The best preparation for research is to remain calm! Keep in mind the following when beginning a new research assignment:
For more research help, check out the Research Succes Toolkit! This guide will provide you with a roadmap to complete your next research assignment from start to finish.
Where do I start?
Books are available through MCTC in print or electronic versions in the Library Catalog.
Databases are authoritative resources that index citations or full-text availability of articles from journals or magazines, in PDF or html format, on a wide variety of topics. Databases also contain items such as photographs, graphs, videos or audio files. The MCTC library subscribes to many databases, through vendors such as EBSCOHost and Gale Cengage.
Newspapers are available in the library in print and through backdates and online through our Newspaper Resources guide.
Government documents are available online through trusted websites such as the U.S. GPO and Census.gov. States.
Audiovisual resources (DVDs, streaming videos, and ebooks) are available to check out or view online from the Library Resources page.
Whatever sources you use, be sure to apply evaluation criteria beforehand and include the correct citation of each source within your paper and on your works cited page.
As you begin searching and collecting information, you need to be sure your topic can be researched and that you will find adequate materials on your topic. You may find that there is often too much information for your topic, or too little so you may need to adjust your research strategy.
What should you do if:
1.) Your topic is too broad. Find a way to limit the depth or scope of your search. Narrow or restrict the topic to something, such as a certain aspect of a subject or issue, you can deal with that will not be so overwhelming as you are searching for information.
2.) Your topic is too narrow. Find a way to expand your topic to include a wider range of information that can be retrieved through your research.
The encyclopedias and other reference material articles are excellent sources for a quick summary of basic ideas and concepts on a given subject. Often, this summary is an indication of how popular or how well researched this topic is.
Click here to see Is the Question are Too Broad or Too Narrow?
Writing a thesis is one of the most challenging tasks in working on a research paper and will focus the direction of your work. Below are some websites to help give you some pointers!
If you need help, contact us through our library staff contact form.
You may also visit our FAQ page to see if you can find the answer to a question!
To reach library staff at each campus, use the following telephone numbers:
Maysville Campus: (606)301-6206 or (606)301-6190
Rowan Campus: (606)780-6366
Licking Valley Campus: (859)569-4755
Montgomery Campus: (859)274-9642
Hours of operation vary at each campus library. Check library hours here.
If you would like to schedule an appointment to meet with a librarian for a research assignment, click on the link below!
Our library resources are available online 24/7 for your use! Having a problem accessing the library databases? Go to the Off-Campus Instructions library guide.
NOTE: Students may see a login error when accessing electronic library resources. This error is generally caused either by an expired authentication token or a prior sign-in attempt in progress. To avoid this error, you can close the browser and reopen it in a "private" or "incognito" window. You may also fix this problem by going to your browser settings to the search history and clear/delete the data from websites you have visited and clear the cookies saved in the history. Then, close the browser and reopen it.