Guide to Research Writing
This guide brings together many of the sources that will help you complete your assignments and ultimately the major paper you will turn in at the end of the semester. It's good to remember that the research process is iterative. The topic you start with might not be the focus of the paper you write. Along the way, the research you conduct, and the information you uncover, may lead to new questions, or take you in a direction you did not initially expect.
Remember: When off-campus, you will need to sign-in with Menlo username & password to access the online subscription databases described below.
Developing a Working Knowledge of a Topic
Finding Background and Biographical Information
Reference resources, like those below, can help you understand a topic, learn about its historical background, and identify keywords to use for further searching. These sources also often contain biographical information as well.
- Biography in Context This link opens in a new window
Contains biographical reports on current and historical figures. - Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Contains full-text reference books in 20 subject areas including business, biography, history, economics, and other social sciences. - Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new windowAn online collection of reference books in biography, social science, and many other subject areas. These works were published 2005 or before and are not suitable for events and ideas since 2005.
- Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Provides full text criticisms, biographies, bibliographies, and work overviews. "Find up-to-date biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism and reviews on nearly 130,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world, supplemented by the scholarly materials of the Scribner Writers Series and Twayne's World, U.S., and English Authors Series." - Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new window
[Note: Canceled 2025, subscription expires 6/30/2025]
A comprehensive dictionary that also traces the development of English words from approximately 1150 AD up to the present day. Click on "Simple search" in the lower left corner of the database page to be able to search for words in the definitions, quotations, and more.
