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Encyclopædia Universalis

Encyclopædia Universalis 

  • Multi-disciplinary francophone resource
  • Navigate through the sections (particularly humanities and social sciences) or research your subject (ex. adolescence, community, etc).

Quick Tips on Preparing For Research

Before you start:

Understand the key terms you may be using as well as the general area that interests you;

Think about ways to narrow your topic, making it as specific as possible (unless you have been given a specific topic to research);

Create a thesis statement.

  • Choose and shape you topic, using:
  • Language dictionaries
  • Subject-specific dictionaries
  • General and subject-specific encyclopedias
  • Thesauri for your discipline (often related to a database)
  • To narrow your topic, ask the 5 W's and how questions:
  • Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
  • Choose your concepts and your limiters:
  • Which terms are related to your subject?
  • What are its synonyms?  
  • Which terms should be excluded from your research project?
  • Having a list of concepts and limits prepared will facilitate your research.
  • Depending on the language of the resources, create a list of terms in both French and English.