Earth 146: Plate Tectonics   Tags: earth, geological_sciences, geology, geoscience, plate tectonics, science, subject:earth course:146 section:001 instructor:van der voo year:2012 term:fall  

Depending on your research question, you will want to consult books, scholarly articles, and other media (such as conference proceedings, artifacts, reports, etc).

Ask yourself: 

Do you need background information?

Are you aware of authors for your topic?

Should you limit your results to time periods?

Should you limit your results to a particular region?

Do you want to limit your sources?

What databases should you use?

First think about your topic. Questions to consider:

• What is your topic?
• What interests you about the topic?
• What type of media you would like to consider in relation to your topic?
• What are some keywords related to your topic?
• What are some synonyms for your keywords?
• If I find too much literature on my topic, how will I narrow my search?
• If I find too little literature on my topic, how will I broaden my search?

A question is asked

A topic is investigated

Information is discovered

Information is published

Published information is indexed

Information is searched, found, and read

transmission of information raises new questions

fueling new investigations

etc.