Research

Everybody does research. Whether we're looking for reviews on the best running shoes, or doing assignments for school, every day we need to find information to answer our questions.

But doing research well means more that just typing a question into Google and reading the first couple of results. This research guide will take you through the steps of the research process and will teach you not only how to find information, but how to evaluate it and use it ethically, by giving credit to the person who wrote it.

• DEFINE - Selecting and understanding your topic is usually the first step in the research process. This section of the guide will provide tips and resources to help you do this. Then we'll discuss how to break your topic into keywords/terms that you can use when searching for information.
• FIND - This section of the guide shows you how to search the library catalogue and databases, and how to use Google effectively. We show you how to develop a search string, how information is organized on the library shelves, and how to use images that you find online.
• EVALUATE - How do you know if an article or website contains good, reliable information? Does the information really relate to your topic? This section of the guide gives you tools to evaluate the information that you find, so you can select good resources for your assignments, or for any type of research.
• WRITE - Here you'll find links to resources which might help you to write better papers and assignments.
• CITE - Covers why and how you must tell your readers where you got your information. We'll also provide handy tips for avoiding plagiarism.
• REVIEW - Think about research as a process, not a straight line. This section of the guide encourages you to review your work and revisit previous steps before you hand in your assignment.