The purpose of this guide is to help you use the library to find the information resources that you need for your oral presentation project. If you need help with your research, please use our Library Chat service or stop by the reference desk on the first floor of the library. We are there to help you!
Materials that must be submitted with the oral presentation include an annotated bibliography of at least 6 sources including 2 primary sources and no more than 2 web pages. For each of the web pages you must include the full web address and anevaluation of the site.
Sources / information sources - these are the books, magazine articles, scientific studies, and web sites that you find and use to develop your presentation and bibliography.
Primary sources - also called scientific or scholarly articles, these are the scientific journal articles or technical reports that scientists use to communicate the results of their research to other scientists.
Evaluation - If you cite web sources (e.g. a Wikipedia article) then you must write up an evaluation of the site for accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and coverage.
Sometimes the most difficult part of doing research is figuring out your topic. A good topic is one you can find information on! Here are some places where you can get ideas for a topic:
MedLinePlus - medical topics
Science.gov - biology and nature topics
ScienceDaily - hot topics in the sciences
After you have chosen a general topic, you may need to focus on one aspect of that topic and you will need to find the proper key words for searching for information.
Compare these keywords:
FLESH EATING BACTERIA vs. NECROTIZING FASCIITIS
If you were to start searching for “flesh eating bacteria” you would find a lot of general or popular information.Click here for an example of a popular article.
If you want to find a primary source, e.g. a scientific article, on the topic, you need to use the medical terminology, “necrotizing fasciitis”. Click here for an example of a scientific article. Be aware that the keywords you choose will greatly affect the outcome of your research!
You may also need to think in terms of broadening or narrowing the scope of your search. If you find too much information on a topic, then you need to focus more narrowly. Some examples of search terms for information about drug resistance going from broad topic to more specific topic:
Keywords:
Antibiotics
Drug resistance
Drug Resistance in Microorganisms
Antimicrobial resistance
MRSA = Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Contains bibliographic records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library. Includes more than 4.8 million citations for journal articles, monographs, theses, patents, software, audiovisual materials, and technical reports related to agriculture.
Contains original, comprehensive reports and analysis on issues in the news. CQ Researcher is part of CQ Collections.
Topics include horticulture, botany, garden and landscape design & history, ecology, plant and garden conservation, garden management, and horticultural therapy.
These links are to short YouTube videos created especially for you to help you with your library research.
