Polymathic and Health Science Scholars - Wilcox

Getting started with your research for your senior thesis can be a daunting task. But, librarians are here to help. This guide has been designed to guide students through finding the best resources in their selected topic area. To get started, you'll need to form a good research question. Searching in the literature will help you to refine and perhaps narrow or expand that question. It's critical to be flexible with your research question and to view searching as a part of your inquiry. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind:

• Define your question and generate some alternate terms (or synonyms) that may help you to locate more literature.
• Use multiple databases. Not everything is contained in one database.
• Consider your topic from an interdisciplinary perspective. You will likely want to represent both the education literature and the sociological literature if your question covers both areas.
• Use the tools available to you:
  • Library databases and services to track down articles.
  • The Writing Center at UT.
  • Citation managers and other tools to support managing your research workflow.
  • One-on-one librarian consultations to help refine your question and uncover useful resources.

In the summer of 2024, you will receive an email message from a librarian introducing themselves as your designated librarian for the research you will conduct associated with your Polymathic and Health Sciences thesis. Your designated librarian can be viewed as your first point of contact for assistance you might need in navigating library resources or learning to identify sources for your topic. We are glad to help with questions over email, or schedule a consult via Zoom or in-person (if possible).

If your designated librarian is away from the office. (This may happen from time to time.) Please email Hannah Chapman Tripp, the Polymathic and Health Sciences Library Support Coordinator so that she can assist while your designated librarian is unavailable. 

Please feel free to utilize the library chat service for support at any time! The library chat service is available during the week