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Communication Arts

Research Basics

Welcome!  This guide offers resources to help you with your research paper or project. 

There are several different jumping-off points, depending on where you are in your research process. Feel free to jump around to find the best page to meet your needs!

Items in the Reference collection, such as encyclopedias and dictionaries, offer a place to start your research, especially if you are unfamiliar with a subject. Entries give concise overviews of a topic, summaries of key research in a particular discipline, and often include a bibliography which can begin your list of sources for your paper.

Performing a keyword search in a general or subject-specific database is a great way to find scholarly articles. See below for a short video by OSLIS on generating keywords from your topic.

Subject Resources