Senior Project: Deeper Research

Look here first for primary sources, academic and trade journals, and news sources. 

Beyond Google and Research Databases, where can you look for sources? Every Senior Project is unique. Consider the best source for your information need.

Think video, audio files, interviews, artwork, blogs and even (sometimes) social media. 

A metasearch engine (or search aggregator) is an online information retrieval tool that uses the data of a web search engine to produce its own results. (Wikipedia)

Deeper Research

• uses targeted keywords to search for information
• finds information to help you understand a narrowed topic in depth
• answers what/why/how types of questions
• provides evidence to prove the thesis or support the controlling statement
• focuses on accurate and reliable information

Research Tips

• Evaluate your sources for validity. Focus on credibility and authority, but also reliability and relevance. Use the SIFT & PICK method (see Source Validation tab above).
• Record every valid source you think you might want to use as soon as you find it. You don't have to use them all, but you don't want to "lose" a source that might have been great.

Using a research database is a great way to find magazine, journal and news articles, as well as eBooks, recommended websites, primary sources and other reputable or scholarly information. 

You have access to many research databases through both Barrington High School and the public library.*  The databases on this page have been selected because they contain content that is most relevant to your research and topic. 

* If you can't remember the username/password to use the databases, see the QuickGuide to BHS Online.

Don't forget to check your local public library to see what other great resources they have to offer!

Database Search Tips:

• Start with general search terms (search terms are things like author, title, subject and keyword); this will not limit your results so quickly.
• Use limiters! Consider limiting your results to full-text so that when you find the perfect article, you can actually access the whole thing. Select more current results by limiting date. Get more scholarly results by selecting "peer-reviewed."
• As you begin to locate and review the materials your search produces, you can adjust your search terms accordingly.
• More general and fewer search terms will yield a higher number of results; more specific and a greater number of search terms will yield fewer and more focused results. 
• As you become more of an expert in your topic, your research will naturally become more focused.

A Book is a Book - eBooks are published books you can access online.

Specialized search engines are search tools that focus on a specific niche, topic or type of content, tailoring their algorithms to provide highly targeted and relevant results. For example, Zillow is a specialized real estate search engine.