Chapter 30: Conducting Primary and Library Research Summary

Chapter 30: Conducting Primary and Library Research Summary

This chapter is very useful to read through when you need to conduct some sort of research for a paper you are writing. You learn the difference between primary and secondary sources. A primary source is the original source, while a secondary source presents secondhand information. You can conduct primary research yourself by doing surveys, questionnaires, interviews, observations, inspections, filed research, experiments, and analysis of documents and artifacts. The upside to doing this research is it is specifically tailored to your research and gives you hands-on access to your topic, while the downside is that is may take a lot of time and you may need additional skills, like how to conduct a survey for example. In using the library, you should first become familiar with it and all it offers. You should know about the librarians, collections, research tools, and special services that are offered. Your library could have books, DVDs, CDs, reference materials, etc., as well as, photocopiers, CD burners, or the convenience of holding a book when it is already checked out. You should be familiar with the Library of Congress Call Numbers and the Dewey Decimal System to search for what you are looking for. When using books for reference, you want to know what information is supplied in what book. For example, in encyclopedias you will find facts and overviews for topics arranged alphabetically. In vocabulary resources, you will find information on languages. On bibliographical resources you will find information on people. In all the research you do, always be sure to make citations for all information you use. This chapter is very helpful in writing any paper in which you need to do research. I found it very helpful as an overview for how to use your library to the fullest