Your Research Plan

Okay, so once you know what kinds of sources you need to meet your information needs, where should you look for them? Once more, thinking about categories can help.

Where sources are located is generally organized by audience expertise level—by whether they are popular, professional, or scholarly sources. Popular and professional are often grouped together. But scholarly sources tend to hang out by themselves. (That’s why searching Google Scholar locates more of them than just plain old Google, and an academic library has more scholarly sources than a public library.)

Before you start looking, try the Research Plan template provided in this course to think through what sources you’ll need for your own research projectand how you have searched for them. Having your Research Plan always at your side while you search for sources will guide where you look and what you’re willing to accept. It will help you keep track of whether you have found the right resources.

Creating a plan doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind if you later find another kind of resource that looks too good to pass up. But making a plan first will insure that you don’t just grab any resource you come across. The few minutes you take to complete the table will save you time later. And it’s nice to have a plan all in one place that you can put into action!