ACE1050: Finding good quality
Moira Bent, Faculty Liaison Librarian
Objectives for today
How to search for information developing a
Making sense of what you find
what‟s the difference between books,
journals, websites, databases and why
does it matter?
How to make sure it‟s good stuff
Different kinds of information
IDENTIFY and SCOPE your search topic
•What do you already know?
•Identify keywords and phrases
•Consider synonyms and spellings
•Think about related terms
PLAN where to look by knowing what
information types you need
MANAGE your information
•Keep a record of everything you find
•Cite and reference fully when writing up
•Secondary sources (books, journals)
•Other material (images, maps, stats etc)
Find the right pieces
Check it’s ok
EVALUATE your results
•Is it relevant? Is currency important?
•Is it authoritative? Can you trust it?
•Who wrote it and why? Is it biased?
•Is it well written, referenced, based on original
Plan where to look
GATHER information using search
•Use subject specific databases
•Use AND, OR to combine terms
•Limit by date, location, language
•By type (review, conference, peer reviewed etc)
Decide what you want
“The risks and benefits of genetically modified crops”
Types of benefit –
disease, pests etc
Types of risk –
Think about where to look
Good general overview
Specific course texts
Specific topics/ very detailed
Original research/ opinion
Official information, statistics/data
Find the right
Use a phrase
Use AND, OR and NOT to make logical
GM AND risk
(GM OR genetic engineer*) AND (food* OR crop*
OR product*) AND (risk* OR….)
Conserv* finds conservation, conserve,
conservationists (and conservatory)
Building up a search
For academic information
LibrarySearch is a good place to start
Includes the library
catalogue and a range
of electronic resources
Full & mobile views
Use Library Search
To find printed books in the Library
To find electronic books
To get a general overview of a topic
To find a few journal references for an essay
Our subject guides
are packed with
resources, news and
LibrarySearch is fab!
Why use specific databases?
Unique content for agriculture and food
Set search alerts
Search within results
Unique content for medicine and human nutrition
Same interface as CAB Abstracts
Use databases to trace journal articles
Collections of references and full text articles
International in scope
Essential for academic research
This is too complicated,
Google’s always worked for
Google is good to find websites and freely
available academic papers
• Subject specific guides
• Identifies key websites
• Google’s search engine for academic
• Scientific search engine – filters out nonscientific sites
Check it’s ok
The date it was produced
What kind of information is it?
(book, journal, website….)
Who is it for?
Who created it? If you don‟t know, why do you trust
Is it up to date?
Is it accurate?
Is it biased?
Check your references
To make your own contribution clear
To acknowledge source material
To ensure reader can find source material
To avoid plagiarism
Your referencing must be:
Use our Referencing Library Guide for practical
Referencing examples (Harvard at Newcastle)
Surname, Initials. (Year of Publication) Title in Italics. Edition if
not first. Place of publication: Publisher.
Surname, Initials. (Year of Publication) „Title of article in single
quotes‟, Title of Journal in Italics, Volume (Issue/month/season
where applicable), page numbers.
Author of website. (Year it was created) Title of Website. Available
at: URL (Accessed: last accessed date).
See the Referencing Guide:
Stockdale, E. (2003) How to keep first year students awake.
Education today 34: 122-134.
Bent, M. (2002) The psychology of eating, Facet: London.
Park, J, Finn, J, Cooke, R, Lawson, C. (2008) Agriculture
and the environment: the current situation. University of
Accessed 1 Dec 2008
The weird and wonderful
Author of message. (Year) „Title of message‟, Title of Internet
Site, Day/month of posted message. Available at: URL (Accessed:
Author (if given). (Year) Title of Program. (Version) [Computer
program]. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).
Author/speaker. (Year) Title of communication. [Medium].
Use Cite Them Right, Study Skills Level 3 Citation (PEA)
Citing in an essay
Research has shown that giving students
chocolate helps them to concentrate (Stockdale,
2003). Bent (2002 p 45) also claims that
“chocolate reduces stress”. It therefore seems
appropriate that universities provide chocolate
fountains in all halls of residence.
Bent, M. (2002) The psychology of eating, Facet,
Stockdale, E. (2003) How to keep first year
students awake. Education today 34:122-134.
Your plan of action
Expand on your research question – what, when, where,
Use Library Search for books, ebooks and journal articles
Use your Subject Guide to explore ebook collections,
databases and specialised resources
Reference all your sources
Explore your Subject Guide