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Preparing for Problem- Solving Discussions 357

electric chair might be entered. If you know that John Smith has written a number
of articles about capital punishment, you could search by author name, John Smith.
Generally, this search will produce a list of articles pertinent to your topic. If your
list is too long, you can refine it by adding additional key words: capital punishment
and Missouri, for example. Often, in addition to the article’s title, you can see the
abstract of the article. More and more often, articles are available full text online.
Even if you do not have access to specialized online databases, the World Wide
Web itself serves as a giant online database. By using a search engine such as Search Engine
Yahoo.com, Google.com, Ask.com, or Bing.com, you can search the Web for items Software that allows
related to key words you enter. Many search engines attempt to rank- order the items you to search the
they send you so that the ones that seem most relevant appear first, but this process Web for items related
is not foolproof, so you may end up with information overload. Even so, you will to key words you
want to try this to see what you do get. enter.
In addition, seeking out the home page of organizations relevant to your topic
can help. For instance, if your group is investigating the effects of drinking and
driving, you may want to look at Students Against Drunk Driving to see what hits you
get. If you do that, you will find that the first website listed is called Students Against
Destructive Decisions, which is the name for SADD. Several buttons on that site link
you to specific information helpful to your research.
Remember that when you cite research you obtained from the Web, you must
provide the reader with enough information to locate the website you used. That
means you need, at minimum, the Universal Resource Locator (URL) for the site,
any links you clicked to get deeper into the site, the specific paragraph from which
you obtained your specific information or your quoted material, and the date on
which you accessed the material. In addition, many online documents now have
unique digital object identifiers— doi—that you should reference in your bibliography.
Also helpful are bibliographies of bibliographies, such as the Bibliography of
Bibliographies. Bibliographies are also found at the end of most books, doctoral
dissertations, and research articles. Do not overlook indexes to periodicals, such as
The Readers Guide to Periodical Literature, The New York Times Index, and Education
Index. Federal and state government publications, in special sections of many librar-
ies, also contain vast amounts of information. The Monthly Catalog of
U.S. Government Publications and the Monthly Checklist of State Publications will
help you locate relevant information in these publications. Other useful sources
include the Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report and the Congressional Digest.
Most of these are now online.
Begin reading even before you have completed your bibliography. A good strat-
egy is for all members of the group to read some of the same things to provide a
common background, then divide up the rest of the bibliography. When you evalu-
ate a book for usefulness, read the index and table of contents for clues. Skim rap-
idly until you find something pertinent to your group, then read carefully. Take
notes of the most important ideas and facts, and make copies of particularly valu-
able information for the rest of the group.
For controversial problems or topics, read as many contrasting interpretations
and viewpoints as possible. For example, before developing a campus policy

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