BO3125: Ethnobotany & Northwest Herbs

Use the research map to guide you in finding information on interdisciplinary subjects such as ethnobotany. In herbal sciences, you searched for information about a particular herb, which required a more direct approach.

► Begin, by looking for general (background) information about your topic to give you context and an understanding of the subject as a whole. Wikipedia and Google are good starting points. Note the names of authors who keep recurring, organizations and titles of books.

► When you have an understanding of the aspects of your questions, begin to explore the information that you found. Keep good notes and be sure to include where you found the information. In particular note: names of places, plants, tribes, types of medicine, foods, specific or unusual uses, plant used in religious and other ceremonies.

► Build your next circle of evidence. What specifically can you find out about the plants, places and tribes etc. that you found above.

►Look for additional authoritative sources to corroborate what you've already found including academic institutions, government sites, organizations, and subject experts. Do Google site searches to dig deeper, for example, site:.edu to see if you can find the historical, academic, scientific or botanical information from the exploratory searches you've run.

► Assess the information that you've compiled and identify the gaps. Run further searches to fill them in. Consult with your friendly librarians if you run into roadblocks.

Question: What plants are used in Scottish culture? 

"Hylocomium splendens" by Michael Becker,
CC BY-SA 3.0

1. Search Wikiipedia for Scottish plants cultural use. Title of Wikipedia entry, Flora in Scottish Culture.

Entries of Interest to explore later:

• Flora of Scotland: scan the article. What broad topics do you want to search further?
• specific types of plants such as the Scots Pine, the flowers
• references: scan for titles of books, journal articles, societies, associations; Check their websites for additional information.
• the See Also section has other related information that may be useful.

2. Continue adding to your notes by scanning the links of interest; remember to look for things like historical or botanical societies and gardens  as some of the more reliable resources, although other types of sites may provide helpful material too.

Caveats

• Initially look for broad ideas (don't go down a rabbit hole); later you'll explore ones of interest further.
• be sure to keep track of where you're finding information so you can cite it.
• after you have three to five areas to explore, begin researching at a deeper level.
• remember, research doesn't happen in a straight line; further in your research, you can fill in the gaps.