Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Researching A Controversial Topic Using Library Sources. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page essay in which the writer provides thoughtful tips on library use. The writer essentially 'walks' the novice researcher through everything he or she would need to know in order to quickly find information on both sides of an issue. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_Library2.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
public acceptance of homosexuality -- and I will explain how to find information on both sides of this topic that would enable me to produce a balanced presentation. A good
place to begin is at the computer terminal. Many libraries now have their "card catalogue" on a computer database, and it is often possible to hook into the Internet on
the same terminal. I did this using American Online. AOL offers three encyclopedias on computer, each, presumably, with a search function. It is possible to access these by clicking on
the "Reference" button and then choosing the encyclopedia you want. I tried two of the three. When I got the screen for Comptons Encyclopedia, it asked for a search term
and I entered "homosexuality". This gave me seven articles which might have something about homosexuality in them. The first was simply a dictionary definition of the term. The second, "SEXUALITY:
Sexual Orientation" gave me a somewhat longer description, mostly citing the studies Alfred Kinsey had done in the 1940s. This was not really useful for the purpose of preparing a
balanced presentation of a controversial topic. The other five articles were primarily biographical material on homosexual people. I tried the same search term in Columbias Encyclopedia. This time I got
seventeen potential responses, including "AIDS", "gay rights movement", "Masters and Johnson", and "Moral Majority". Taken together, these were considerably more helpful as background material. At that point, however, I
decided to search the stacks of printed encyclopedias in the reference section for more varied types of sources. Since the topic Im researching could easily fall under the umbrella of
"social sciences", I first looked at the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, published by the Macmillan Company. This is a large series of books resembling a conventional encyclopedia in
...