2.1 CannonCat Introduction
One of the most common questions we receive in the Library is "Can you tell me if you own a certain book?" The answer is "yes," using CannonCat, our online catalog.
While some people have specific book titles and author names that they will search for using CannonCat (which is essentially an electronic database of our book and videos), many students are looking for books relating to their research topics. To search for topics in CannonCat they will use their keywords.
Let's review the process of moving from a broad topic to a narrower topic and selecting appropriate keywords with another example:
According to the October 14, 2004 report of CQ Researcher, entitled Media Bias, "Both liberals and conservatives complain about slanted coverage of central events such as the war in Iraq and the presidential campaign." How public opinion is affected by what is read, heard, and watched is of great importance to both major political parties.
- Broad topic: news media
- Narrower topic: news media bias
- Focused research topic: Does bias on the part of the news media influence public opinion?
- Keywords: media bias
Other keywords from the focused topic should be tried as well, in various combinations, but "media bias" will provide a good starting point to begin the research. If a basic search with your keywords fails entirely, you should also consider using synonyms (different words that mean the same meanings) for your keywords.
2.1a Learn More: What is an Electronic Database?
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