When going to a general encyclopedia or Wikipedia for information about an abstract topic, students may not find much helpful information. This presentation offers a few hints for finding leads for research on an abstract concept such as guilt or truth or research itself.

1. Hints for getting started on
researching nebulous
topics when you don’t know
where to begin.
Hints for getting started on
researching nebulous
topics when you don’t know
where to begin.

2. Prepare a chart where you can record search terms that will help you
define relevant topics and search terms that will lead you to the
information you require.

4. Find out who has spoken memorably about the topic and find out what they
said. Look for your terms in the index of a collection of quotations.
Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Every guilty deed
Holds in itself the seed
Of retribution and undying pain.
The Masque of Pandora. viii.
Author: Ulysses Simpson Grant
Let no guilty man escape, if it can be avoided. No
personal considerations should stand in the way
of performing a public duty.
Indorsement of a Letter relating to the Whiskey Ring, July
29, 1875
Author: Bidpai
Guilty consciences always make people cowards.
The Prince and his Minister. Chap. iii. Fable iii.
Author: Publius Syrus
A guilty conscience never feels secure.
Maxim 617.
Author: Michel Eyquem, seigneur de
Montaigne
A little folly is desirable in him that will not be
guilty of stupidity.
Book iii. Chap. ix. Of Vanity.

5. Check for specialized dictionaries and encyclopedia in the
reference section of the library such as, for the topic “guilt,”
Ready Reference ETHICS.

6. Do a general search in on a database and then explore the
related topics that can be used to limit the search.
Consider related topics and kinds of sources.

7. “Attempt the end, and /
never stand to doubt;
Nothing’s so hard but /
search will find it out.”
Robert Herrick (qtd. in Bartlett 266)
Bartlett, John. Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. Ed.
Emily Morison Beck. Toronto: Little, Brown and
Company, 1980. Print.

10. Use the index volume of Encyclopedia Britannica to identify
relevant categories of information when Wikipedia does not
work.

11. Don’t forget to document your sources.
Bartlett, John. Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. Ed.
Emily Morison Beck. Toronto: Little, Brown and
Company, 1980. Print.
“Guilt.” The Index A-K. The New Encyclopaedia
Britannica. 15th ed. 2003. Print.
“Guilt.” Websearch. Google. 30 May 2012. Web.
“Guilt.” Websearch. Million short. 30 May 2012. Web.
“Guilt." Wikipedia. 14 May. 2013. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Web.
30 May 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guilt.
“Guilt and shame.” Ready Reference ETHICS. Volume 2. 1994. Print.