SGPS Thesis & Capstone Guide

Use these resources to get topic ideas, find quick data, or learn the basics about a subject. To use them from off-campus, click the link, and then enter your Rosemont email and password when prompted.

We know, we know -- you already know your course textbook is a good source of information!

But there are other ways you can use your textbook to find MORE resources, and on more specific topics. Try these strategies:

• Check the bibliography!
  Look at the ends of the chapters, and at the table of contents. Is there a bibliography or list of works cited at the end of each chapter? How about at the end of the whole book? Do any of the citations sound like they might be about your topic?
• Check the in-text citations!
  Footnotes, endnotes, whatever the textbook uses -- check them out! Look for places where the text is talking about your research subject, and then check any footnotes that are there. This will help narrow things down to resources on your topic.
• Look for quizzes, "further reading" sections, and other extras!
  Depending on the textbook, there may be suggestions for further study embedded in its chapters, usually at the end of each chapter or each section. Check these out around where your topic is mentioned -- there might be some guidance on where else you can find information on the same subject.

If you need more background information than we have in our reference collection, you can try the open web.

Before you use any site on the open web, though, remember: not all information online is created equal!

The following tutorials will help you learn to tell good websites from bad. And remember, checking out the open web can be helpful to learn the basics of a subject -- but most websites should NOT be used as sources for an assignment!