Research skills tutorial

Congratulations, you are half way through this tutorial. By now you have:

• Defined your topic and identified alternative keywords (Step 1)
• Created a search strategy (combining keywords with search boosters) (Step 2)
• Selected appropriate sources of information (Step 3)

Now you need to use your search strategy with your selected sources to find the information you need.

Finding resources at UniSC Library

Many of the sources you need can be found via the library website.

The table below outlines where to look on the UniSC Library Website to find the specific sources. Sometimes a source can be found in several places.

What do you want to find?	Library Search	Journal Titles	Databases	Course Readings	Guides
A reading from your Course Readings
A reading from a Reference List or Bibliography
Books and eBooks
A particular journal article
A particular journal
Journal articles on a topic
Databases for your course
Online videos
Help with finding information for your course

Reading List or List of References

You may have a list of readings (known as Course Readings, available in Canvas) or a Reference List with sources you want to find. A reference should include the:

• author/s
• year or date of publication
• title of the book or article
• title of the journal or newspaper (this will be the second title)
• volume number and issue number
• page numbers
• URL for a website
• DOI for a journal article

Learn more about finding resources from a reading list

Library Search: find books, videos, journal articles and more

Library Search lets you search the majority of the Library's collection in a single search. Go to the Library website and select Login for Full Access. Select UniSC Students and Staff and enter your username and password is prompted. Type your keywords in the Library Search box. Remember to use your search strategy (combine keywords with Boolean operators, phrase searching and truncation).

Learn more about using Library Search to find books, videos, journal articles and more

Journal Titles: find Journals and journal articles from a reference

Go to the library website and select the Journal Titles link. Type the title of the journal (may appear in italics in a reference list) into the search field.

N.B. Do not type the title of the article.

Select Check for availability and select the database that includes the appropriate year range.

N.B. Some databases don't include this year's articles.

Once in the database, select the specific volume and issue number for the article you need to find.

Learn more about using Journal Titles

Databases: find journal articles on a topic

Go to the library website and select the Databases link. Databases are listed by title, subject and type.

Learn more about finding journal articles in the library databases

Course Readings: find books chapters, articles and more

Course readings have been selected by your Course Coordinator. Login to Canvas, select your course, then select Course Readings. Readings may be organised by study weeks or topics.

Guides: find research tips and information about your course

Go to the library website and select the Library Guides link. You can choose from:

• Subject area Guides related to your course or program (e.g. Business, Engineering, Health, Law, Science, Technology)
• How to Guides to help with research and finding information (e.g. Get started in the library, What are credible sources?)
• Academic Skills Guides to help with writing and study skills (e.g. Essay, Case studies, Reading and notetaking)
• Research Guides for researchers and academics (e.g. Endnote, Research Data Management, Open Education Resources)

See how Step 4 relates to Digital Literacy - linked to Apply Technology (Graduate Attribute)