Vincent Palumbo
LIB 1201
Sources – Three different sources were used concerning this topic.
- http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/658/03/
- http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/topic.html
- http://www.archives.gov/research/topics/
Our goal is to develop a website that helps students find different research topics, which could be assignments required for specific classes. In order for the website to have any real value we must find information that comes from both legitimate and respectable sources. These sources were found on the internet by using search engines and databases, such as Google and Ebsco. The sources are all valuable and official, and are rather government sponsored sites, or created by well known colleges and universities. The information presented on these internet sites are both professional and legitimate.
The first source is http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/658/03/. This is an internet website created and sponsored by Purdue University. This site goes into great detail explaining the importance of choosing your research topic for a paper. Choosing a good topic is the start to a good research paper, and the website gives you the appropriate steps you can take. First the site explains how fully understanding your assignment is the most important step. That understanding your assignment will allow you to choose a topic efficiently. And by using one of the sites methods such as brainstorming, this can allow for the most influential results. This information taken from the source will be used to support the students in particular areas of research, such as finding a proper topic for your class. The site does provide great advice on how to come up with finding your research topic idea, which is very useful.
The second source is http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/topic.html. This is also another internet site created and sponsored by a university. In this website Cornell University gives basic steps on how to find and develop a viable research topic. It provides step by step instruction, such as indentifying your topic (stating your topic as a question), testing your topic (identifying its main concepts and keywords) and finding background information on your topic, so you can better understand its context through research. The data from this source will be used as tips to give the students for finding research. The information the site explains is most useful in helping the students to discover and understand there topic idea.
The third and last source is http://www.archives.gov/research/topics/. This is a government sponsored site, created by The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. This online site shows many different examples of research topics that you can choose. The site provides particular categories you can select from, that best apply to your research topic. These categories include art, technology, culture, people, places, foreign policies and so on. This site will be used as a guide for our own. The structure of the source would be used to make our own website, such as the way the page is displayed. As well as using the option of many categories and sub categories for the topics, followed by common research questions to aid the students.
Works Cited
“America’s Founding Documents.” Research Topics. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2012.
“Olin & Uris Libraries.” How to Find and Develop a Viable Research Topic. Cornell University, 29 Mar. 2012. Web. 17 Dec. 2012.
“Welcome to the Purdue OWL.” Purdue OWL: Research Papers. Purdue University, n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2012.
