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Research Help Guide: Getting Started With Research

This is an interactive guide to help students at McDowell Technical Community College. Included are resources for general research, history, and literary research as well as many sources for pictures that students can use freely without worry.

Get Started

 

Sometimes getting started on research is the hardest part.  Where do you start?  What should you do?  What comes next?  

This guide is designed to help you.  

 

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Pro-Quest Research Companion

This Research Companion can help you through the research process or just give you a refresher. Available through NC LIVE, use the Research Companion for video tutorials and aids throughout the entire process, including a revision aid when you've got a draft of your paper ready.  Click on the image below to go to NC LIVE and then search "Research Companion". It will prompt you to create an account and then you can get started

Key Words

Finding the right key words is essential to research  Watch this short video below on tips to choosing the best keywords for your research.

McMaster Libraries. (2015, November 16). How Library Stuff Works: How to Choose Keywords. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoujP8KoK7E.

Researching online and using Boolean operators

It can be really overwhelming to research online; after all, it's the WORLD-WIDE web. That's a lot of material.  Watch this video below on tips to make your search more targeted using Boolean operators.

McMaster Libraries. (2016, November 28). How Library Stuff Works: Boolean Operators (AND OR NOT)  [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCAULDuMcso.