Composition

Getting Started

The Library offers many resources to help you in all of your courses, including Composition. You will be able to find many books, journals, magazines, newspapers, and online resources to help you conduct your research and write your papers. Investigate the options below to learn how to use all of these resources.

Deciding What Information You Need

There are many sources of information for your topic. You should consider what your information needs are:

• Are you looking for new, current information? 
• Do you need historical information about a previous event or era?
• Is the information you need technical and scientific?
• Is the information likely to be written for the general public or for specialists and scholars?
• How fast does the field change?

You can evaluate each source you find using the acronym CRAAP:

• Currency: How current is the information? If you're learning about an event from a long time ago, you'll be able to read information from a wide range of time. If you're learning about cutting edge developments, you'll need information within the past 10, 5, or 2 years.
• Relevance: How relevant is the information to your topic? Sometimes you'll be able to find a source that's exactly what you're looking for, but often you'll need to find sources that each cover some aspect of your research. Then it's up to you to put them together in your paper.
• Authority: Who wrote this information? How do they know what they're talking about? Check to see what their education is, who they're employed by, and whether they're well respected by their colleagues.
• Accuracy: Is the information accurate? You'll want to make sure the author has clearly cited the works they relied on (just as you'll do in your paper), and that they've accurately reported reliable information.
• Purpose: Why did the author write this information? What was in it for them? Did they want to just share important information they've been working on, or do they have some other motive? Everyone publishes for a reason, but you want to make sure that your purpose (learning and gaining insights) matches up with their purpose in writing.

• Some Types of Information You Might Use

The question is always asked: Can I use Wikipedia? The answer is "In a way." Watch the video below to learn more.

One important type of research that you'll likely use is called a "peer-reviewed article." Watch this video to learn exactly what that means and how it may be useful to you.

There are many more types of information that you might use. They include:

• Newspaper articles that cover current events or opinions;
• Magazine articles;
• Blog posts;
• Websites;
• Freely available data;
• White paper (a government or other authoritative report giving information or proposals on an issue);
• Grey literature (materials and research produced by organizations outside of the traditional commercial or academic publishing and distribution channels);
• Press release or press conference;
• Book or book chapter.

All of these can be useful, depending on what you're researching, and what you're trying to learn. You will need to evaluate both the type of information you're using, as well as the actual source and author/creator that you've found.