Library Learning and Teaching: Level-four sessions
Students should be able to identify, locate and evaluate the different resources and types of sources appropriate to their area of study and construct a search strategy using discipline specific keywords and search techniques and use information ethically.
Getting started
This session introduces students to the various types of information which are available to them as they begin looking for academic evidence to support their assignments.
Along with highlighting such resources as books, journals and websites, students will be encouraged to evaluate and think about the appropriateness of using such evidence within their research.
The rest of the session will focus upon using Library Search specifically to find reliable academic information sources.
Our Getting Started session combines sharing of brief theory through a presentation, along with a live demonstration of searching.
Duration: 40-60 minutes
Delivery: In person or online
Search strategy: developing key words
This session encourages students to consider what the key components of their topic are and to explore their central question from various perspectives, such as a professional or political standpoint. Techniques suggested during this planning stage of their research include the use of mind mapping and a PESTLE (political; economic; social; technological; legal; environmental) analysis.
By questioning whether there are different perspectives and identifying alternative terms and synonyms, students will gain an insight into what the key focus of their research should be. In turn, this process will help them to develop key words which they can then use within our Library Search engine to find good quality academic sources of information more efficiently and effectively.
Duration: 40-60 minutes
Delivery: In person or online
Search strategy: searching tips
This session shares search tips which can help students to search more efficiently and effectively for relevant academic resources. Concepts such as the use of Boolean operators; phrase searching and truncation will be explored, highlighting the impact that using such techniques can have upon their results.
Consideration will also be given to applying specific criteria, such as geographical location and publication date, to again change the focus of search results.
Duration: 40-60 minutes
Delivery: In person or online