WRITING 65 INFORMATION RESEARCH

WRITING 65 INFORMATION RESEARCH
for Salem Witch Trials
http://web.cocc.edu/finney/writing65SALEM.htm

TO GET TO THE COCC LIBRARY WEBPAGE:
http://campuslibrary.cocc.edu/

CREATING A "RESEARCHABLE QUESTION":

Before you do anything, you need to develop a "researchable question" on your topic. What does that mean?

Research has been done on your topic in the past--other folks have created information on the same topic.
The scope of your question is not too large (unless you feel like writing a book!) or too small (you may not find enough information).
Your question can be researched using COCC Library resources; that is, resources that lead you to valid, scholarly, research based information (as opposed to random webpages from Google searches).

TAKE NOTE: To help develop your 'researchable question' it's helpful to have a little background information. Try exploring a few question "ideas" in these online or print encyclopedias.

Online encyclopedias (these are some of those valid, scholarly research based items) that may be useful are listed below. You can use these links or get to all of these from the COCC Library webpage for online reference.

Gale Reference Online

Oxford Reference Online

Explore some other options for locating background information at COCC's collection of online encyclopedias at http://campuslibrary.cocc.edu/Research+Tools/Encyclopedias/default.aspx.

The COCC Library has some print encyclopedias that might be helpful for defining your "researchable question" as well. Look for these in the reference section on the main floor of the Library:

Encyclopedia of American social history
COCC LIBRARY REFERENCE HN57 .E58 1993

Dictionary of American history
COCC LIBRARY REFERENCE E174 .D52 2003

Encyclopedia of witchcraft : the Western tradition
COCC LIBRARY REFERENCE BF1566 .E56 2006

Witch hunts in Europe and America : an encyclopedia
COCC LIBRARY REFERENCE BF1584.E9 B87 2003

McGraw-Hill encyclopedia of science & technology
COCC LIBRARY REFERENCE Q121 .M3 2007

Encyclopedia of religion
COCC LIBRARY REFERENCE BL31 .E46 2005

TAKE NOTE: Another way to develop your "researchable question" is to do a quick, sample search in a journal article database. If you get a fair amount of results for your sample search, you know you have a good, researchable topic! If you get few or NO results, you may have to refine or redirect your question.

TO GET SOME ARTICLES, USE JOURNAL ARTICLE DATABASES:

Journal article databases let you search on your topic to locate academic, scholarly articles. The library purchases these databases for you to search--this is different from searching on Google or other "free web" search engines!

Get to the COCC Library Databases webpage.

SPECIFIC DATABASES
PARTICULARLY APPROPRIATE FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT

JSTOR (full text articles in Arts and Humanities)

Academic Search Premier

TO SEARCH A JOURNAL ARTICLE DATABASE:

Database Search Hints

start with keyword searching when available
use " " for phrases
example: "salem witch trials"
use * to locate endings to words (truncation).
example: witch*
use boolean commands
example: witch* AND trial*
example: (trial* OR hear*) and witch*
searches can be specific
full text articles may be e-mailed, downloaded or printed from the screen.
other articles may be located from the COCC Library e-journals link or may be ordered via inter-library loan.

clf 10/18/07