GEMS 100
Team Research Project
(Fall 2007)
Develop your topic into a research question...
- Choose a broad topic. e.g., closed circuit television
- Conduct preliminary research. Is your topic feasible? Is there too much or too little on your topic? Begin narrowing it down: e.g., closed circuit television and privacy
- Transform your "key words" into a research question. Research questions generally address an issue, problem, or controversy. A good Gemstone research question will always consider the interdependence of science and technology, and society e.g. What is the effect of increased use of closed circuit television on personal privacy and public safety?
Finding books, government documents & other materials...
- Start at the Libraries' home page and click on Catalog.
- Do a word/s anywhere search: closed circuit television and privacy
- Here's an example of a catalog record. It provides details about the book and where it's shelved:
1. Indicates which library that has this book.
2. This is the call number.
3. Is this book available? Click on Availability to find out.
Finding articles on a topic...
- From the Libraries' home page click on Research Port.
- Select a Subject Category> Subcategory> go> a database (e.g., General Science Abstracts).
- Try a variety of search strategies(e.g., use truncation *, AND, OR, limit be date) to locate articles relevant to your topic.
- Some suggested subject categories:
| Communication | Law | Politics & Public Policy |
| Computer Science | General/Multidisciplinary | Science |
| Engineering & Technology | News Sources/Current Events | Social Sciences |
| Cite work not original to you! |
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| APA Style Sheet: www.lib.umd.edu/UES/citing_apa.html |
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