If you need help, please contact the SIAT Librarians, Megan Sorenson and Adair Harper, at siatpub-lib@sfu.ca or 778.782.7588, or Ask a Librarian.

 Exploring your topic

Using encyclopedias or other reference books can give you general summaries as a background to your topic. This will help you with the big picture of the scholarly conversation around your topic and provides a foundation for further research.

Here are some online reference books that might include background information on your topic:

• Gale Virtual Reference Library (a large collection of reference books in many subject areas, including science and technology)
• Sage Knowledge (collection of many encyclopedias related to the social sciences)
• Encyclopedia of science, technology, and ethics
• Ethical and Social Issues in the Information Age
• Encyclopedia of New Media

Oxford Very Short Introductions provides readers with a quick and accessible entry point to a wide range of subject areas -- including science, history, philosophy, sociology, and more. For instance: 

• Privacy: A Very Short Introduction
• The Body: A Very Short Introduction
• The History of Computing: A Very Short Introduction
• Artificial Intelligence: A Very Short Introduction

 Finding current events

In order to identify and analyze a current issue for your research paper, you will most likely need to access news articles on your topic. When searching for news coverage via Google or other search engines, you will often encounter articles that require paid access, but the library has you covered! While searching the general library catalogue may bring up some articles, we encourage you to search for your topic in one of our news databases for more fulsome coverage. 

• Factiva and Pressreader are often good places to start as they feature a broad range of news outlets. Check Factiva if you are trying to source an article from The New York Times or Wall Street Journal
• Canadian Newsstream has full text articles from Canadian newspapers including the Globe and Mail, National Post, The Gazette (Montreal), and Vancouver Sun
• CBCA Complete includes articles from many Canadian newspapers, popular magazines, and scholarly journals.

If you are trying to locate the full-text of a known article, try searching a distinctive part of the article title in quotation marks. 

For further information, this SFU Library guide on news resources gives an overview of the resources available to you. For other perspectives you may also want to consult some of the resources listed in this guide to alternative media sources.

 Finding scholarly books and articles

Books tend to give you a better overview of topics, as well as including more specific information. Articles are generally more specific than books and tend to focus on a certain aspect of a topic.  

Use the SFU Library Catalogue to search for books & articles at the same time. After your initial search, you can use the left side of the screen to limit your results by format, date, location, and so on. 

You can also use specific databases to find more results or to focus your search within a particular subject area. Check out this video on advanced search techniques for finding relevant articles within library databases.

Here's a list of databases you could try for your assignments:

Subject-specific databases

PsycINFO
Scholarly articles from psychology journals. Good for any topic with a psychology angle.

Communication & Mass Media Complete
Scholarly journal articles from the fields of communications, mass media, linguistics and film. Good starting point for social media topics.

Design and Applied Arts Index (DAAI)
DAAI covers both new designers and the development of design and the applied arts since the mid-19th century. Includes articles, topical news items, conference and seminar reports, and book, video and exhibition reviews.

Education Source
Education and education-related journal articles.

ACM Digital Library
Academic articles from the Association for Computing Machinery. Mostly "hard-core" computer science, but some material on computing & society.

Art Full Text

Periodicals, journals, and reproduction of images covering fine, decorative and commercial art, folk art, photography, film, and architecture.

CINAHL Complete
Scholarly and magazine articles on a wide range of health topics.

Business Source Complete
Covers all areas of business with a large collection of scholarly business journals, industry magazines, industry & market reports, and other business information resources

Multidisciplinary databases

Academic Search Premier
Includes articles from a range of academic journals and popular magazines. Covers a broad range of topics.

Google Scholar
Google Scholar enables you to search for scholarly literature, from broad areas of research though mostly in the science and technology fields. Searching is not as focused as in the other article databases.

Sociological Abstracts
Academic articles and other sources related to the study of society. 

Web of Science
Journal articles, conference proceedings, and other resources in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.

Humanities and Social Sciences Abstracts
Includes articles from a wide range of academic journals in the social sciences and humanities. Good for almost any topic.

Science Indexes
Articles from scholarly journals and popular magazines on a wide range of science topics.

CBCA Complete
Articles from Canadian sources, including some scholarly journals, business magazines, and popular news magazines and newspapers. Good for learning about the 'Canadian' angle to any question.

If you're unsure about where to search or how to find the full-text copies of any articles, ask a librarian! We help students with this all the time.

 Finding statistics/data

Statista: Statistics portal that integrates statistics from thousands of sources, on topics related to business, media, public policy, health and others. 

Data & statistics information (SFU Library guide) Selected resources are drawn from national agencies, intergovernmental organizations and other official sources of statistics.
Grey literature (SFU Library guide)  Information grey literature sources, which often collect and publish statistics

To evaluate current news articles (and test your ability to sniff out disinformation!), check out our guide on How to spot fake news.

 Help with writing your paper

The Student Learning Commons has peer tutors available to help with writing your paper. Learn about more about their in-person and online services (workshops, handouts, virtual consultations, and more). The Surrey SLC is located in Fraser Library (Room 3695).

 Citing your sources

It's important to cite your sources, so that:

• Your reader can locate the sources you used for your paper
• You give credit to the people whose research and ideas you used in your paper

Using the APA style:

• The library's online guide to APA style
• The official APA Handbook in the library
• The APA style blog (great advice for those tricky sources that aren't actually covered in the APA handbook)
• The library's guide on citing images in APA style

Remember you also need to cite videos, images, and other media that you use.

Writing an annotated bibliography:

• How to Write an Annotated Bibliography (SFU Library)
• Writing an annotated bibliography (University of Toronto, Writing Centre)