Exploring sources/Reference overview
Once you have done your preliminary look for background material on your topic you are ready to go to some basic library reference sources to help you select your specific topic.

An encyclopedia is an excellent place to start. The Encyclopedia Britannica, for example, is a world recognized basic source. Look up your topic and get some ideas, generate some new keywords, concepts, authors, and then follow these up with new searches.

Some online general encyclopedia links can be found at Encyclopedias and Almanacs off the library home page.

Subject examples
For example, if you were doing a search under roller blading refers you to a brief historical article on roller skating and internet links. A reference to in-line skating is also given but is largely a dead-end.

Another example: if you were searching for some basic information on the sport activity, volleyball, search the term volleyball and see that the results also provide a good concise history of the sport.

Other good sources of general reference information for physical education topics include some of the sources listed on the Physical Education Subject Guide. One of these, the Encyclopedia of World Sport, is an excellent place to look for basic information on sport topics. If you looked up information on either roller skating or volleyball you would find good in-depth entries on these two activities that would give you ideas to follow up on. Under volleyball, there are sections on origins, development, and practice of the sport worldwide, and a bibliography of book and journal articles that you could look for and read for further information.

Another good source to check for topics like these is the Encyclopedia of Sports Science. If you looked up volleyball in this volume, for example, you would find sections on the techiques involved in the sport, biomechanics and exercise science aspects of the sport as well as a short history and bibliography by noted authors of the sport. In this same source you could easily follow up on other topics related to the biomechanics of volleyball. For example, to get an idea of the major muscle groups and parts of the anatomy that are directly involved in this sport, you could look up the chapter on shoulder, elbow, and wrist, which would give you further ideas about the body parts involved in sports like volleyball, the injuries likely to occur and the implications for conditioning and rehabilitation for this sport. This in turn would give you some ideas about how someone would learn how to play the game better and perhaps prevent injuries. Note the bibliography at the end of the chapter and see if you can locate these books or articles in the library using the Brock Library Catalogue.

One research path often leads to other paths and opens up research possibilities. Note the keywords, concepts, and related topics and proceed to look for books and journal articles for your research assignment by using the catalogue.

This page is http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/~dsuarez/physeduc/physgen_explore_examples_textpage

Updated: November 16, 2001