Are you new to academic research? Or perhaps you need a review to brush up on your skills? Try these basic guides to the various steps of research. These learning resources provide indepth coverage of the steps and procedures for research, regardless of the subject area in which you are engaged.

These learning resources are arranged in sequence. So if you are new to the research process go to "Starting a Project" and begin with module 1. Concept Mapping.

1. Concept Mapping
   You've just been given an assignment. Now, where do you start? Used for brain-storming concept mapping can help you improve the quality of your research and help you save time.
   
   
2. Using Reference Resources
   Did you just get back an essay that you wrote using only encyclopedia articles? Did you get a poor grade? Find out why! Learn the do's and don'ts of how to use reference resources.
   
   

3. Understanding & Using Boolean Operators
   Learn how to use Boolean operators to broaden or narrow the retrieval results of a search. Words such as AND, OR, and NOT can be used to construct more complex searches in a database by combining search terms to recall more documents or to retrieve a more useful set of search results.
   
   
4. Using the Library Catalogue
   So you now have a good basic understanding of boolean operators and how to construct keyword search queries? Then review how to perform your searches on the Library's catalogue.
   
   
5. Call Numbers & Retrieving Library Materials
   So you've found a range of titles that you'd like to pull from the stacks/shelves. To do this, you need to understand the basic filing system that the Library uses. This is a basic primer on the Library of Congress Classification System.
   
   

6. Using the Database Search Interfaces
   So you now have a good basic understanding of boolean operators and how to construct keyword search queries? Maybe you've mastered using the Library's catalogue. But you should still review how to perform your searches on the Library's electronic resources & databases.
   
   

7. Evaluating Information Sources - A General Template
   This is a crucial step in the research process. Before you begin to write you need to be able to justify the choices that you made during the research process. Can you defend/justify the evidence that you intend to present in support of your argument?.