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Quinebaug Valley Campus Library

Quinebaug Valley Research Help

The Research Process

Types of information available online:

  • Information for personal use
  • Information from corporate sources (stock quotes, etc.)
  • Local, state, and federal government information
  • Current information from news sources
  • Information about hobbies, recreation, and personal interests
  • Information written for a general or popular audience
  • Social media and blog posts
  • Ads and shopping

Types of information available in a library database:

  • Information written for and by academics for academic purposes
  • Information organized and categorized enabling ease of use
  • Information that has been chosen by the QVCC faculty and library staff to meet the specific needs of QVCC students

Ready to choose between finding information online or at the library?  Here are some things to keep in mind that will help you find the best information for your current needs:

  • All research, whether you are doing research with a search engine or library database, is going to take time to do correctly.
  • A library database has collected articles specifically for academic audiences. 
  • A library database will only search for the items contained within that database, whereas a search engine will search across the web.
  • Many of the articles that could be useful in an academic setting are behind a paywall when searching a web engine such as Google Scholar.
  • The cost of the library databases and the articles within them are already part of the tuition and fees paid by students.
  • Most search engines (including Google and Bing) are created and maintained by for profit companies. Their primary goal is to make money.
  • It is possible for owners of webpages, for people, or for groups to manipulate a search engine to place their webpage/information higher onto the list of returns.  Some of these are labeled as ads, but some could look like legitimate information if the reader does not double check the information. Because of this, it may be necessary for you to scan several pages into the search results of an internet search before you get to the truly reliable, relevant information.
  • Information on the web and webpages get updated, deleted, and become outdated quickly.
  • There is no quality control or authority control on the Internet.  Anyone can create and post a webpage.
  • Search engines use relevance ranking.  This means the search engine looks at your past behavior and tries to anticipate what you need.
    • This ranking is very helpful when you are looking for a donut shop near you.
    • It is not helpful when you are looking for an academically suitable source for your paper on William Faulkner.

 

Sometimes the hardest part of your research project is the part before you even start searching.  It is choosing your research topic and then narrowing that topic down to something you can use to search the library databases.

When picking your specific research topic here are some tips to keep in mind.

  • Choose something that you are interested in.  Library searches take longer than searches done using a search engine so you will likely be spending a lot of time with your topic.  Make it something you enjoy!
  • Your topic should fall somewhere into the Goldilocks Zone of research topics.  Not to broad that it is hard to sort through your results, or to narrow that you are unable to find any sources.

After you have selected your topic, take that broad topic, and turn it into a narrower, more defined research question.  This is the question that you hope to answer with your research.

When using your search engine to perform a search, generally we are asking a question that has a specific answer.  These questions have a single answer that can be found in a single place:

  • What time does the movie start?
  • Where can I get my dogs favorite food?

Questions for library databases ask complicated questions that encourage users to find multiple sources that discuss their research question.  Research questions are broad enough that there will be information available in the library databases to answer them.  They are also narrow enough that there will not be too much information.  Some examples of research questions are:

  • How are academic libraries using virtual reality to augment the classroom experience?
  • How did Jack the Ripper change policing in Victorian England?

Once you have your search terms and you have chosen the database, it is time to start searching!  There are certain boxes, buttons, and search assistance options you will be looking for in all the database you use.

All databases will have ways that you can narrow your search without having to add new terms.  When using a database, you should always look for the Limit to Full Text or Full Text Documents check boxes.  You want to make sure that the results you are seeing are only sources that are available in full text, instead of a source that is merely a description or abstract.

Other helpful ways to limit your search are:

  • Publication Date
  • Document or Source Type
    • Some professors may ask you to only use Scholarly Articles from Academic Journals

Once you have found a source you think will be useful to you, there are a few things you want to make sure to find.

  • Make sure to save your source before you leave the database.  Always try to save as a PDF when possible.  This ensures you have page numbers and that you do not have to come back to the database.  To do this look for ways to:
    • Print
    • Email
    • Send
    • Save
  • Look for the Cite button.  This will provide you with your starter citation in all the major citation’s styles.  While you can copy and paste this citation into your Reference or Works Cited page, be sure to double check the citations provided.  Ensure that the formatting (hanging indents, italics, capitalization, etc) matches the citation style you are using.

Keeping Track of your Research

Research we do for an academic assignment is not the same thing as research we do at home.  Think about the last few things you asked a search engine.  Most of the time we look for things like: what other movies is this actor in, what's the phone number for my vet's office, where is the nearest Mexican restaurant, etc.  All of these searches are quick because we have a specific question that can be answered using one web site. 

Now think about what you are asked to find for your academic assignments.  The first big difference is that you are unlikely to be asked to find a specific answer that only uses one web page to answer.  More likely, you will be asked to find multiple sources to formulate your own, individual answer.  This means that academic research just takes longer, and that's fine. You will also be expected to keep track of where you got the information to create your answer. 

If research is going to take us longer than we are used to, we want to make sure that we do not accidentally redo our research when our research occurs in chunks over multiple days or weeks.  We also want to make sure that we do not redo our research when it comes time to acknowledge the sources we used to create our answer.

This Research Tracking Worksheet will help you keep track of all the steps that are a part of academic research as well as giving you a place to save your research as you go.  We recommend that you save another copy of this worksheet whenever you have a research project.