Picking a Topic
Once you've selected your country start by examining the statistics on the IEA website. Check out the IEA Country reports and charts, as linked below, and then move to the Data link in the menu:
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IEA Country ReportsIn addition to the data sets we looked at above, IEA also has summaries of many country's energy goals and profiles. Take a look to see if your country is represented.
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Your Country's Department of EnergySearch to see if you can find a department of energy for your country with information in English (or another language you can read.) What can you discover from the official record, and how does it compare to what the IEA reports?
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Our World In DataCheck to see country level data on consumption, etc., as well as country comparisons
You can also try a Google news search. For example, a search of "Geothermal Energy Honduras." can give you helpful headlines.
Finding Articles
Now that you've looked at IEA statistics as well as any official websites your country may have put up, take a moment to see what has been happening with energy in your country in the following databases:
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International NewsstreamCheck this database to see what headlines you can find about your topic. Search by country and energy source and be sure to sort by relevance.
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Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new windowCheck this database for any popular articles or reports you can find about your country and their energy source or mixture.
Evaluate Websites
While you're doing Google searches to either narrow your topic or in order to dig up more information on certain subject, you want to be careful to decide if the information you find is trustworthy.
When it comes to science, nearly everyone has opinions: should we be labeling genetically modified food for consumer's awareness? What will fracking do for our economy or to our groundwater supply? Your job is to evaluate the information you can find through search engines such as Google to find the good websites--those written by authors with clear expertise, with up-to-date information.
Authorship: Who created this website? What is their background on the topic? Are they trustworthy?
Bias/Mission: Why was the website created? What point of view does the author or website have? Does that limit the facts they present or how the facts are presented?
Date: How old is the information that is presented? Is it still accurate?
Questions? Check out the COD Library's guide to evaluating information.
Cite Your Work: APA Style
Of course, as you get ideas and data from your sources, you want to be able to cite them. Keep in mind that you want to cite not only quotations, but also ideas that you get from your research.
Not sure if you are paraphrasing, plagiarizing, or patchwriting? Check out Academic Integrity by Ulrike Kestler, which has a section on all three.
Need some help putting together citations? Check out the helpful links below:
Want software to create citations for you?
George Mason University created a free browser extension/external database named Zotero. Zotero is a wonderful resource, especially for storing and tracking citations over time. Have questions about what it is or how to use it? Contact me.
