Introduction

Your initial
research
question

Reviewing
the
literature

Preparing references

Searching
Internet
sources

Deciding on
the final
research
question

Aids

Identifying information sources

For students in many developing countries, finding research information is difficult. Most libraries have limited collections of books and journals. Still, some information on a wide range of topics can be found in most countries. Four sources you will want to explore are:

• Your university library
• Nearby libraries
• Offices of faculty
• Internet-based sources of information

Using your university library. Your university library has two important resources: (1) materials, including books, journals, encyclopedias, and other materials; and (2) reference specialists who can be of immense help in finding information you need.

On your own, you can check to see whether your library has books related to your interests. This is a good way to start any review of literature. Today, most catalogs of university library holdings can be viewed online from a computer terminal. If your university library has an online catalog, searching for titles of books related to your research question is relatively easy - certainly easier and faster than using a card catalog. You can enter the words or phrases from your scope of interest and see if your library has books related to these topics. If your library is not automated, check the card catalog to identify books based on the main terms used in the catalog.

Getting help from library reference staff. The reference staff of your university library may be your best information resource. These helpful information specialists can lead you to useful information you would otherwise not know about. In the social sciences, for example, most research is published in professional journals. Librarians will know whether your university library has journals that may contain information related to your problem. If not, they may be able to tell you whether a nearby library has the kind of information you are looking for. Also, ask if your library has encyclopedias that may contain articles on topics related to your interest. Some of these may provide useful summaries of literature in your area of interest.

Reference librarians can also suggest other sources of information, such as books, government reports, and other research reports on file at the library. Also, ask your librarian about journals or books that contain only reviews of literature. Many reviews on various topics are published each year. These will be the single most valuable source of information you can find, provided the article is related to your problem. A good review article lets you start with much of what is already known about some topic and provides references to publications   you will want to read.

Using nearby libraries. Other libraries near your university may be worth exploring. The library of another university may have materials your library does not have. Many government ministries and research centers maintain libraries that contain not only all the public documents of the organization, but also reports of international organizations and those from similar foreign organizations. For some research topics, these specialized libraries may be the best sources of information in your country.

Offices of faculty. Faculty members often have their own collection of books in their area of interest. Instructors you have had for various social science courses may have books that contain reports of research related to your interest. It doesn't hurt to ask, and, if you do, you may find information you can use.

Preparing to record information

Prior to starting your literature review, decide how you will record notes. Some students scribble notes on scraps of paper with no consistent record of what they have read. Later, they discover they cannot figure out what they had scribbled down. To avoid this problem, we suggest using a single sheet of paper to record information you take from a publication. Using the same size of paper for all notes will also help you organize your notes. In addition, we suggest using a consistent set of categories for recording notes. This will help ensure that you get all the information you need at one time, and save you from having to find a publication a second or third time to get information you need for writing your research report