WR 121 Composition I: Background Information

Before you start searching for sources, you need to know the nuts and bolts of your topic.  Background information will help you:

• Understand the basic elements of your topic
• Narrow and focus your research question
• Determine relevant keywords and search terms
• Plan your research

Background research can take many forms, such as general googling or reading a wikipedia article.  However, subject encyclopedias are trustworthy, academic sources written by experts on the subject.  Subject encyclopedia entries, or articles, also include a list of references, or further reading on the subject, that you can also use for your research.  

Search subject encyclopedias at Portland State University Library

As you start doing general reading to get an overview of your topic, here are some questions you may want to answer in your note-taking:

1. What interests me about this topic?
2. What questions do I have about this topic?
3. Who is affected by this? Who cares about this?
4. What are the major issues involved in this topic? Are there particular controversies or viewpoints of note?
5. What key terms describe this topic or are there organizations or people I should be aware of?

This three-minute video shows how to find background information