Vocabulary is key

A good vocabulary is the foundation for your desk research

If you perform research with the words you have on your mind right here and right now, you can very well risk getting some very one-sided results.
A precise vocabulary is the road to successful desk research.

Find more words for the same concept to get different takes on the topic and to find sources on different professional levels - professional and academic levels opposed to everyday information. Look through the table of contents and see what technical terms the author uses.

When you research using the vocabulary of your preferred professional level, your results will mirror your words of choice.

Continue to watch a few videos on the topic!

Video: Vocabulary is key

Scholarly books versus practical books

How do you know that the book/books you have found for your assignment is actually a scholarly book and not just a practical book. Watch the video and learn how to differentiate between the different kinds of sources.

Video: Scholarly books (by Mc Masters University)

Find both pros and cons

It is important that you find sources that speak FOR your theory and sources that go in a different direction. Nothing can stand alone and to illuminate a given theory; as to describe a topic, you need to find what speaks FOR your theory / your argumentation - but also what speaks against. So Pros and cons.

How do you use a book to find related sources (AND a vocabulary)?

Video: Find related sources via books

Some databases have subject term lists to help you do better (or smarter) searches in their databases. They will do an inventory over the subject terms used and you can find the lists in the database. EBSCO is one of the databases where you can find a subject term list.

Video: improve your vocabulary using the subject term lists in EBSCO (By EBSCO)

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