English 76-108 First-Year Writing Research Guide

Welcome to the research guide for 76-108 Writing about Public Problems (WaPP). This guide will introduce you to research tools and strategies you can use to craft persuasive, public facing arguments.

On the Find Sources page here, learn how to:

• Search the Libraries Catalog
• Find & search library databases
• Navigate the stacks of Hunt and Sorrells Libraries to find books
• And more

On the Subject-Specific Databases page, learn how to:

• Access specialized databases on different aspects of policy research

On the Access Sources page, learn how to:

• Get to the full-text of resources from on or off campus,
• Get a book or article from another library
• Request the CMU Libraries to add a book to the collection
• Get to our streaming videos
• and more.

On the Evaluate Sources page, learn how to:

• Skim a source for relevancy
• Assess the quality of a source
• Look out for bias
• Identify intended audience
• Figure out if a source is scholarly or not.

On the Citations page, learn how to:

• Cite sources in MLA, Chicago, or APA styles,
• See examples of citations
• Get links to citation management software
• Cite generative AI tools.

And on the Need Help? page, learn where you can go for help with research, writing, and other needs.

Companion sources, Handbooks, and specialized encyclopedias are great places to start. Most are available online through the Libraries Catalog.