You have completed

Chapter 1:
Defining a Research Topic and
Determining the Information Requirements

Summary

You should now be able to:

• Identify specific elements of an effective written research strategy.
• Formulate and state a research question.
• Differentiate between a research topic and a report topic.
• Identify the keywords or main concept in your topic.
• Define a topic by broadening or narrowing the scope of your research.
• Determine the information requirements of a research question, problem, or issue.
• Recognize whether particular types of sources and formats are needed.
• Recognize the need to organize, evaluate, and cite resources.

Expert Advice

Here are some other great resources in the library that will help you succeed in college and beyond:

• E-Literate video: Learn why information competency is the key to success.
• Research Skills for Students: An excellent series of six videos exploring difference parts of the research process.
• 10 Steps in Writing the Research Paper: Want a little more help with research? Check out this book!
• Writing Logically, Thinking Critically: And for more on writing, try this book.

These are a few of the library resources to get you started, and you can always ask the librarians at the information desk for more.

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