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ES 601: Environmental Science Capstone

This libguide is designed to support ES601 students as they complete their library assignment and annotated bibliography.

Checklist:

Your work this semester: 

  • Discuss/Consider whether/ how to focus your capstone issue
  • Search far and wide (not just primary and secondary sources, but news articles, government reports, patents, etc!) for a variety of information and perspective that will inform your project. 
  • Regularly assess the scope of your research (Is your project too big? Too small?) 
  • Keep in the back of your mind: What do I still need to know? Where/How will I find it?

Getting Started

There are 6 steps to getting started with your research

  1. Understand your assignment
  2. Choose a topic
  3. Write a research question
  4. Generate keywords
  5. Find Background information
  6. Begin searching for scholarly sources

To begin, go to the Starting Your Research guide and work through steps 1-4. 

Step 5: Find Background Information.

You need to locate reliable background information in order to

  • Get an idea of what kind of information, generally, is out there on your topic
  • Generate a list of search terms and keywords for future searches
  • Find a few good bibliographies that will get you started on the research trail

Here are a few great places to find background information:

Don't forget, research is an iterative process.  You'll likely have to continue refining your topic, your search terms, and your resources throughout your Capstone project.

When you are ready for Step 6: Searching for Scholarly Sources, Click Step 2: Finding Stuff on the left menu to begin!