Welcome to Research Central

The device known as the compass rose has been a prominent feature of maps since the early fourteenth century, when it first began appearing on nautical charts. Originally, it was used to indicate the directions of the winds, and the 32 points of the compass rose come from the directions of the four major winds, the eight half-winds and the sixteen quarter-winds. The appellation of "rose" comes from way that the figure's compass points resemble the petals of a flower.

In much the same way that the compass rose is used to help guide people through unfamiliar territory, it is the intention that the Research Central site will serve to guide students who are writing papers or conducting literary research through the critical steps in planning their search, finding and evaluating information, and preparing a well-crafted final paper.