Muckraking: How to Find What You Need

• What are the first places to start looking for information?

• How can you ensure that you find relevant information?
• What are the best ways to find information in journals?

An academic detective leaves no stone unturned in searching for clues by using a variety of sources. Finding information is the muckraking phase of essay writing. You often have to wade through a lot of muck before you find understandable and relevant information. Along the way, you may encounter a number of myths.

Debunking myths

There are a number of student myths about researching an essay which go around each year. They have little substance, but reflect the confusion of some students about how to find information.

Myth 1: The one answer to my prayers

Don't waste time looking for the elusive pot of information gold at the end of the rainbow; there is no single book or journal article which will magically provide all the material and answers for your essay topic. You are meant to use a variety of sources of information to ensure you have covered the field of literature on a topic. Even supposedly neutral introductory textbooks should be treated with caution. There will be parts which are more detailed, clearer or better written than others. For this reason alone, you should consult a number of sources.

Myth 2: There is no information on my topic

Another falsehood often quoted by students is that they just can't find any information on their topic. The truth is that they either haven't looked hard enough, or they haven't looked in the right place. This guide will help to show how to find what you need.

Myth 3: There is too much information

Another excuse used is that there are too many publications on a topic, making it impossible to select or summarize the appropriate information within the given word limit. This is really no excuse. Part of the skill and the difficulty of essay writing lies in selecting the important information, summarizing it concisely, and coherently relating it to the essay topic in the given word limit. This is where you earn your marks.

Myth 4: There must be an easy way

A final myth is that there is an easy way to do research. Forget it. While computers and information technology have certainly speeded things up, finding information is still about muckraking. The ‘good stuff’ might be more accessible, but it can still be difficult to find. This guide gives you some pointers about time-saving ways of finding what you need.