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Start Your Research Here

This page gives you an overview of the research process and includes some ideas of where to look for information. Remember that careful research takes time and creativity.

For help with:

  • Research, contact a librarian at the Reference Desk, by email, chat, or phone; please see the Ask Us! page for details.
  • Learning and writing, please visit our Student Learning Commons centre.
Step 1

Select topic
 

 Express your topic or research question in a sentence. These terms are the keywords you will be using in your search strategy.
  • I want information on the role of women in the family in 16th century Italy.
  • I need to know about the market for running shoes in Libya.

Your professor or TA is the best resource for checking that your topic is appropriate. HINT: be sure that your question isn't so broad that you'll need everything in the library to answer it, or that it is so focused that you won't be able to find anything to support it!
Step 2

Identify best sources and research tools
 

 Start with the Research Guide for your subject, which lists the best resources in your field. Think about what type of information you need, and use the sources accordingly:
  • For definitions and background information → Use directories, dictionaries, encyclopedias and handbooks. (Check the Library catalogue)
  • For in-depth research → Use books, journal articles and government reports.
  • For statistics → Use government websites, associations & organizations.
  • For scholarly (academic) journal articles and for conference papers → Use article indexes & databases.
  • For newspaper articles → Use databases listed in the News sources and Alternative news.
  • For position papers and analyses → Find association and institute reports.
  • For company information → Use company's website and article databases.

Remember that sometimes the information you want does not exist in exactly the form you would like. Instead, you will have to piece the information together by looking at all the available sources above.
Step 3

Carry out searches and locate the items in the Library's collection
 
  • If you are looking for books, use the Library catalogue. For search tips, see the Library Catalogue Search Guide.
  • If you are looking for journal articles, use article indexes and database. For an overview of searching for articles, see the guide How to Find Journal Articles. The majority of our databases have a link Where Can I Get This? Use this link to get to the full-text, or to order the article from another Western Canadian library.
  • If you already have the citations to several good articles on your topic, see the guide From Citation To Article to learn how to find the article on the Library shelves, online, or how to order a copy from another library.

When using the Library catalogue or an article database, you'll need to connect the key concepts (keywords) with 'AND' or 'OR' (e.g. women and family and italy; women or females). Don't search sophisticated electronic resources like you would Google!

For tips on using a specific database, find the database on the alphabetical list, click on its name, then check next to the Help label (several lines down from the Connect button).

Attend a Lib Skills library research workshop, or ask a librarian for assistance.
Step 4

Evaluate items you have found
 

 You must evaluate each source to see if it is appropriate for academic research. For example, does the article you have found come from a popular magazine or from a scholarly (academic) journal? To learn how to distinguish between types of journals, check the guide What is a Scholarly Journal?

Sources which you find out on the Internet can also be problematic, because anyone can put anything online. Use the guide Internet Research: Finding and Evaluating Resources to learn more about evaluating web sources.
Remember that research is a cycle. The first time you go through these steps, you'll probably be looking for a couple of general sources on your topic. Each time you repeat the process, you learn more, enabling you to:
  • make your topic more focused, or
  • work with a different index or research tool, or
  • try a different search query, using synonyms and related terms. 
Be patient! Research done properly takes a lot of time, but the reward for careful preparation is a paper which "writes itself".
Step 5

Write & Cite!

 How to write How to cite
  • One issue you will have while writing is how to cite your sources properly for footnotes and the bibliography. See our guides for information and examples on the different styles, such as APA, MLA, and Chicago.
  • Learn how to use RefWorks, a bibliographic manager that can help you store your references online and format bibliographies instantly. 
  • Make an appointment with a Student Learning Commons peer to get more help with grammar and structuring your paper.

 

Owned by: Ivana Niseteo
Last Modified: 2012-05-09