Nature & Human Values (NHV)
Recommended for NHV students looking at issues in earth, energy, or environment.
Jump to:
- Paper ideas
- Search databases & library resources
- Ethics: online resources
- Evaluating resources for authoritativeness
- Writing your paper
Want research help?
Visit the NHV Librarian, Lia Vella, during Nature & Human Values Help Hours in room 270A on the west side of the library's Reference Room! The librarian will be available every Thursday from 1:00-2:00 and Friday from 12:00-1:00. Can't make it then? Contact Lia to set up an appointment, or ask the librarian on duty at the Reference Desk.
Peruse the book and article display at the NHV Help Station on the west end of the Library Reference Room.
Or, try a Google search anchored by specific keywords to keep the results relevant, for example "case study" or "ethics." Try some of these search tips to get better results.
Need Full Text Now? [help]
Mines Library Catalog (log-in recommended for more results)
GreenFile (articles about human impact on the environment)
Academic Search Premier (Ebsco)
Doing In-Depth Research?
For background on your topic:
- Prospector (regional catalog)
- Wikipedia
Other possible sources on various topics: Multidisciplinary online databases
Can't get full-text? Submit an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) request.
Institute for Ethics & Emerging Technologies
Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Research
Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity
What are "Authoritative" or "Scholarly" Sources of Information?
If your instructor asks for a college-level (authoritative, scholarly) source for your paper, the source should have some of these characteristics:
⇒ Work is based on original research, observation or data
⇒ Work is relatively free of bias, opinion, or promotion
⇒ Authors are highly educated and knowledgeable in the subject
⇒ Authors cite their sources
⇒ Content is reviewed by other experts (peer-reviewed)
College-level sources include:
Scholarly journal articles and books
Government publications. Examples -- Congressional hearings, research reports, regulatory information.
Publications by authoritative organizations. Examples -- Colorado School of Mines, American Society of Civil Engineers.
Not college-level (but still potentially useful):
News articles
Editorials (even if they're in a scholarly journal)
Advertising
Educational materials aimed at beginners. For example, K-12 web sites, text books.
Encyclopedias (including Wikipedia)
Why? College students are generally expected to dig deeper, consult cited publications, etc., rather than rely solely on non-scholarly works.
For more on scholarly sources, see Use and Organize My Information.
Watch a short video about scholarly articles, produced by librarians at Coastal Carolina University.
If you enjoyed that, here are some more videos from Coastal Carolina on topics such as annotated bibliography, giving a good presentation, and building keyword searches.
1. The Idea. Think about:
- Environmental or technological issues at a local, regional, or national scale.
- Current Events for ideas from the news.
- An ethical piece to any topic you pick.
- Something that's INTERESTING.
- A topic that's easy to research (If you're unfamiliar with the Library).
2. The Issues.
The Web is a great way to get a feel for the issues surrounding current or controversial topics. Find out who's in the news, what websites promote viewpoints, which organizations are involved.
3. Boundaries. Set some--you have a deadline.
Which issues do you want to include? Can your subject be narrowed or broadened if you run into snags with your research? 
4. Research
Keep notes (print or electronic) on what you find. Start with the publications you've already run across while picking your topic.
Background (book chapters, Wikipedia) can help you put everything in context.
5. The Paper
Get your notes together and identify what you should cite.
If there's a hole in your research, go back and find publications that will back you up.
Your final draft includes the list of publications you've cited. The assignment's due; you're good to go.