Library Research
Vanessa Lawrence – [email protected]
Library research workshop
 Getting
started
 Creating
a search
 Choosing
“good” results
 Changing
your search
What are you looking for?

Why do we do research?


Systemic investigation; contribute to knowledge
How do you do good research?

Depends on the research context
What are you looking for?

Different types of research use different types of information

Books, journal articles, news articles, and websites are some sources
you might use

Different types of research need a different amount of information

A good researcher always looks for authoritative information

Related

Reliable

Readable
Getting started


Do “pre-research” to understand the research context and:

Narrow down a research topic

Find synonyms for search keywords
Encyclopedia articles

Wikipedia

Academic encyclopedias

Textbooks and class readings

Library subject guides and course guides
Creating a search

Search for sources on your topic by deciding what key ideas are
important



Search using key ideas in (parentheses), joined together using
“AND”


Research topic  Key ideas
How does advertising for alcohol on campus impact university
students?
(advertising) AND (alcohol) AND (university)
More key ideas will find less results
Creating a search

Brainstorm or research some synonyms for your key ideas


More synonyms will help find more results
Use synonyms as keywords to describe each idea, joined together
using “OR”
(advertising) AND (alcohol) AND (university)
 (advertising OR marketing) AND (alcohol OR drinking)
AND (university OR college)


If a keyword is one idea but more than one word, use “quotation
marks” to search for the words in the same order you wrote them
Activity: Creating a search

Write down a research topic you’re interested in

Write down the keywords, and think of some synonyms


Share your ideas with a partner, and think of words together
Create a search with some key ideas and synonyms you
can think of

(key idea OR synonym) AND (key idea OR synonym)
Choosing “good” results


The most important part of searching is to actually find information
that answers your question. Look for results that are:

Related

Reliable

Readable
Remember that you probably won’t find one perfect result, but look
for a few sources that will help you make an argument
Choosing “good” results

Find results that are related to your topic

Check that your keywords show up in the title and summary

Read the summary and ask “Are the keywords in the right
context?”

Find the keywords or subject of an article or book, to find
out if your topic is the main idea of the information
Choosing “good” results

Find results that are reliable sources

Make sure the content type is useful for your research
question

Make sure the information isn’t out of date

If the information is from a website, find the source of the
information

Who is the author? Who did they talk to? Are there references or
citations?
Choosing “good” results

Find results that are “readable” information for you

Make sure you have access to the full text


If you are looking at a print book, is it in the library?
Make sure the writing isn’t too technical

Can you understand the summary?
Choosing “good” results

Once you find a good source, write down the citation

The citation will help you find it again

The citation will help your instructor find it, to make sure
you did good research
Activity: Choosing “good” results




In a group:
Read the list of search results
Choose one “good” result from the list that you want to
read first

Make sure it fits with the research context

How does advertising for alcohol on campus impact
university students?
Does the full text look useful?
Changing your search

Look carefully at the results of your search to find out
how to improve it

You can change keywords, by adding or removing
synonyms

You can change the search options in Summon to change
the content type, discipline, or date of the results

You can search in a different database
Activity: Changing your search

Look carefully at the search keywords and the search
results

How would you change the search to find more “good”
results?

Share one change you would make
Remember…

Start with background research to narrow your topic and learn
the context

Wikipedia, encyclopedia articles, or introductory books
Decide what you’re looking for – what does a good result look
like?
 Turn your research topic into key ideas and synonyms


(keyword OR synonym) AND (keyword OR synonym)
Choose “good” results that are related to your topic, reliable
for the context, and readable for you
 Change your search and try again to find even more “good”
results

Ask for help

If you need any help with your research, you can always
ask for help at the library

Visit the Research Help Desk or call 613-520-2735

Email me, Vanessa Lawrence: [email protected]