Information Skills Tutorial: Choose Relevant Sources

Using 'More Options'

As well as being able to search all the above, you can also create a more focused search, for example, classification (shelfmark) and language. 

Ebooks

Many of the books  you find in the catalogue are electronic and can be read from home. This short video shows you how to access ebooks from the Library catalogue.

Assessing Usefulness

It is not always obvious whether a particular book can help you or not.  To help you assess its usefulness:

• Consult the index at the back to locate information on specific topics - use the keyword list you prepared earlier
• Scan the contents page at the front to determine scope and coverage from the chapter headings

Remember, some books may contain a broader subject coverage than your topic, but they could still provide you with information you need, and are worth investigating.

Most textbooks have bibliographies or suggestions for further reading. If the text you have been reading has proved to be very relevant to your subject, then its list of references is likely to be very useful too.

Beyond Library Stock

The Library catalogue is limited to the stock held by the University. If you wish to find sources held outside the library, there are several options. Google Books will find many millions of titles and, if you limit the search to books with a preview, you will be able to view inside the book. This will allow you to judge the coverage and applicability to your subject.

If the book you need is not available through any of our print or online sources you can use the Document Delivery Service to request it from locations outside Ulster.

Journals

Journals (also known as periodicals or serials) are publications produced on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually) and are an invaluable source of information:

• journal articles provide up-to-date information and report recent developments

• they may provide concise subject summaries

• journals often contain details of meetings and conferences, advertisements for products and reviews of recently published or forthcoming books

 Electronic Journals Listing (Journals Finder)

The Library has a searchable listing of over 80,000 electronic journals titles. Use this to ascertain whether we hold a specific journal.

To access our collection click on the Electronic Journals link on the Library Home Page. 

In the Search Box, enter the title of the journal (not the article details or author). If the journal is found, a link will be made to the relevant database(s) which provides it.  Check the date covered by the database(s), to make sure that it covers the year you need. Click on the link to open up the journal. See the example video below:

If you have any access problems, please refer to the Off-campus Guide or read the information on access procedures .

Journal titles held in print format by the Library

There is a smaller collection of print journals in the library. These may be journals for which we do not have an online subscription or electronic journals where the Library also retains older content in hard copy only. Use the Library Catalogue to find out not only which print-based journals are held at Ulster, but also where they are located and which dates are covered.  Search by the name of the journal only.

Locating journal articles on a specific subject

The Library has access to an excellent range of databases that allow you to search for journal articles on particular subjects.  These are available on the Databases page.

Searching these sources results in a list of articles that match your search terms. Full bibliographic details (the publication information – author, title of journal article, title of journal and issue details) will be given for each reference, and usually an abstract (summary) of the article. Many of the databases will provide full-text access to the relevant document.

If the database does not supply full-text, click on the  button, which is available in many of our databases, to check whether we can provide the full-text from any of our other online sources.

You'll find a list of references at the end of most journal articles. This shouldn't be overlooked and can be an invaluable method for tracing related articles in a subject area. Some databases will also automatically provide full-text links to related full-text articles. If not, check the journal titles of related article in the Electronic Journal (Journals Finder) link.

Newspaper articles can provide a useful source of information for both current and historical research. For example: Reading multiple newspaper sources provides numerous points of view about an issue, including the option to compare how an issue is covered by various countries. Seeing how people viewed an event when it happened and setting it in the context of its time, rather than our later interpretation. Tracing the historical development of subjects over time, through contemporaneous or retrospective newspaper articles. When seeking very local information, there may be limited scholarly research available. Local newspapers may provide useful evidence. However, newspapers often have an editorial bias - compare, for example the political leanings of The Guardian with those of The Times. Some newspapers, e.g. tabloids, are more 'celebrity' focused, with limited 'news' content. Additionally, newspapers may publish a story against a deadline and before all information is confirmed, needing a retraction or later clarification - this is especially true of online editions of newspapers.

Ohio University has written a useful tutorial on News Sources overview of using Newspapers for research.

The Library contains a number of newspaper sources. See: History: Newspapers for more information (note the Newspaper Archives section).

Key databases sources of newspapers are:

Databases

A database is a collection of information (e.g. journal articles, references to book chapters, full-text reports, newspaper articles, full-text patents, etc.) which you can search by keyword, author, title etc..  They are essential for finding information on specific topics for your assignments and dissertations.

