Often when you're assigned a topic by an instructor, you don't know much about it at all. You may not even know enough about it to be able to form a question!
It's smart in those situations to do some preliminary research, or PREsearch, so as to gain background information about the issue, learn some of the basic vocabulary associated with it, and start to formulate questions about it.
The best place to get background information is in Reference sources such as dictionaries and encyclopedias, which provide basic facts and information on a variety of topics. Your instructor may specify that you need to use sources other than encyclopedias in your final research project, but beginning your research with a general or subject encyclopedia can help you get started.
The GCC Library provides many digital reference resources via their online library databases.
Here are the best ones to use in ESL 151. (Note: Off-campus access to these reference databases requires you login using your Canvas login)