Now that you've completed your preliminary research, you're ready to move on to more specific sources, get more details, and build your argument.
Depending on your topic, you may look mainly at books, mainly at journal articles, or some blend of the two. The more contemporary your topic, the less likely there are to be books on it. However, you can still get useful background and historical context for contemporary issues. Here are a few tips to help you keep going:
• Use bibliographies: Look at the bibliographies of the materials you find and track down those sources. This "bibliographic mining" process is a great way to find additional resources that will be helpful in your research and writing.
• Use the Full Text Finder: This tool will search for journal and magazine titles available through the OWHL's databases. Once you've mined bibliographies for possible sources, search for the titles here to see if you have access. If not, simply bring the citation to a librarian and we'll help you create an Inter-Library Loan (ILL) request.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Library Catalog
