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CSES 4854 Research Resources: Information Retrieval
Introduction to academic research
Here are a few resources to help get you started with academic research. Want more? Visit our Information Skills Modules!
Part I: Know Before You Start
- Terminology (key concepts, scientific or technical terms, jargon words, etc)
- Access tools for identifying information sources
- Print: Indexes , abstracts, bibliographies
- Electronic: Indexes/databases, Online catalogs, VT Library web site
- World Wide Web: Nothing evaluated, much is not reliable
- Always! Always! Evaluate what you find, no matter where you find it.
Part II: How to Search
- Carefully describe or define what you want to know—write a thesis statement/hypothesis
- Identify primary & secondary concepts and associated terms – fill in Concept Table
- Organize key terms into a logical search statement – primary concept first (Search statements)
- Search the online catalog plus appropriate print and electronic indexes, handbooks, etc
- Search for key terms starting with primary concept, then add secondary concepts
- Evaluate relevancy of results
- Revise search statements (choice and relationship of terms) as needed
Part III: Getting What You Find
- If the library has access to the online full-text – download or print it
- If the library does not have access to online full-text, use ILLIAD (Interlibrary Loan) to obtain materials not available online
- Off-campus students -- use ILLIAD Document Delivery Service for anything not accessible online
ILLIAD link is: http://www.lib.vt.edu/ill/index.html
Part IV: Copyright Issues & Plagiarism
- Private personal use – one copy is OK
- Public or public personal use – get permission no matter what format it is in
- Always give credit to the originator for anything you borrow from someone else, including anything you find on the World Wide Web
Helpful readings:
- http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/copyright/
- http://www.plagiarism.org/
- http://www.english.vt.edu/plagiarism/plagiarism1.html
- http://www.lib.vt.edu/find/citation/index.html