Resources for Research

Developing a good research topic may not be easy. Your topic should be specific enough to be interesting but broad enough so you can find adequate information. You can narrow your topic by focusing on:

• a specific geographic region
• a specific time period
• a specific person or population
• a specific cause, correlation or effect.

For more about selecting a topic, review "Selecting a Topic".

Created by Thompson Library, University of Michigan-Flint.

Available in Credo Reference, the Mind Map is a brainstorming tool that helps you focus your research by displaying connections between search results to find related terms and expand your search. It is a good resource when you need topic ideas for your paper. To use the Mind Map:

• Type a keyword in the search box and select Mind Map from the drop-down menu.
• Your search term is highlighted in blue. Related terms are connected to it.
• To expand the map, select a term to include additional terms and topics related to the central concept.

To try it yourself, type a keyword in this box.

The following resources provide overviews of topics of high interest:

These databases provide access to reference resources with full-text entries on various topics.