These resources will help you think about how to organize your thoughts for searching, how to search in web engines, and more resources on understanding various parts of rhetoric.
Watch the three videos: 1.Mind-mapping to Plan Your Research 2. PREsearch Before you REsearch, and 3. Brainstorming Keywords. Use the arrow commands below the media player to move on to the next video.
Need help generating ideas for a research focus?
The Encyclopedia of Milwaukee project aims to provide comprehensive coverage of the history of Milwaukee. With a projected 740 entries, hundreds of illustrations, historical and contemporary maps, bibliographic materials, and the opportunity to interact with readers, the EMKE will be a first stop for researchers ranging from students to journalists to scholars and the general public.
CQ Researcher - in the top navigation bar are two drop down menus that will help you quickly explore research pathways
Gale - Opposing Viewpoints - has one large list of topics to explore
CQ Researcher gives reports providing analysis and commentary on current and controversial issues in the news. Topics covered include health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy.
Great! You have an research focus but it is too broad. How do you narrow in or find a more specific aspect to research?
Think about:
Follow your curiosity.
Search Strategies to Narrow Results
Once you decide on a general research path and you start searching - are you finding too many results? There are several ways to focus in.
Search Strings - using AND in databases
Do a broad search and skim the first two pages - is there something more focused that interests you? Add it to your search
In Search@UW -
If I searched (zoos) - I get over 150,000 results!
If I searched (zoos AND animal welfare) -- now there are over 3000 results
If I searched (zoos AND animal welfare AND tourism) - there are less than a 100 results now!
Add additional concepts to get to a smaller pool of relevant results
Filters
Typically databases will have a filters like
Subject-Specific Databases
Search@UW is great for a broad search to find a lot of resources in one place but can be overwhelming.
Instead, try searching in a subject specific database which will contain fewer materials but are directly related to a specific subject
For example, if I searched the database, Environment Complete with my zoo and animal welfare topic
If I searched (zoos) - I got over 8,000 results -- that's much smaller than the 150,000 from Search@UW!
If I searched (zoos AND animal welfare) -- 300+ results
If I searched (zoos AND animal welfare AND tourism) - less than 10 results (this might be too small now!)