ISC Library Guide: Research Skills

You can find some core information on our 'The Basics' pages, which are designed to provide an overview of our services and some of the core tools available to you:

• How to use the Library Catalogue to search for books and journals you have access to
• How to search Library Discover for journal articles and further sources, including our museum and archives collections.
• How to make the most from Google Scholar.
• Free tools you can use to help simplify the process of finding and accessing full text content online
• Some advanced tools for PGRs and academic staff.

The Finding Information pages provide help with researching a topic. Starting with an overview of how to approach your research question and how to break it down to form the basis of a manageable and efficient search, it will also cover:

• How to construct an effective search strategy
• Advice on how to critically evaluate the sources which you find
• Citation searching and tools for identifying related content outside of traditional scholarly publications
• Support for those undertaking a Systematic Review (and how these may be useful to see authors real search strategies in the wild).

The Managing Information pages provide you with the guidance and tools to:

• Understand the importance of referencing, and what is meant by plagiarism (and how to avoid it)
• Tools for collecting the sources you read, and how to create a bibliography or reference list from your collected references in the appropriate referencing style

The Keeping-up-to-date pages provide you with the tools to automate some of your research activity, inlcuding:

• Database & TOC alerts - to keep you up to date with the latest published research in your field
• Citation alerts - to keep you up to date with any new publications citing your work, or citing key reading for your research.

Remember to also visit our Subject Guides for guidance from your Faculty Librarian on subject specific databases and tools available to you through University Library and Collections.

For PGRs and Research Staff, we also have our Research Support Guide.