This guide is designed to help you navigate the research resources available through the CSULB University Library. But before you dive into these resources, it's essential to have a clear understanding of your research needs.
This guide is organized into sections to help you find the kind of resources you might need. But remember, these categories are not rigid. You may need to use resources from multiple sections depending on your research question.
Keep your research question and needs in mind as you use this guide, and don't hesitate to ask for help.
A good research project starts with a well-defined research question. Your question should be clear, focused, and complex enough to warrant a detailed answer. It might help to write your question down. Remember, your research question might evolve as you learn more about your topic.
Once you've defined your question, think about what kind of information you need to answer it. This will depend on your research question and the nature of your project. For instance, do you need statistical data to understand a specific population or group of people? Are you looking for scholarly articles to understand theories and principles, or to find original research? Do you need news articles for reporting on current or past events?
When you conduct research, you will often find that an internet search does not provide the depth and breadth of information you need. Databases are another search tool in your research toolkit. Databases are used to organize and store data for future access.
Academic databases are especially useful because they provide access to a vast array of scholarly material that is often not freely available on the web. These include discipline-specific peer-reviewed journal articles, newspaper articles, magazine articles, multimedia and much more. Materials in the Library's subscription databases are excellent sources of authoritative and up-to-date information, which is crucial when doing academic research.
