Gender and Technology Research Guide ITI 340

Time spent gaining background knowledge will make later research and writing more effective

Essential Questions to Guide You:

Existence: Does a problem exist? Who is affected? What individuals or groups have an interest in the problem although may or may not be affected?
Definition: How do we characterize the problem?
Cause: What caused the problem?
Action: What should we do about the problem? And what may be the unintended consequences of the action?
Jurisdiction: Who should decide what we do about the problem?

Helpful Library Resources for Topic Ideas & Background Research

Access World News
Covers newspapers and news wires across the world.
CQ Researcher
Focuses on topics considered newsworthy or issues of broad interest to the general public.
Factiva
Covers newspapers; magazines; trade journals; newsletters; and television and radio transcripts focusing on business.
Gale eBooks
Includes topical overviews; essays; book chapters; primary documents; specialized encyclopedia articles; and other sources.
Sage Reference
A large collection of authoritative encyclopedias, dictionaries, and handbooks in a broad range of fields including multidisciplinary areas such as anthropology, environment, health, and psychology.
Subject Encyclopedias
Access one of many subject encyclopedias available through Rutgers University Libraries.

Remember...

An encyclopedia is a starting point for research, not an ending point.

"An encyclopedia, whether a paper one like Britannica or an online one, is great for getting a general understanding of a subject before you dive into it. But then you do have to dive into your subject, using books and articles and other higher-quality sources to do better research. Research from these sources will be more detailed, more precise, more carefully reasoned, and more broadly peer reviewed than the summary you found in an encyclopedia. These will be the sources you cite in your paper. There is no need to cite Wikipedia in this case." Wikipedia:Academic use