In conjunction with Professor Gianforte, the UNH Physics Library has created this guide to research. To contact us directly, please use the contact information to the right. To get started with your research, continue below and by using the tabs across the top of this guide.
Whether you've written a research paper before or not, the first step toward a successful outcome is to... BREATHE!!!
One of our favorite sayings is, "Information is useless unless you know how to use it!"
The first step toward being able to use information you'll be gathering, is to be interested in the information. For many of you, that might not come as easily as it does for others. So, how can you get interested?
Our suggestion is to select a topic based on your own interests. Perhaps astronomy is a hobby for you, so most topics are interesting. Or, it's usually hard for you to find science interesting, and that's why your major is Music. Either way, choosing a topic does not need to be difficult - it's simply a matter of finding a place where astronomy and your regular interests collide. If you can find that place, then doing the research won't seem tedious - it'll be fun! And, you'll be surprised at what you find!
To help you select a topic, some quick searches on the internet will help you. For example, a quick Google search of the terms "music" and "stars" gives us several links to research being conducted in the field of stellar seismology (the literal recording of the sounds stars are making). For a music major, this topic should be interesting, and therefore not so tedious to learn and report about.
Once you've chosen a broad topic, it's time to narrow it down a bit - copious amounts of material exist on nearly any broad topic you may choose, but you only need to produce about 10 pages of your own writing. So, if your topic is stellar seismology, then what about stellar seismology interests you - development of the technique? Current or future applications? Impacts of research? Once you've narrowed down your topic to something more manageable for your term paper, the search for sources begins!
Across the top of this guide, use the tabs to help you through each stage of your research and writing.
