Background Information - Assignment | Bill Tracking Project (Ross) - Research Guides at Lone Star College

Research Process

Start your research with background or overview articles on your topic. Get familiar with your topic so that you can start to narrow it down. General information will help you develop context for your topic as well as get to know the specialized terms by experts.

Step 1: Background Information. After you identify your research topic and some keywords that describe it, find and read articles in subject encyclopedias (not Wikipedia). Credo Reference (see link under Find Information tab) contains items that will help you understand the context (historical, cultural, disciplinary) of your topic. Background information is the foundation supporting further research. Class textbooks also provide definitions of terms and background information.

Step 2: Dig Deeper. Exploit the citations within background information articles to dig deeper into your subject. Bring the keywords to Academic Search Complete or JSTOR databases to develop your research further. At this stage ask questions of the information specialists (librarians) to be sure you are in the right resource and using effective research strategies.

Step 3: Note Taking. Take good notes as you read. You will save time if you take notes that are in your own words (paraphrasing).

Step 4: Create Citation. Locate citation tools within the databases to help you create MLA citations. You may be able to copy and paste the citations into your tentative "Works Cited" page. Be sure to check the accuracy with an expert source (see Writing & Citing tab).

Background Information Sources

Background sources may be news articles or encyclopedia summaries of concepts, people or events.

CQ Researcher
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Full-text, balanced, comprehensive journalistic reports and analysis of current and controversial issues of the day.
Credo Reference
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Useful when you're starting out on a research project. Do simple searches to find topic introductions in a variety of subjects. The mind map tool will help you discover related ideas and terms.
Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints
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Provides topic overviews as well as collects a variety of sources, including statistics, reference materials, journal articles, news articles, images, and audio broadcasts.
Texas Reference Center
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Articles from periodicals, reference books, and newspapers on Texas history, culture, and life, biographies of important Texans, and more.

Texas Tribune
The Texas Tribune is the a member-supported, digital-first, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. Some access available through the Texas Reference Center.
State Impact Texas
StateImpact Texas is a collaboration of local public radio stations KUT Austin and KUHF Houston. Reporters Mose Buchele, Terrence Henry and Dave Fehling travel the state to report on how energy and environmental issues affect you.
Texas Monthly
The politics section of the Texas Montly magazine.

Information Evaluation: Components

Critically evaluate information you find on the Internet. Consider the 5 W's:

Who wrote the web pages and are they an authority?
What is the purpose of the site. Look to the domain for a clue about purpose (.gov,.com, .edu)
When was the site created and updated? Current?
Where does the information come from? (publisher or sponsor)
Why is this information useful - is it relevant to my research?