Research needs and requirements vary with each assignment, project, or paper. While there is no single right or absolute way to conduct research, there are methods and skills that can help make your research efforts more efficient and effective.

This tutorial serves as a simple step-by-step guide to the research process--offering instructions and suggestions on how to best identify, access, evaluate, and document information sources. By connecting you to relevant information throughout the Library Gateway, the tutorial is designed to acquaint you with the abundant and varied resources of the Cornell University Library.

Research Process

1. Choosing and developing a topic
2. Finding background information
3. Finding books
   • CU Library Catalog
   • Library catalogs worldwide
4. Finding periodical articles (magazine, newspaper, and journal articles)
5. Using the WWW to find Internet resources
   • CU Library web pages
   • Internet search engines
6. Evaluating the sources that you find
7. Citing sources

Glossary of Library Terms