Bristol LLC Online Help

Finding Background Information

Finding background information is a great way to ground yourself in a topic that might be new to you and to set yourself up for success.
 

1. Begin by looking in online dictionaries and encyclopedias (even Wikipedia is ok here). Checkout Credo Reference or Gale Virtual Reference Library
    
2. Read through an article related to your topic.
    
3. As you read, list keywords that you may not have already considered, as well as additional questions that the article generate for you.
    
4. Once you have a general understanding of the topic, you can move into searching Google, Google Scholar or a general database like Academic Search Complete  (Academic Search Complete Tutorial)
    
5. Continue to research from there, making sure to pay attention to the words that researchers and authors are using to discuss the topic.
    

Learn more

CQ Researcher is a great place to gather background information on current topics.

Taking Notes