Library Research FAQ
Mackenzie Brooks
Assistant Professor & Digital Humanities Librarian
English Department Liaison
brooksm@wlu.edu // Leyburn 218
Agenda:
Answers to your frequently asked questions, including:
- What is the academic library?
- Where do I start?
- How do I know what keywords to use?
- How do I go further?
- What makes a good source?
- How do I organize my research?
- What if I need more help?
Q: What is an academic library?
Q: What is an academic library?
Q: What is an academic library?
A: collections
- $1.2 million collection budget per year
- Books, journals, newspapers, databases, DVDs, streaming video, images, rare books, archival records, case studies, data, primary sources, conference proceedings and more
Q: What is an academic library?
A: people
Start your research on the library website to obtain access to our subscriptions when off campus.
Q: Where do I start?
Q: Where do I start?
A:
Q: Where do I start?
A: Search Everything
-
587 million results including
- 5.5 million books/ebooks
- 104 million journal articles
- 349 million newspaper articles
- peer reviewed content
- interdisciplinary
Q: How do I know what keywords to use?
Q: How do I know what keywords to use?
A: Brainstorm
-
What is your thesis statement?
-
What are the nouns?
-
What are synonyms for those nouns?
-
How does your discipline talk about the topic?
Once you find a source you like, check out the keywords in the abstract for other ways to describe your topic.
matters.
Q: How do I go further?
Q: How do I go further?
A: Try some other databases.
- A-Z Databases on library website
- Google Scholar
- Worldcat.org
- Wikipedia
- Browse the stacks!
Interlibrary loan = we borrow resources from other libraries for you
Q: What makes a good resource?
Q: What makes a good resource?
A: Many things!
- Relevancy
- Reliability
- Audience
- Authority
- Currency
- Purpose
Q: How do I organize my research?
Q: How do I organize my research?
A: a citation manager like
- Zotero
- Mendeley
- Endnote
- Papers
Zotero installation guide at
http://library.wlu.edu
Q: What if I need more help?
Q: What if I need more help?
A: Get in touch!
- Email me at brooksm@wlu.edu
- Stop by Leyburn 218
- Research help desk