Gaining an Overview

The place to begin is the Garver Room. Here you will find many general as well as subject-specific reference sources that will assist you in the beginning steps of research.

WHY an overview:

• gives you a background perspective
  
• supplies a summary of the established knowledge within a topic area or field of study
  
• often times written or edited by experts in a subject field
• presents facts, concepts, significant dates, key terms or persons and perhaps controversies involved in your topic area
• enables you to develop a working thesaurus of terms related to your topic area

WHERE:

• Print: Reference books (located in the Garver Room) help provide an orientation to your chosen research area. Make sure to use the index and table of contents to navigate through the resources.
• Electronic: You can access the A to Z subscription database list from the library's home page. The library offers many general and subject specific reference databases. If you need help in how to search, email an Instructional Services Librarian or stop by the Help Desk (located outside the Garver Room) for additional help.

HOW:

Use the indexes at the back of the book or last volume of a multi-volume set to locate specific references to your topic.

EXAMPLES of types of resources for an overview:

Use OWL, the library's online catalog, to find subject specific reference resources. Do not hesitate to ask an Instructional Services Librarian or stop by a Help Desk at anytime during the research process.