Now that your uni coursework is probably starting to pile up, it’s really time to start thinking about doing some good ol’ fashioned research. Hopefully you’ve made it to a library tutorial, or at the very least into the library, so will know your way around and how to find some books in your subject area. But more and more information is now online, meaning you can do a lot of your research without even leaving your bed. Today we’ll highlight a few searching strategies to get the best results on your coursework.
Hopefully by now you’re aware that Wikipedia is not a good resource to cite when you’re writing your coursework, unless you’re doing a paper specifically about Wikipedia. That being said, it can be a really good starting point to get a general idea about your topic. Generally the articles are written in quite a straightforward way and it can be the fastest way to check important dates etc. So by all means, use it for this, but be sure to find the information from a reliable source (and double check that it’s actually correct) before you pass in your coursework!
Google Scholar is also a good resource to use, although not to rely solely on. Not all articles are available through this, and you’ll also get some material that isn’t necessarily very good. It can be a good resource to find article titles that you think would be useful though, which you can then search through from your library’s journal subscriptions. Additionally, by using the advanced features you can automatically link to some journal articles that your university subscribes to). This means that when you do a search, you’ll be able to easily and automatically access certain articles because your library has subscribed to them. To do this, go to the “library links” in the settings and then type in your institution name – you’ll have to prove your credentials at some point. Clicking on the down arrow in the search bar also brings up advanced search features, allowing you to easily narrow down what you’re looking for.
Your main resource should of course be the library. The librarians will have subscribed to various databases and journals, and made these available to you via the library’s website. You’ll need to access various databases to make sure you’ve got a good range of results. Use advanced search features when searching, and play around with different key words. A good starting point may be to look at the required reading for your course and see which articles are cited.
You might be wondering whether all of this is necessary, given that for most of your courses you’ll have been given a reading list of materials for seminars. Can’t you just limit your research to those, and save yourself the time of searching for extra articles and books? The simple answer is that while you’ll probably be able to get away with that, there’s nothing that lecturers like to see more than a bit of independent research that brings an original perspective to an essay or project. So if you want to aim for higher grades then doing additional research of your own is a must!
Doing research doesn’t need to be scary or difficult, especially if you make use of a range of resources which are all available with an Internet connection. Make use of different resources, practice and soon you’ll be searching like a pro.