Online Class: Basic Research Skills

Course Lessons

• Lesson 1: Why Research Is Important

  Though the Internet is a valuable tool, it is not the only research skill a person needs in order to find the facts.

• Lesson 2: Library Use

  Though it might sound strange, many people have forgotten about using the library.

• Lesson 3: Dewey Decimal System

  Organizing reference books is difficult when there is no system. While some people might prefer books to be organized by authors, when you are organizing reference books.

• Lesson 4: A Dictionary

  Many people may not think about a dictionary as being a reference book, but it can help you begin to understand not only the words you might not know, but also how they can be used in a paper, project, or article.

• Lesson 5: A Thesaurus

  Like a dictionary, a thesaurus can help you to expand the way that you discuss your topic. A thesaurus contains groupings of words that are collected in terms of their meaning.

• Lesson 6: Encyclopedias, Almanacs, and Atlases

  Before the time of the Internet, there were other ways one could research specific topics.

• Lesson 7: Internet Search Engines

  The Internet is often the first place many people go when they need to do research.

• Lesson 8: Internet News Sources

  When you get online in the morning, one of the first things you might do is go onto a news site to find out what has happened in the world.

• Lesson 9: Internet Magazines, Blogs, and Images

  Research is not always about gathering facts. Sometimes you need to do research in order to formulate an opinion about a topic.

• Lesson 10: Journals, Papers, and More

  When researching academic topics, it can help to look at journals, papers, and other academic publications.

• Lesson 11: Bibliographies

  When someone else has already done research on a topic, it makes sense that the person keeps track of what they used.