Find Books option provides one-stop searching for books and e-books, journal articles, DVDs, and more. The search box in the widget above allows you to directly search for materials found in what was previously called the Library Catalog.
The video below provides a brief introduction on how to use the new Search to find books and e-books in the USC Upstate library collection.
If you are having problems coming up with a topic or narrowing down your topic below are links to two LibGuides that can help you.
Another thing to keep in mind is the Evolution of Information. The chart below shows the typical evolution of how information grows from an event to a reference book. If you pick a topic such as the January 6th, 2021 Storming of the Capitol building you will not find scholarly articles written on the topic right away, you will need to find other ways to reference this event. You may look into other historical events of political upheaval or other security breaches in government buildings but it will most likely be June or July of 2021 before scholarly articles about this event will be published. Mask mandates are another topic that is newer to our country (April 2020) but state mandates and other countries' mandates have been around long enough to have some scholarly articles already in print. An exception to this rule is when it is so popular or important that the world takes up a cause. COVID and masks were a topic around the world and it pushed the timeline for many scholarly articles and reference materials up so that things may be published ahead of a typical information timeline.
A mind map is a diagram that displays information visually. You don't have to be an artist to mind map but thinking of the interconnected ideas will hep you focus your topic.
