Researching for assignments

When researching for an assignment you may want to go beyond your reading list. To research effectively it is useful to know how the different library systems and resources work and how they may differ. This can help you decide where and how to search.

Where to search?

There is a huge range of information available so it can be difficult deciding where to start. LibrarySearch is a great place to start researching but what is the difference between searching on LibrarySearch or choosing a subject database?

The below video provides some guidance on the differences to help you choose the best place to search.

What are you searching?

In everyday life we are use to searching on search engines such as Google using our normal language and typing in full questions. The same method of searching does not work on our library databases due to the way that the information has been saved and recorded. Instead of typing in full questions or phrases it is much better to search for keywords, Watch the below video to see the how the search functions work and how you can then find the best results.

For further help on choosing your keywords to search see the Library Research Skill Moodle and the section on searching.