Library Research
VANESSA LAWRENCE – [email protected]
Library Research Workshop
◦ Why do library research?
◦ Research starting points
◦ Creating a search
◦ Activity
◦ Searching Summon
◦ Activity
Why do research?
Why do library research?
Different types of research use different types of information
Different types of research need a different amount of information
A good researcher always looks for authoritative information
Authoritative information
Look at the source or author
◦ Who is it? Why did they write it?
Look for citations or references
Use library material
Wikipedia
Wikipedia has references to sources. But, it’s hard to tell who the author is.
Wikipedia articles can be a good starting point for research.
◦ Urban Area
◦ Rural Area
◦ Urbanization
Research Starting Points
Encyclopedia articles
◦ Wikipedia is an encyclopedia
◦ The library has academic encyclopedias
Dictionary articles
◦ Academic dictionaries are subject specific
Library subject guides and course guides
◦ Look on the library webpage
Why use starting points?
Narrow down a research topic
◦ Urban issues
◦  Access to food in urban areas
Find synonyms for search keywords
Creating a search
Search for sources on your topic by deciding what key ideas are important
◦ Research topic
 Key ideas
◦ Access to food in urban areas
 access, food, urban
The more key ideas you include, the narrower your topic and search will be.
Narrowing your topic
Creating a search
Search using key ideas in (parentheses), joined together using “AND”
◦ access, food, urban  (access) AND (food) AND (urban)
Brainstorm or research some synonyms for your key ideas to search broadly.
Synonyms
http://pixabay.com/p-377117/?no_redirect
Keywords
Use synonyms as keywords to describe each idea, joined together using “OR”
◦ (access) AND (food) AND (urban)
 (access OR accessible OR security) AND (food) AND (urban OR city)
Some ideas will have many synonyms, while others only use one word
Sometimes words are synonyms in some contexts, but aren’t synonyms for the
topic key idea
◦ In this search, can we use (access OR passage OR path)?
Activity: Creating a search
Work with a partner to complete the activity
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Pick key ideas from the research topic
Brainstorm synonyms for the key ideas
Look at starting points for more synonyms
Turn your synonyms into a search
Searching
Search the library using Summon, which searches the catalogue and many databases
Narrow your search to only show what you want to find
◦ Only books, or only news articles
◦ Choose a specific discipline
◦ Adjust the publication date
Search actively
Look carefully at the results to make sure they are relevant
Look at the words used in the result titles
◦ Add new synonyms to your search
◦ Remove words that show up in irrelevant results
Activity: Searching
Work with the same partner to search for information.
◦ Run your search in Summon
◦ Look at the results, and decide if they are relevant
◦ Find one book and one news article that match the research topic
Remember…
Find authoritative information by searching in the library
Start your research with an overview, to narrow your topic
◦ Wikipedia, encyclopedia articles, or introductory books
Turn your research topic into key ideas
Use synonyms for the key ideas to expand your search
Narrow your search to a specific discipline or type of information in Summon
Change your search if you need to
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]