Yale Divinity Library: Tips for pursuing a topic

Tips for pursuing a topic

Step 1: Define your topic

Basic reference tools like encyclopedias and dictionaries can help you define the parameters of your topic.
How can you find reference works & general background material about your topic?

Try doing a Keyword search in Orbis combining terms relevant to your topic with "genre" terms like "dictionaries" or "encyclopedias"
e.g, Keyword search for liturgy and (dictionaries or encyclopedias)

or, use the "More Limits" function to restrict your search by "Collection" to materials in the Reference collection. Then do a Keyword search related to your topic.

check out free online encyclopedias and dictionaries

search for resources provided by educational or scholarly organizations on the Internet using Google.com or Vivisimo.com

In Google, add site:edu to your terms to restrict to educational sources

In Vivisimo, add domain:edu

Before delving too far into the facts, think about what angle you want to take on your topic.
What alternate terms are relevant to your topic?

Step 2: Find out what has already been written on your topic

Once you have chosen a topic, the next step is to search the literature to see what has already been written.

Do you need booklength works on your topic? If so, use Orbis, the online catalog.

Do you need journal articles? If so, see the Article Searching help page to determine which tools would be best for your purposes.

Step 3: Consider other types of materials that might be relevant to your research

For more thorough research, go beyond books and articles to identify information in other formats: