Mind Maps
A mind map is a visual tool for representing ideas and relationships between concepts. It can help you organize your thoughts, plan out the structure of an essay, or just brainstorm. To make a mind map:
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Start with a central concept in the middle
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Place related concepts around it
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Use different colors, words, pictures, or any other strategies that work with your brain.
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Connect the concepts with lines. You can write words along the connectors to express the relationship between concepts.
How to Use a Credo Mind Map
Don't wanna draw one? No problem!
Credo Reference has a mind map tool you can use to brainstorm for a paper. Check out the tutorial below.
1. Go to the Credo Reference homepage. If you're off campus, you may need to get the username and password from your instructor..
2. Enter a topic into the search box and click enter. A series of related topics will appear.
3. Click on a related term to create a new mind map about that term..
4. Click on an article on the right side to read about your topic.
Planning Your Research
Research sounds more intimidating than it is. You probably do research on Google every day. Doing academic research is very similar, but it requires using more reliable sources. Learn about different types of sources and research basics.
While it may sound like a waste of time, planning your research is very important. By spending a few extra minutes up from, you can save a lot of time and get better results.
Choosing Search Terms
Once you have your mind map, you know the most important concepts associated with your topic. You'll want to read some background information from a reference source to learn more about your topic. Our library has many reliable reference sources, such as Credo Reference, Nursing Reference Center, and Rehabilitation Reference Center.
If you have a mind map, enter your main topic (the term in the center of your map) into the search box. You may choose to search other terms from your mind map as well to learn more about these topics.
Background Information
Credo Reference's Topic Pages summarize a topic and provide links to more in-depth background articles.
Check out this video tutorial or see the screenshots below.
Finding Research Articles
Once you've selected a topic, you're ready to search for journal articles that provide research evidence on your topic. On Credo Reference's Topic Pages, you can scroll down to find research articles on your topic in our other databases..
Understanding Research
Make sure you're ready to start your research by reviewing your research basics!
Then you can learn how to use the PICO method to start your journal search and how to do more advanced search techniques.