00:02 It can be a challenge 00:04 to find a research topic that appeals to your interests 00:06 and also has information to back it up. 00:09 Even when you pick a topic that would seem 00:11 like it should have plenty written about it 00:14 Cat memes are a way that people joke 00:16 about human personality traits and emotions. 00:19 When you search for information on it, 00:21 you may not find a whole lot. 00:23 So why can't you find anything? 00:26 After all, the library has millions of books and articles! 00:29 Surely, you can't be the first person to think of this topic. 00:32 Can you? 00:33 So what happened? 00:35 While there are several reasons your search may have failed, 00:38 one common reason is that you're looking for 00:41 the perfect all-in-one source that addresses your exact topic. 00:45 Although you may not be the first person to have this particular idea, 00:48 it's possible that nobody has written about your exact topic 00:52 at least in the academic literature. 00:54 That is, the perfect source that covers 00:57 all the facets of your topic may not exist. 01:00 Does this mean you should give up? 01:02 Not at all! 01:03 Let's look at your topic again, 01:05 and break it into subtopics. 01:07 Cat memes are a way that people joke 01:09 about human personality traits and emotions. 01:13 If you were to search for all these ideas simultaneously 01:16 in one of the library's article databases 01:18 you wouldn't find anything. 01:20 But if you search for articles on any of these subtopics individually 01:23 or for two of them together 01:25 you'll find quite a bit of information! 01:27 And if you perform several of these searches, 01:29 you will cover your whole topic. 01:32 Incidentally, while you're searching, 01:34 you'll probably need to experiment with synonyms 01:36 and related terms to optimize your search results. 01:40 You'll also probably discover 01:42 that you'll need to use a variety of source types 01:44 some scholarly and some not 01:46 to make a complete argument. 01:48 It really depends on your topic. 01:51 Good research isn't about finding the perfect article 01:53 that makes all the connections for you. 01:55 It's about finding information that helps you form your ideas 01:58 and tying it together yourself to make a cohesive argument. 02:02 If you have any questions about finding research to support your thesis, 02:06 ask a librarian for help!