Background Reading
Background reading gives you an overview of a topic. Be sure to complete
this step and do the following step (Narrow/Adapt topic) before settling
on a final topic. By seeing the scope (breadth and depth) of a subject,
you can get a feeling for what you will find.
One place to do your background reading is in encyclopedias.
General encyclopedias are excellent sources to consult for basic information about something. The encyclopedia article will give you names, dates, places, events, and major concepts that will help you do the rest of your research. However, do not expect your exact topic to appear when doing background reading.
Other resources to use for background information are course textbooks or instructor's lectures. In some cases, using these will provide enough information for you to proceed to step 2.
Depending on your topic, you might want to consult a
subject encyclopedia for additional background information. Not every topic has a subject encyclopedia that works for it, but when there is one, it can be extremely useful.
Go to the next step.
