Start Your Research Wide
Choose topic, get background information, refine topic, create search, gather results, cite sources, write paper.
A good research strategy is to start with some broad background information, which will familiarize you with your topic and give you an idea of what research is out there. It can even help you narrow down your topic to a manageable scope for your assignment. For example, your broad topic might be obesity, but after doing some searches you find a lot of articles on childhood obesity and decide to focus on that specific age range. Depending on your paper or project length, you may need to narrow your topic even more!
- Encyclopedias and reference books can help you fill in basic information and facts about your topic from a reliable source.
- EAGLEsearch covers all topic areas and has many different information types (newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals, data sets, and more) to get you all the information you need to get started.
- Books and eBooks will provide great background and in-depth coverage of a topic or subject.
Check out the selected resources below to get started with your research!
“The Research Paper Process” by Dana Longley is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Encyclopedias and Reference Sources
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
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Full-text dictionaries/encyclopedias/books on a variety of topics. - Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
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Full-text almanacs/encyclopedias/books on a variety of topics.
eBook Collections
We have different collections of eBooks. Some are subject-specific like AccessEngineering, while some cover all topic areas. ProQuest eBook Central (listed below) is a huge eBook platform covering many subjects. A great reason to use eBooks for research is all the available extra tools like the "search within this book" feature so you can look for that piece of research you need – and of course, the citation tools! See the full list of eBook collections or use the ProQuest eBook Central search box below.
Ebook Central - ERAU
EAGLEsearch
EAGLEsearch is a powerful research tool that compiles results from many of the library's databases in one big search! You can easily narrow down using filters for things like date of publication, type of information (like scholarly journals), and more. Everything you need is in one search bar, which is why it is sometimes referred to as the "Google" of library searches. Use the search bar below or the EAGLEsearch tab from our homepage.
EagleSearch
Yavapai Library Network
We are part of the Yavapai Library Network (YLN), made up of almost 50 libraries in Yavapai County – all of which ERAU faculty, students, and staff can borrow books from and have delivered right to Hazy Library. See the instructions below on placing a hold to get started!
Search Catalog
