There are many information resources available to you through Maine Maritime Academy's Library, and this guide is designed to teach you how to use those resources for your assignments in this class. Each item can be accessed as needed, but you can also work through this guide for a complete set of instructions.
It's important to know the basics of the research process. Many people feel frustrated during their research, and it's good to know where you can expect those frustrations to arise so that you can work through them productively rather than getting stuck. Here are the seven basic steps of the research process:
These steps are not always conducted in exactly this order, and many times you'll find yourself returning to a previous step in order to improve your work. For example, the first step, choosing your topic, may be revisited several times after you start collecting background information and organizing your information. You will sometimes find that the topic you initially chose is either too narrow or broad for the scope of your research, or that the information resources you're able to access are not sufficient to do justice to the topic. It's important to realize when this is happening, and return to your initial topic selection to revise it as necessary. If you need to have your topic approved by your professor, it's a good idea to conduct some initial background research before submitting your topic, so you can be more certain that it will be a successful project. If you're uncertain about your topic, you should speak with your professor about your challenges, and also feel free to contact the library for assistance in your search.
You may also find that when you're organizing the information you've found, you'll need to go back and find more information on some parts of your topic. Similarly, you may return to finding more information even when you're writing your first draft if you realize that you need more evidence or interpretations to write a comprehensive paper.
You can now work through this guide to learn how to conduct each step in the research process.