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Getting Started with a Research Project

• Find a Topic
• Narrow or Broaden your Topic
• Library Research
• How to Write a Paper
• How to Prepare a Speech
• How to Create a Bibliography

Find a Topic

BMCC Speech & Term Paper Topics
Annotated links to web resources on current issues.

Narrow or Broaden your Topic

• Find too many books and articles?
  Narrow your topic!
• Can't find enough books or articles?
  Broaden your topic!

Let's say you want to give a speech on voodoo. You search the library catalog for books and library databases for articles and you find... a huge amount of resources. This means your topic is too broad and you need to narrow it down by choosing something more specific. If you don't find enough resources, your topic is too narrow - you need to broaden your topic by including more aspects.

Use an encyclopedia to find an overview of the subject's main issues. For example, the 1998 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica defines 'voodoo' as a religious folk cult of Haiti. The article continues with a discussion of the origins, beliefs, and rituals practiced in voodoo. That gives you 3 subject ideas you could develop for a speech or paper.

Web Resources:

• CUNY Tutorial 2: Define Your Research Topic
  Quick tips on how to narrow or broaden a topic.
• Identifying Topics Related to a Topic
  How to narrow or broaden a topic.
• UCLA College Library: How to Narrow or Broaden Your Topic

Library Research

CUNY Tutorial 3: Locate and Retrieve Relevant Information
How to find information in print or electronic sources, the library catalog and indexes.

Guide to Library Research, Duke University Libraries
On this page the research process is broken down into seven steps.

How to Write a Paper

Books:

• Everhart, N. (1994). How to write a term paper. New York: F. Watts.
  Location: Stacks - LB 1047.3 .E94 1994
• Lamm, K. (1998). 10,000 ideas for term papers, projects, reports and speeches. New York: ARCO.
  Location: Stacks - LB 1047.3 .L35 1998

Web Resources:

• Gale - Free Resources - Term Paper
  How to choose a topic, craft a thesis, evaluate, find sources, take notes, organize the paper, prepare a list of used sources (bibliography) and draft and revise the paper.
• Procedure for Writing a Term Paper
  This site covers: choosing a subject, finding sources, gathering notes, outlining the paper, writing a draft, and editing the paper.
• Tips on Writing a College Essay and/or Term Paper
  Site discusses the required elements of an essay.

How to Prepare a Speech

Gateway to Speech Resources
Guide to the process of creating a speech and resources in the BMCC Library.

How to Create a Bibliography

Citing Sources: APA
How to create a bibliography in the APA style.

Citing Sources: MLA
How to create a bibliography in the MLA style.