ABSTRACT
The first objective of the researcher is the preparation of as full a preliminary bibliography as practicable. The range of this bibliography will to some extent be determined by the requirements of the particular research paper. The types of research paper the student will be called upon to write will have a wide range. At one end of the scale a student’s first assignment in this field may be a term paper, which is in essence no more than an extended essay relying on the two or three books which the library has available on the topic. At the other end may be a more ambitious venture that can fairly claim to be regarded as a minor contribution to original scholarship. Equally, students in specialized fields will concentrate their attention more particularly on some of the sources I have to consider, e.g. the Art students with visual material. To ensure that the needs of all these students are covered, I have given consideration here to all possible sources of information for even the most ambitious research project. Since I feel that even if one does not pursue the research programme with the utmost rigour, it is essential to know that it exists, I have in this chapter concentrated on the diversity and challenge of the research problem. Students whose assignments are more limited should not take fright at this, but, with the aid of their instructors, select the more readily available sources of information which will serve their needs.
