by Maureen Cutajar

Created on: June 01, 2010   Last Updated: August 02, 2010

Researching information entails knowing what information is required, where can this information be found, and how this information can be obtained.

Students and executives alike are all required to perform research and summarize this information collected in an objective and clear way. When doing research there are three pivotal questions that need to be addressed:

- What information is required?

- What information is already available?

- What information is already known about the subject?

- Where can more information be obtained?

Computerized Catalogues

Computerized catalogues are electronic databases that can be accessed from the public library. Such databases offer the individual access to a plethora of information from where books, journals, and academic papers can be found regarding the researched subject.

These catalogues can be searched from the relevant database fields that usually include the title, the author, and the subject. The ISBN number of a relevant book is also provided by these databases and if known the book can be located by inserting the relevant ISBN number in the database.

Periodicals

Periodicals or journals can also be located in computerized catalogues. These periodicals are specialist journals and can be found on almost any subject matter. Publications are issued on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis and they deal exclusively in a specialised subject as in for instance a journal about postmodernist or Marxist criticism.

When researching recent information periodicals often provide the most up to date information available, especially in computer technology and sciences where new technologies and research surfaces on a regular basis. Nevertheless, periodicals about the arts, languages, and history still provide new research findings and new critical approaches that yield valuable information to the researcher.

The only caveat when researching periodicals is that it can be extremely time consuming unless one is researching a particular article that was published in a specified journal. The best practice when researching periodicals is to look in the journals indices and skim through the abstracts of the articles.

Referencing

When conducting research it is important to jot down the publication details of all the information collected. This will prove to be extremely handy when presenting your information. Always ensure that any information included is properly acknowledged since it may otherwise appear that you are claiming someone else’s work as your own. This is referred to as plagiarism and it refers to the act of copying passages of texts or ideas expressed from someone else’s work and presenting them as if they were your own.

Learn more about this author, Maureen Cutajar.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.