Miller Library and Information Service

The Research Process

Version 1 Last updated 23 June 2009

Research

“work that is done to investigate something; to investigate a field of study and discover new

facts about it”

Dictionary of Information and Library Management, 2006 A&C Black Publishers,

London.

Select a general topic

Choose a topic that interests you

Talk to teachers and others if you get stuck choosing a topic.

Get an overview of the topic

Go to an encyclopaedia or reference source to get an overview of the topic.

List key words

These words will help you look up information on the topic.

Use a thesaurus if necessary.

Brainstorm key words with other staff, family and friends.

Make a source card/ page

Write down all resources you will use or you have used for information.

For online resources, as they are found print the 1st page of the site.

Do this as you go along, it will save time at the end.

Focus the topic/ Write a statement of purpose or question.

Write a statement of purpose or question about the focused topic. This is what you will be answering

in your assignment.

Use a range of resources

Print

Online – including YouTube, TeacherTube

Databases

Audio-Visual

Evaluate what you find

Evaluate the quality and usefulness of the information.

•Relevance – significant to your topic•Currency – how old is an article

•Authority – who wrote or published the article•Reliability – general or academic information

Use catalogues

Use library catalogues to find library resources, such as print

material, videos and DVDs.

Use databases

Log onto the library databases to find journal, magazine and newspaper articles. These articles can be printed, emailed or saved.

Find internet resources

Use search engines. Check to see if your class has a bibliography or

Studylink created by librarians.

Finding information on the internet tutorial: the Internet Detective

Write your paper

Do not copy, unless you are quoting – it’s plagiarism.

Write a bibliography.

Give credit where credit is due; cite your sources.

Using the source cards/ paper which you started at the beginning of your research.

Use a standard referencing format, ask library staff for a loan of a guide.

Evaluate your work

Re-read it. Does it make sense? Can you see any spelling

mistakes ?

Get a family member or a friend to read it, does it make sense to

them?

Turn in your paper on time!

Celebrate!

When you’re finished, relax. See a movie, catch up with

family or do the ironing!

Bibliography for this presentation•Cornell University, 2004, Critically Analyzing Information Sources, viewed 18 June 2009 <http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm>•Intute Virtual Training Suite, 2008, Internet Detective, viewed 18 June 2009 <http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/index.html>•The Learning Centre, UNSW, 2005, Avoiding Plagiarism, viewed 18 June 2009 <http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/plag.html>•The Learning Centre, UNSW, 2005, Harvard Referencing, viewed 18 June 2009 <http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/ref2.html>•NSW Department of Education & Training, 2009, Tafe Studylinks, viewed 18 June 2009 <https://www.tafensw.edu.au/library/studylinks/>•NSW Department of Education & Training, 2009, SWSI Library website, viewed 2 July 2009

<http://www.swsi.tafensw.edu.au/students/library/library_overview.aspx>•PMgD, 2007, Extreme Ironing, viewed 18 June 2009 <http://pmgd.wordpress.com/2007/05/07/extreme-ironing/>•TeacherTube, 2009, viewed 2 July 2009 <http://teachertube.com/>•YouTube, 2009, viewed 2 July 2009 <http://www.youtube.com/>