A sample mapping and flow-charting of breaking down a topic or assignment into a basic research approach.

1. Sample Map of a Given Topic
Main Terms in Topic Sentence
Cold War
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Warsaw Pact
Aims
Some Related Terms
Policies
Cold War Conflict
1970
Communism
Origins of North Atlantic Treaty
Organization / Warsaw Pact
NATO
Politics
Military Strategy
Eastern Europe
Western Europe
Leaders of NATO and Warsaw Pact
Preliminary List of Sources
Intro Info
Wikipedia.org
Britannica.com
Children’s Books
Encylopedias/General Reference
Books
Library Catalogue
Google Books
Articles
Databases
Internet
TOPIC STATEMENT:
Compare and contrast
the aims and policies of
the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization
and the Warsaw Pact
up to 1970.
NOTE: You can look
at INTRO INFO FIRST
to get more related
terms or concepts to
help expand on your
topic’s related terms:
Intro Info
Wikipedia.org
Britannica.com
Children’s Books
Encyclopedias
REMEMBER!
-
Sample Search Terms and Search Phrases
 “North Atlantic Treaty Organization” NATO
“Cold War” policies
 “Warsaw Pact” “Warsaw Pact Treaty” “Cold
War” policies
 “North Atlantic Treaty Organization” NATO
members during “Cold War”
 “Warsaw Pact” “Warsaw Pact Treaty”
members during “Cold War”
-
-
Create a bibliography or running list of all
your sources – no matter how much or how
little useful information you find in those
sources.
Write down your search strings, phrases and
terms so you can determine what was useful
and what was not.
Note how your assignment is to be handed
in, including how many sources you are
allowed to have and what type of sources
you are allowed to have. It will HELP you to
shape how much researching you will have to
do…