Research Essay Guidelines

Please write an essay of 500 to 750 words in which you describe the research process you employed as you planned and crafted this paper or project.  Keep in mind that the primary focus for judging your work will be on the evidence of your research strategy, process, and personal learning, which you are to summarize in this essay. 

Consideration of the quality of the product of research, while significant, will be secondary.  Additionally, submissions will be judged on how well writers demonstrate the following:

• sophistication, originality, or unusual depth or breadth in the use of library collections, including, but not limited to, printed resources, databases, primary sources, and materials in all media
• exceptional ability to locate, select, evaluate, and synthesize library resources and then use them in the creation of a project in any media that shows originality and/or has the potential to lead to original research in the future
• significant personal learning and the development of a habit of research and inquiry that shows that student has acquired information literacy skills that will serve him/her well in the future

Questions to consider as you develop your essay

Do not feel that you must explicitly answer each of these, but do think about each before writing your essay.

• How did you think about and refine your research topic?
• What specific strategies did you develop for finding relevant information?
• What specific library search tools did you use, and why?
• Did you have trouble finding some types or formats of information and, if so, how did you overcome this challenge?
• Did your assumptions about what information would be available change throughout the research process?
• Did you have some reasons for not selecting specific resources, even though they appeared promising?
• What did you learn about finding information on your topic or in your discipline? Was it necessary to move outside your discipline to find sufficient sources?
• How much did the sources you used provide support for your thesis or conclusions?
• How did you balance the evidence that you found?
• What did you learn about your own research process and style?
• What expertise have you gained as a researcher?
• What do you still need to learn?
• What would you change about your strategies and process if given another chance to conduct this research?