Skip to Main Content

Principles of Writing: Home

Pen writing

When you need to do research, where do you start?

When you need to do research, where do you start?
Books: 72 votes (8.88%)
Google: 443 votes (54.62%)
Roommate: 76 votes (9.37%)
Professor: 67 votes (8.26%)
Library Website: 153 votes (18.87%)
Total Votes: 811

Effective Writing Assignments

For your writing assignments, you will need to gather research from books and journal articles.  The library offers LancerQuest and databases to access these resources.  Some of the specialized databases you'll want to use are Academic Search Complete, Ebook Central, and Statista.

Choosing a Topic

Sometimes choosing a topic to write about can be difficult.  Points of View Reference Source can help you find topics and offer basic information on both sides of the issue.

Helpful Online Resource

Library Lingo

Abstract - A brief description of an article, books or other resource.  

Article - A composition that is an independent part of a larger resource (journal, magazine, newspaper, or book).

Bibliography - A list of resources, books, articles, etc.  Usually found at the end of a research paper or book.

Boolean (searching) - Using AND, OR and NOT you can combine words and phrases to limit, widen, or define your search.  Named after at 19th century mathematician, George Boole.

Call number - A combination of letters and numbers used to organize resources in the library.  Call numbers are often arranged by subject.  The Morgan Library uses the Library of Congress call number system.

Citation - A reference to a book or a journal article or other resource.  Results from a database search are citations which lists author, title, publication place, and year of a work and other pieces of information, such as journal title, volume and page numbers to allow you to locate the actual article.

Database - An organized collection of records.

Descriptors - Terms used to describe an article or book; also known as Subjects

E-book - A book available in electronic form.

E-journal - A journal available in electronic form.

Full-Text Link - A hot link or button that allows you to access the full-text of an article or book. 

Holdings - Resources available in the library are often called holdings.  

Journal - A scholarly or peer reviewed periodical.  Often times published by an professional organization with articles written by scholars.

Magazine - A popular periodical. Often published weekly or montly, containing lots of color, advertisements, and shorter articles.

MLA- Modern Language Association.  They have a created a bibliographic format for citing research that is used in the fields of literature and language, primarily.

Periodical - A publication that is produced periodically, i.e. weekly, monthly, yearly.  Often used interchangably with Magazine or Journal.

Plagiarism - To use another's words or ideas as your own.

Subject Guide

Profile Photo
Tonya Fawcett
Contact:
Morgan Library, Room 204
574.372.5100 x6291
Website

Librarian

Profile Photo
Carrie Halquist
Contact:
halquich@grace.edu
574-372-5100 x6294
574-372-5100 ext. 6297
library@grace.edu
Facebook
Morgan Library - Learning Center
Grace College & Seminary
1 Lancer Way
Winona Lake, IN 46590
chat loading...