Dawn Taylor ENC 1101  English Composition I
Comparison-Contrast Research Essay

Choosing a topic | Reference Sources |  eBooks | Finding Articles | Internet Resources | PCC Library Home Page

Choosing your topic

Choosing a topic can be as difficult as writing an essay. If you need some inspiration, Researchpaper.Com might provide you with some ideas. While it is possible to write on a variety of topics, a good place to start looking might be a social issue. In addition to providing you with possible topics, Researchpaper.com links to Electriclibrary. This resource also provides full text magazine, and newspaper articles. You may  sign up for a free trial from your home. The PCC library provides access for currently enrolled students to many subscription databases - click on the Databases link on the PCC Library Web Site.

On the subject of topics -- there is a short list of topics that are not acceptable to your instructor. 

Please do not submit papers on the following topics:               

Gun Control

Abortion

Death Penalty/Capital Punishment

 

 

Reference Sources

 

You may not be able to use a general encyclopedia as an official reference source for your paper (most instructors don't like that), however you can use a general encyclopedia to give you ideas for search terms, to give you back ground information and even to give you hints about how to lay out your paper. Take a look at the "How To" guide: "How to take advantage of Encyclopedias" then look at the Encyclopedia Britannica online.

 

eBooks

So what, you say to yourself, is an ebook.  Well, some of the books in the PCC collection are not in paper format.  They are online.  This means that you can "check out" a book on the computer, read it on your computer, and then return it.  All without leaving the comfort and privacy of your own home.

So then you say to yourself, "How would I go about finding an ebook that I can access from home?"  That has a very simple answer.  Go to the PCC Library Web Site click on Databases and then click on "Remote Access Databases".  Your borrower ID is your Student ID number.

 

Finding Articles Online from the PCC Library

The PCC Libraries have many electronic resources (databases) that will let you search for newspaper, magazine, and journal articles by just about any subject. You can also search by author, date or source of publication. They all work in a similar fashion, like the LINCCSearch online catalog (which is just another database - it's just that it is for books, not articles) there is usually a box where you type in what-ever it is that you are looking for (you can adjust the dates or sources if you like) and then you click on search and the clever thing gives you a list of compatible results - it's kind of like computer dating only the computer is matching you to an article not your future spouse.

Where are they?
 

You can access many of the PCC Library electronic resources (databases) through the Library Web Site.
  Click on the link to Databases then click on
"Remote Access Databases"
 Your Borrower ID is your Student ID.

Where to begin? Which resource to Choose? 

Some of the PCC electronic resources only index articles (you'll get a citation like you did in the Reader's Guide to Periodical literature, and then you have to go fetch the article yourself).  Some resources will index the articles and provide a link to the actual text of the article. Some provide a copy of the article with the graphics and everything.
There are resources for:
- Images
- Statistics
- Newspapers
- Literary Criticisms
- Websites
- General Resources for newspaper, magazine and journals
- Subject specific resources (articles on education, art, or science...)

One of the biggest problems students often have is finding the right tool for the job they need done.

What's a good general resource for articles?

Try EBSCOHost's - Academic Search Premier for starters ...
 

Do a quick search for your topic and see what you get.

After you click on search, you will receive a list of results in the form of citations.
At the top you will see how many records were found - do you need to broaden or narrow your search?
Choose what results you would like to see
Click on the title of an article that looks promising and you will see the article.
Print your article or save it to a disk.
Print from the file menu or from your tool bar or save the article to your disk.
When you get comfortable, try the Advance Search option.

Internet Resources You can find anything on the Internet - right? Well, maybe and maybe not. Be very choosy about resources you find on the Internet. One of the great things about the Internet is that anyone - ANYONE - can post information to the Web; your sister, my sister (very scary), PhDs, precocious 4 year-olds...anyone.   How do you know what's good stuff and what's your next door neighbor's 2nd grade science project? Guess what? We have a web page for that too, its' called "How Do You Find Reliable Information on the Internet?" We also have a page of Internet Search Tools prepared for you.