Writing mentors’
Research workshop
January 13 and 14, 2009
Harold and Wilma Good Library
Goshen College
Learning objectives
 To understand the seven steps of the research
process
 To review best practices for research
 To gain experience with APA citation style
Step 1: Identify and develop your topic
 Find a topic
 State your topic idea as a question
 Identify main concepts or keywords
 Test your topic
Step 2: Find background information
 Ask a reference librarian
 Use subject encyclopedias and dictionaries
 Read bibliographies
Step 3: Use catalogs to find books and
media
 Use the Good Library online catalog
 Use WorldCat to search tens of thousands of
libraries, then request via interlibrary loan.
Step 4: Use databases to find
periodical articles
 Ask a reference librarian
 Consult the subject guides for help figuring out
which database to use.
 Find articles when you don’t have a citation
 Find articles when you do have a citation
Step 5: Find internet resources
 Librarians have identified important internet
resources (see Subject Guides).
 Use subject directories
 Google Directory
 Librarian’s Index to the Internet
 Virtual Reference Shelf
 Use Google Scholar to find scholarly articles and
books
Step 6: Evaluate what you find
 Visit the Writing Mentor’s webpage for checklists
and other tools for evaluating information
 Initial appraisal
 Author
 Date of publication
 Edition
 Publisher
 Journal title
Step 6: Evaluate what you find, cont.
 Content analysis
 Intended audience
 Objective reasoning
 Coverage
 Writing style
 Evaluative reviews
Step 7: Cite what you find
 Give credit where credit is due.
 Allows your readers to locate your sources and
duplicate your research.
Research tips
 Work from the general to the specific
 Record what you find and where your found it.
 Translate your topic into the subject language of
the indexes and catalogs you use
More research tips
 Use a statement that credits the source in
paraphrases.
 Try writing paraphrases or summaries without
looking at the original.
 Use quotation marks around unique words or
phrases.
 Maintain electronic copies of drafts in different
secure locations.
 Cross-check your notes and sources.
APA journal article citation with doi
Strahan, E.J., et al. (2008). Victoria’s dirty
secret: How sociocultural norms influence
adolescent girls and women. Personality
and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(2), 288301. doi:10.1037/0037/0022-3514.94.1.133
APA journal article citation without doi
Strahan, E.J., et al. (2008). Victoria’s dirty
secret: How sociocultural norms influence
adolescent girls and women. Personality
and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(2), 288301. Retrieved from http://www.ebsco.com
References
 The Seven Steps of the Research Process
[http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skil
l1.htm]. Permission given to adapt content for use.
 Purdue Online Writing Lab: (OWL): Safe Practices
[http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/03/]
Please open your email provider
Email me, shinnefeld@goshen.edu
 1 specific thing that you learned this
afternoon.
 1 question that you still have about the
research process, library resources, or
APA citation style.
Thank you for your attention!
Suzanne Hinnefeld