Subject Guide
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NU Library online catalog
- NUsearchNUsearch is the University's online catalog. Here you can search for books, journals, videos, and more, in both print and electronic formats.
Example Keywords and Phrases
Some suggested keywords and phrases that you can use in searching the library catalog (NUsearch) and the library databases are below. Feel free to try your own phrases or jot down words and phrases you find within article search results. Also try different combinations of words in your search phrases. For best results, remember to use quotation marks around phrases of two words or more (e.g. "self concept" AND college).
- autonomy
- college students
- coming of age
- educational experience
- emotional adjustment
- identity, identity formation
- learning
- self concept
- self determination
- social aspects
- student adjustment
Gather background info / Focus your topic
- ABI/INFORM Global This link opens in a new windowSearch worldwide business periodicals for in-depth coverage of business and economic conditions, management techniques, theory, and practice of business, advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers, and more.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowThis multidisciplinary database provides access to articles from journals, magazines, and reference sources across all subject areas. Coverage is primarily from 1980 to the present, with some older content.
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new windowCompiled by the Modern Language Association, the MLA International Bibliography lists articles and books in the fields of literature, language, and linguistics in the modern languages, as well as folklore, film studies, literary theory & criticism, dramatic arts, and historical aspects of printing and publishing.
- New York TimesClick the link for access to current New York Times newspaper content.
- PsycINFO This link opens in a new windowProduced by the American Psychological Association, this database is a comprehensive index to the professional and academic literature in psychology, counseling and related disciplines. Covers 1860-present.
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowSociological Abstracts provides citations and abstracts to international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Content coverage includes culture and social structure, history and theory of sociology, race and ethnicity, social change and economic development, and more. 1952-Present. Individual publication coverage varies by title.
Somewhere in between your initial idea and settling on a research question, you may need to do background research on how scholars in a particular subject area have discussed your topic. You may find background research in your textbook or class readings, academic books in the library's collection, or reference sources.
The databases below compile encyclopedia sources from a variety of disciplines, and they can be a great way to consider how your topic has been studied from different angles.
- Gale eBooks This link opens in a new windowSearchable database of several hundred subject encyclopedias and other reference works across all subject areas, but with particular strengths in the social sciences and humanities. It includes a number of major reference works, and is Northwesterns largest single collection of reference materials. A good source for authoritative background information.
- Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new windowOnline version of many Oxford University Press reference works, ranging from specialized dictionaries and companions to major reference works such as the Encyclopedia of Human Rights, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States, and the Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, among many others.
Use NUSearch to browse for books, reference entries, and periodicals to build background information.
After you have an initial project idea, you can think deeper about the idea by developing a "Topic + Question + Significance" sentence. This formula came from Kate Turabian's Student's Guide to Writing College Papers. Turabian notes that you can use it plan and test your question, but do not incorporate this sentence directly into your paper (p. 13):
TOPIC: I am working on the topic of __________,
QUESTION: because I want to find out __________,
SIGNIFICANCE: so that I can help others understand __________.
Turabian, Kate L. Student's Guide to Writing College Papers. 4th edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2010.
Remember: the shorter your final paper, the narrower your topic needs to be. Having trouble?
- Which specific subset of the topic you can focus on? Specific demographic groups, people, places, times
- Is there something about this topic that is not already addressed in scholarship?
- Is there a relationship you can explore:
- cause/effect
- compare/contrast
- current/historical
- group/individual
- opinion/reason
- problem/solution
How do you move from a topic or a research question to searching in a database? You first have to pick out keywords from your research question.