This document provides guidance on developing a research topic using subject specific databases. It outlines a process for focusing a topic, crafting a research question, and establishing significance. Examples are provided to illustrate how to narrow a broad topic by adding context like time period, issue, discipline, or community. The significance section advises the reader to consider why they are studying the topic and what they want the audience to understand. The document concludes by encouraging students to explore subject databases and record potential sources.

1. Framing the Context:
Using Subject Specific Databases to
Explore Your Topic
Nicole Branch
Santa Clara University Library
Image courtesy of flickr user Jeff Babbitt

2. Objectives
• Practice a model to help develop
assignment topics
• Become familiar with subject-specific
library resources
• Develop a strategy for searching for
sources for your assignment
Image courtesy of flickr user Kirsten Pauli

3. Developing Your Topic
Focus -- Question -- Significance
Image courtesy of flickr user D. Robert Wolcheck

4. Choosing Your Topic
• An interesting subject that came up in class
• Something you are passionate about
• A topic you would like to learn more about
Image courtesy of flickr user Evelyn Flint

5. Warm up
• Turn to your neighbor and share your topic as
it currently exists
• If you don’t have a topic yet, write down any
topic you are interested in

6. Developing Your Topic
Focus -- Question -- Significance

7. Topic
Interracial Marriage

8. Focus your topic
• If you can state your topic in 2-3 words, it is
too broad.
• Narrow your topic by adding a focus:
Comparison of time
Different communities
Discipline
Issue

9. Examples
• Time comparison
» Changes in mixed-race populations over the past 10
years
• Different Communities
» Mixed-race Asian Americans
• Discipline
» Psychology; Anthropology; Popular media
• Issue
» Trans-racial adoption; Coming of age; Relation to
other issues

10. Focus
Interracial Marriage
• Interracial Marriage and Gay Marriage

11. Discussion
• Using the form on the guide, record your
topic.
• Integrate a context to develop your topic.
• History
• Different communities
• Discipline
• Audience

12. Developing Your Topic
Focus -- Question -- Significance

13. Question
• Add a question such as how, why, or in what
ways to your topic.
• In what ways did the fight for interracial
marriage equality impact the gay marriage
equality movement?

14. Common Mistakes
• Avoid questions with one word answers or
that cannot be answered within limits of the
assignment.
• Avoid questions that are too vague or cannot
be answered with research.
• Avoid speculation without evidence.

15. Question
• In what ways did the fight for interracial
marriage equality impact the gay marriage
equality movement?

16. Craft a Question
• Transform your topic into a question.
• Incorporate
How
Why
In what ways

17. Developing Your Topic
Focus -- Question -- Significance

18. Significance
• So what?
• I am studying…. So that…..
• What do you want your reader to understand?
• I am studying…. In order to understand…

19. Interracial Marriage & Marriage
Equality
I am studying
the ways that the fight for interracial marriage
during the American Civil Rights Movement
impacted the Gay Marriage Equality Movement
because I want to understand
» the relationship between different social movements.

20. Keep it Open
I am studying
the ways that the fight for interracial marriage
during the American Civil Rights Movement
impacted the Gay Marriage Equality Movement
because I want to understand
» the relationship between different social movements.

21. Reflection & Discussion
Apply significance to your question
• I am studying ___________ because I want to
find out ___________ in order to help my
reader understand ______________.

22. Thesis Statement
This essay explores the relationship between the
fight for interracial marriage equality during the
American Civil Rights Movement and the
Marriage Equality Movement by exploring laws,
social attitudes and organizing tactics used by
the two movements.

23. Questions?

24. Identifying Keywords
Joshua Vossler, Selecting and Using Keywords

25. Identifying Key Words
I am studying
the ways that the fight for interracial marriage
during the American Civil Rights Movement
impacted the Gay Marriage Equality Movement
because I want to understand
» the relationship between different social movements.

26. Finding the Context
• Research Guides
• Article Databases

27. Database Exploration
• Explore at least on subject specific database
• Record at least one article on the Google form
• Ask questions if you have them!

28. Questions?
Any last questions about
• Topic Development
• Database searching
• Search strategy

29. Nicole Branch
Instruction Librarian
nbranch@scu.edu
408.554.5436
Thank you to flickr users:
Jeff Babbitt
Evelyn Flint
Kirsten Pauli
& D. Robert Wolcheck
for sharing their work through
creative commons license.