Become familiar with the ideas, major concepts, and basic vocabulary of your topic before you begin the research.
Narrow your topic to a manageable subtopic.
Where to Locate Background Knowledge
Encyclopedias are a good place to get an overview of a topic that is new to you or to refresh your knowledge
Encyclopedias provide you with basic vocabulary of your subject including persons, places, and things. Encyclopedias often identify narrower areas within the broad subject, which may suggest a focus for your research. Encyclopedia articles often provide a list of references that can help you locate further, more in-depth and scholarly information sources.
Analysis of issues - social, political, military, economic, environmental, science related, health related, cultural
Focuses on broad issues, such as war, genocide, terrorism, human rights, poverty, famine, globalization, world trade, nuclear proliferation, and global warming, as well as more specific events and topics in the news that are related to these broader issues.
Detailed information on nations to provide a foundation for cross-cultural studies
Overviews summarizing background information, historical context, and contemporary stances
Expert perspectives analyzing an issue or event through multiple aspects
Reference documents providing background information on all issues and nations
Full-text international magazines, academic journals, news source, and primary sources
Statistics, including interactive graphs, tables, and charts
As you gain more background information write down keywords or key phrases.
Keywords & phrases are the most important word or words about your topic and can be a person, place, or thing.
Enter the key word(s) at Visuwords" to "find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts."
Visuwords is an visual tool to find new words and improve your vocabulary. When you use Visuwords to look up a word it shows a graph which connects that word to other words based on different relationships between them. You can hover over each word to get its definition and also zoom-in and zoom-out using the mouse wheel.
Use the key words you located to search library catalog and databases.
Become familiar with the ideas, major concepts, and basic vocabulary of your topic before you begin the research.
Narrow your topic to a manageable subtopic.
Where to Locate Background Knowledge
- Encyclopedias are a good place to get an overview of a topic that is new to you or to refresh your knowledge
Encyclopedias provide you with basic vocabulary of your subject including persons, places, and things.Encyclopedias often identify narrower areas within the broad subject, which may suggest a focus for your research.
Encyclopedia articles often provide a list of references that can help you locate further, more in-depth and scholarly information sources.
- Work from general to specific
If a general encyclopedia doesn't provide enough background information, search subject encyclopedias.Global Issues in Context
Keywords & phrases are the most important word or words about your topic and can be a person, place, or thing.
- Enter the key word(s) at Visuwords" to "find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts."
Visuwords is an visual tool to find new words and improve your vocabulary. When you use Visuwords to look up a word it shows a graph which connects that word to other words based on different relationships between them. You can hover over each word to get its definition and also zoom-in and zoom-out using the mouse wheel.