Writing a Research Paper

You're getting ready to write a research paper. You've taken my advice and gone to the library. Now you are going find out how to use the library.

What type of library do you need? If you are a high school student you will probably use your school library, the public library, or maybe an academic library. A college student will go to the academic library at her college or university. But there are other kinds of libraries: private, research, specialized. You probably won't need them at this point in your research.

The library has many resources for research. Books and other media are classified and shelved by different systems in various libraries. The Dewey Decimal system is used in school, public and small college libraries. The Library of Congress system is used in colleges and university libraries. The Superintendent of Documents system is generally used for a government documents collection at a library that participates in the Depository Library Program (FDLP). If you don't know what system your library uses, ask a library assistant to help you.