Finding Information Tutorials
New to searching the library databases or need a refresher? Our 3 part tutorial series will walk you through the process.
Planning Your Research (Tutorial) 15 minutes
An interactive tutorial on how to set yourself up for successful research by considering what kind of information you need and how searching at university is different from everyday life. By the end you should be able to:
--Distinguish between different information sources
--Understand that searching for academic assignments is different than searching with Google
--Decide which type of information sources may be useful for your research
Starting Your Research (Tutorial) 20 minutes
An interactive tutorial on how to define your search question or topic, choose search terms and keywords, and build a search strategy.
Finding Your Research (Tutorial) 20 minutes
An interactive tutorial on how to search using databases, tips and tricks for effective searching, and how to filter your results. NB: This tutorial uses Education Research Complete as an example, but the techniques can be applied to most databases the library subscribes to.
By the end you should be able to:
--Access relevant online resources
--Navigate the interface and search for information for your assignment
--Filter through the results and refine your strategy
Primary and Secondary Sources (Tutorial) 25-30 minutes
Understanding the different types of sources are relevant for different assignment. This tutorial will help you to identify the type of sources you want to focus on before you search will help you find relevant information faster.
By the end you should be able to:
--Understanding the types of sources appropriate for academic work and the difference between popular and scholarly sources.
--Identifying source types that could be useful for your assignments in your subject area.
--Selecting locations to search for primary or secondary sources relevant to your topic
--Awareness of what grey literature is and places you can search for it
Google Search Tips (Tutorial) 10-15 minutes
An interactive tutorial with tips on how to find specific file types, searching within a site, and filtering searches to scholarly articles using Google Scholar.
By the end you should be able to:
--Apply search operators
--Search within websites
--Search for specific filetypes
Finding and Evaluating Sources (Video) 53 minutes
Move beyond Google to get quality information for your assignment: learn the most effective ways to search and critically evaluate your sources.
By the end you should be able to:
--Move beyond Google to get quality information for your assignment
--Learn the most effective ways to search and critically evaluate your sources