Research Help

Getting Started

Before setting out on a research adventure, it is helpful to take into consideration:

1. What will you use the information for?

• Do you just need a quick answer to a short question?
• Or do you need to do in-depth research on an assigned topic, requiring you to explore all possible sources on your topic?

​2. How much information do you need?

• Just a few words or enough to compile a lengthy research paper?

3. What is your experience with the topic?

• If this topic is new to you, you may want steer clear of the more technical information sources until you've learned a little about it in more basic sources.

4. Who will your audience be?

• If your audience is new to the topic, you'll want to use information at a more basic level, which is not filled with technical jargon and difficult to understand terms.
• However, if you are making a presentation to a group of experts in the field, you'll want to be sure to use more advanced research information. They will be expecting you to speak at their level.

By answering these questions, you can establish the nature and scope of your research.

Search Strategy

When you're looking for information, ask yourself: what are the key concepts? These main ideas are often connected with words like “affect,” “impact” and “influence”. It is helpful to write out your topic as a sentence or a question. Eg.: How do wind farms affect bird migration?

Brainstorm Keywords

Keywords are the words you use to locate information on your topic. There are often many ways to talk about a concept. Think about the different words that may be used to describe your main ideas, for example, related words, alternate spellings, broader and narrower terms.

Use Keywords in a Search

Search with keywords more effectively with these tips:

• Use AND to combine two different ideas. AND will narrow your search.
  • Eg. education AND poverty
• Use OR when you want to include related keywords or synonyms in your search. OR will broaden your search.
  • Eg. education OR schooling OR instruction
• Use NOT to eliminate keywords. NOT will narrow your search
  • Eg. education NOT college
• Use quotation marks to search for a multi-word phrase or a title
  • Eg. “global warming" , “To Kill a Mockingbird"

Can't I Just Google It?

While Google, Wikipedia, and other internet sources can be useful, you don't want to rely on them for all your research. Why not?

• There is no quality control in the internet. Anyone can publish anything on the Internet. Library resources, on the other hand, generally go through a review process.
• Not everything is openly accessible and free on the internet. As a student in Alberta you have access to the ORC (Online Resource Centre) where the Alberta government provides you with databases and websites and they foot the bill.
• The internet is not very organized and can be overwhelming. You can get millions of results when using a search engine, like Google.
• Library resources come with personal assistance. Ms van der Hoek can help you learn to use online resources and answer any questions that you might have.