Much like learning how to do anything, the key to searching for resources is thinking about what you're going to do before jumping right in. Since you already have your song picked out, the hardest part is almost done. Now you have to decide what position you're going to take . . . Then you will need to search for sources - Once you've got these knocked out, you're off and running.
1) Let's say you hear the song, "Hey, Big Brother" by Rare Earth (1972). You really like it, but you've got to figure out what the song is about first. OK, so you if you're looking for a book or an article about this subject, what would be your search terms?
2) Then, where would you search on the library home page for this kind of subject?
3) Ask yourself about the When and Who behind the book, article, or web page.
Hint: You can actually narrow your searches using these criteria by employing what we call "delimiters."
Examples include changing the date range (i.e., 2000-2010), and clicking on the little peer-reviewed box before starting a GALILEO type search. Also, remember to click on the little full-text box. If you don't do that, you will be bombarded by thousands of article hits that will include only abstracts (paragraph summaries) of the articles instead of the full-text article, itself.
4) Finally, after you've done your research, are you going to be for (or against) the media and the paparazzi, and why? You'll have to really think about this, look at your sources, and pull factual information from the books, articles, web sources, etc. to support your position . . . Then you will be ready to write the essay.