Survey Bulletins (I 19.3)
- USGS Monographs (I 19.9)
- Geological Survey Circulars (I 19.4)
- Publications of the US Geological Survey (I 19.14)
- Geological Survey Professional Papers (I 19.16)
- USGS Water Resources Data for Wisconsin (I 19.53)
- USGS Maps (I 19.91)
Using Voyager, the library's online catalog, to find USGS materials:
- Open Voyager
- Click on "Builder Search"
- Choose "More Limit Options" and in "Location" choose "US Government Publications"
- In the first search box type "Geological Survey" and in the drop down menu choose "as a phrase"
- In the next search box put in your specific topic search term(s)
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Using Databases
The library provides you with access to over 140 different databases and it can be difficult to decide which ones will best suit your needs. Use the database list to locate a resource alphabetically or search for a particular database using the "find resource" option.
For a list of all the periodicals for which we have access (and this includes everything we subscribe to in print and those will online full-text access) use this periodicals list.
To try to make things easier for those studying in a certain field of study we have categorized our databases by discipline. There are several good choices for geographical research including:
- GeoRef - a comprehensive database in the geosciences and grows by more than 70,000 references a year.The database includes references to all publications of the U.S. Geological Survey, and US Canadian theses in the geosciences.
- JSTOR Geography - a full text Journal Archive for Geography
- General Science Full Text - indexes English-language periodicals and journals in all areas of science.
- Academic Search Elite - a general academic index that indexes almost 3,000 magazines and journals from every academic discipline and provides the full-text of more than 1,200.
Search Tips:
- Search only one database at a
time
- Don't limit to full-text, use
the FIND IT! option instead
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Evaluating Your Sources
Citation City
- Citation Linker - allows you to input the basic
details from an article citation and then links you to
the article online, if available. It is a powerful tool
for tracking down references cited in bibliographies, by
professors, and online.
- Geological Society of America Style - your annotated bibliography should follow this style. Scroll to the bottom of the page for examples of how to cite books, abstracts, government documents, conference proceedings and more.
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