1. Choose your topic. Understand what your assignment requirements and due dates are.
2. Refine your topic. Don't want it to be too broad or too narrow.
3. Create a research question. For example "what is the correct position for a foot x-ray?" Now you can identify the main concepts and keywords. Also consider alternate words or synonyms for your topic.
4. Background Information. Use the index in reference books such as encyclopedias to find your keywords or phases. This will enable you to develop context and background for your research. Be sure to check out the See also references at the end of encyclopedia articles as well as the bibliographies.
5. Use the library catalog to find books. Use your keywords to perform both keyword and subject searches.
6. Use the databases to find journal/magazines/newspaper articles. Be sure to choose appropriate databases for your topic.
7. Using Internet resources. Be careful of general search engines like Google or Yahoo which have no quality control or evaluation and return millions of results.
8. Always evaluate what you find. This library guide lists resources from the National Library of Medicine to help you evaluate websites on the Websites page of this guide.
9. Cite your sources. Citing gives proper credit to the authors of materials you use and allows your professors to verify your conclusions. The style guide you will be using is APA.
After deciding on a topic, you need to choose your keywords or search terms.
Example:
Smoking should be banned on college campuses.
Type these words into the search box:
smoking and ban and college
Other words to try:
Source: University of Pittsburg Library System