SWSi Libraries

The Research Process

Version 2 – 21 February 2012

Research

“work that is done to investigate something; to investigate a field of

study and discover new facts about it”

Dictionary of Information and Library

Management,

2006 A&C Black Publishers, London

Select a general topic

• Choose a topic that interests you

• Talk to teachers and others if you get stuck choosing a topic.

Get an overview of the topic

• Go to an encyclopaedia or another reference source to get an overview of the topic.

List key words

• These words will help you look up information on the topic.

• Use a thesaurus if necessary.

• Brainstorm key words with other staff, family and friends.

Make a source card / page

• Write down all resources you will use or you have used for information.

• For online resources, as they are found print the 1st page of the site.

• Do this as you go along, it will save time at the end.

Focus the topic/ Write a statement

of purpose or question

• Write a statement of purpose or question about the focused topic. This is what you will be answering in your assignment

Use a range of resources

•Print•Online – including YouTube, TeacherTube•Databases•Audio-Visual•eBooks

Evaluate what you find

• Evaluate the quality and usefulness of the information.

• Relevance – significant to your topic• Currency – how old is an article• Authority – who wrote or published the

article• Reliability – general or

academic information

Use catalogues

•Use library catalogues to find library resources, such as print material, eBooks and DVDs

Use databases

• Log onto the library databases to find journal, magazine and newspaper articles. These articles can be printed, emailed or saved

Find internet resources

• Use search engines. Check to see if your class has a bibliography or Studylinks created by librarians.

• Finding information on the

internet tutorial:

the Internet Detective

Write your paper

• Do not copy, unless you are quoting – it’s plagiarism

Write a bibliography

• Give credit where credit is due; cite your sources.

• Using the source cards/ paper which you started at the beginning of your research.

• Use a standard referencing

format, ask library staff for a

loan of a guide

Evaluate your work

• Re-read it. Does it make sense? Can you see any spelling mistakes ?

• Get a family member or a friend to read it, does it make sense to them?

Turn in your paper on time!

• When you’re finished, relax. See a movie, catch up with family or do the ironing!

Celebrate!

Bibliography for this presentation

• Cornell University, 2004, Critically Analyzing Information Sources, viewed 18 June 2009 <http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm>

• Intute Virtual Training Suite, 2008, Internet Detective, viewed 18 June 2009 <http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/index.html>

• The Learning Centre, UNSW, 2005, Avoiding Plagiarism, viewed 18 June 2009 <http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/plag.html>

• The Learning Centre, UNSW, 2005, Harvard Referencing, viewed 18 June 2009 <http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/ref2.html>

•NSW Department of Education & Training, 2009, Tafe Studylinks, viewed 18 June 2009 <https://www.tafensw.edu.au/library/studylinks/>•NSW Department of Education & Training, 2009, SWSI Library website, viewed 2 July 2009

<http://www.swsi.tafensw.edu.au/students/library/library_overview.aspx>• PMgD, 2007, Extreme Ironing, viewed 18 June 2009

<http://pmgd.wordpress.com/2007/05/07/extreme-ironing/>• TeacherTube, 2009, viewed 2 July 2009 <http://teachertube.com/>• YouTube, 2009, viewed 2 July 2009 <http://www.youtube.com/>

Need further assistance?

You can book in for a personal Research Skills session, just talk to the Professional Library Staff

Remember to keep up-to-date with what’s happening at your library