English 101: Composition I: Getting Started

Welcome to the English 101 LibGuide! This Guide contains resources to support your research. 

Explore the Guide by navigating through the red tabs at the top of the page.

• "Topic Development" has information to get you started with choosing a research topic
• "Finding and Using Articles" will help you find resources for your paper
• "Annotated Bibliographies & Paper" contains some tips for evaluating sources and creating a bibliography 
• "Help" contains links to FAQ, online chat, research consultations, and the Writing Center

If you have any questions, please contact Francesca Marineo, Teaching & Learning Librarian for Online Education.

These short video tutorials can help you with different parts of the research process.

• Research is a Conversation: "Research is a conversation, and you are part of that conversation as a student. But it's important to know this [conversation] has been going on for quite a while - long before you got here."
• Asking Academic Questions: "If you're feeling overwhelmed, that's okay! Getting started can often feel like the hardest part. Figuring out what your research question is is a process." 
• Selecting the Right Number of Keywords: "If you're ever used Google, you've used keywords, but library databases aren't Google." (from Kimbel Library) 
• Research Process Tips: "You skimmed the article and it seems like a good match. That's great, but now it's time to get serious and look closely for the information that will lay out the foundation for your paper or project." 
• Thinking Critically About Information: "It involves asking questions and being intentional about what information we accept or reject." 
• Using Other People's Ideas: "There are only four ways to use other people's ideas. Three of them are ethical: summary, paraphrase, and quotation. The fourth one, plagiarism (which we also call stealing), is always unethical."
• Writing an Annotated Bibliography: "The annotation helps you remember what the heck the source was about and whether it was useful. It helps you to weed out some of the sources that appeared promising at first, but are irrelevant to your research." 
• Using Other People's Ideas: "There are only four ways to use other people's ideas. Three of them are ethical: summary, paraphrase, and quotation. The fourth one, plagiarism, which we also call stealing, is always unethical."