Librarian Information
Thinking about topics
A great way to discover topics worth researching is to review science news for the general public. Browse through science news to read about current research, see the different ways in which topics in chemistry are important to the public, and learn how advances in chemistry are reported.
Science news
Library resources
You can also try to find articles aimed at the informed lay person (from newspapers and publications such as Scientific American, Discover, etc.).
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Multidisciplinary, scholarly, full text journals covering the social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, language and linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, and ethnic studies.
- Access World News This link opens in a new window
Resource covering topics related to business, communications, economics, education, political science, social sciences and more from a variety of news media including newspapers, newswires, blogs, broadcast transcripts, journals.
Once you are comfortable with lay articles on the topic, look for review articles that are aimed at other scientists. These will give you an good overview of the issues in the field. You can search for review articles a number of ways including within a specific journal, within a database, or by searching review collections such as Annual Reviews.
- Annual Reviews Sciences Collection This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the Sciences Collection which includes 48 journals.
Where can I learn more about my topic?
For quick, basic definitions and ideas to get you started, try Wikipedia.
For a more authoritative scientific encyclopedia that includes references, try Sage Reference Online (this is especially rich for topics related to environmental issues).
- Sage Reference Series on Green Society This link opens in a new window
A 12-volume reference set exploring "going green" in a cross discipline approach. This Green Society series is part of Sage Reference Online.