If you don’t know which databases are best for your topic, we provide guides to a wide range of faculty subjects, with links to the recommended databases. You can access these guides by clicking on the Subject Guides link which is available on  the Library Home Page.

Access is available on and off-campus via Databases link on the Library homepage.

Most of the databases are accessed through your Ulster email address and networked password but a few have specific login details.  (Details are listed on the databases page if required.)
Types of databases

 Library Discovery tool.

USearch is not a 'database' as such. Instead, it is a way to cross-search a selection of major library databases and all 80,000 full-text electronic journals at the same time. As it does not search ALL databases, it should not be your sole information source. However, it is an excellent starting place for any research question. 

How to search

For help with identifying your key search terms and constructing an efficient and effective search, see the sub-topics under Finding the Information You Need.

If the article you need is not available through any of our print or online sources you can use the Document Delivery Service to request a copy of the article(s). 

The second part of Cardiff University's Information Library Resource Bank video Exploring the journal literature  (duration 4 minutes, 22 seconds) covers databases.

The Internet – Locating and Evaluating Web sites

Many of you will have searched the Internet before – probably Google, Bing, Yahoo! or other well-known search engines. But using the web for research purposes is very different to casual browsing.

Google Scholar

Use Google Scholar to find e-journal articles, material from institutional repositories and book chapters from many different sources. The benefit of using Google Scholar is that you can search for scholarly literature, across disciplines and formats, from a single screen. In addition to Library resources, Google Scholar can be a good starting point for your research as it will give you an overview of what published material exists on your topic.

'Full' Google

If using the 'full' Google search option, it is important to use the available search tips and limits to make your search as effective and efficient as possible, otherwise you risk returning too many irrelevant hits. Click on Settings to get access to the Advanced search which contains many specific search options.

Below is a useful video below from Tuts+ Computer Skills demonstrating the variety of search options and filters available from Google, including some not listed in the Advanced search. Some of these techniques also work with Bing.

Evaluating Internet sites

You must NEVER use information from a source on the web without evaluating it first. The vast majority of information on the web will be inappropriate for your studies, unreliable and may lead to poorer marks. Finding relevant, quality sites on the Web can be difficult.

Below are a few suggestions on how you might evaluate an Internet source.

Remember, the better quality the web site, the better quality your essay will be!

Good quality web sites

Your subject librarian has put together recommended internet resources for you.  Find your Subject Guide - the link is available on the  Library Home Page.

For example, click here for Internet resources from our Subject Guide for Art and Design or here from our Subject Guide for Social Work.

Whichever website you use, you must always evaluate the content.

For more on this topic watch another of the videos from Cardiff University's Information Literacy Resource Bank entitled Evaluating online information (duration 5 minutes, 53 seconds).

Social media sources include Face Book, blogs, wikis, Youtube, Twitter, Vimeo, Instagram etc. Social media can also provide local and current information and serve as outlets for viewpoints and voices that are not typically conveyed by traditional or dominant media outlets. Much local information, e.g. support or community groups, now have an online presence. Some of the benefits of using social media as an information source: It is interactive, immediate, engaged and collaborative. It is an excellent way to quickly gather responses, engage in market research, gather opinions or eye witnesses accounts to quick moving news stories. Tweets, Facebook posts and blogs are beginning to supplant letters and diaries as primary source material. However, it is difficult to archive or curate such material and it can be more problematic to confirm or identify the source or author of any piece since pseudonyms or hidden identities are not uncommon. As with any online source, the credibility and reliability of information must be evaluated. See the Evaluation section of the Websites tab as well as the 'Fake News' tab.

If you are already using social media personally or intend to use it as part of your university studies (e.g. create a Student's Union society or create a group for groupwork discussions), make sure you are aware of the University's social media policy.

• Newcastle University library has done an excellent guide to using Social Media for Research. It is based around an Art/Humanities subject area but nonetheless  is a comprehensive collection of resources and information. Highly recommended.

• The London School of Economics LSE Impact Blog has also looked at the importance of using social media to disseminate research.

• For some insight into the issues of using social media to gather information, see: Special issue of Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking (2013 vol 16 no 9, available from the Electronic Journals link).

It is important to use a range of information sources to support your arguments. 

When writing at University, you are encouraged to focus on academic literature, such as scholarly textbooks and journals.

However sometimes it may be useful to include other types of information sources, such as practitioner journals, newspapers, blogs and other social media.

Being aware of the 'Information Timeline' can be a helpful way of deciding what type of information to use, and when.