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Research Essentials

This guide covers the fundamentals of college research: identifying source types, finding sources using library resources, and evaluating the credibility of sources.

Library Resources

Some sources of information are freely available through the web. Others you can access because the UIS library pays for them. This page will cover how to find information through the library catalog and in online databases licensed by UIS.

Library Catalog

The following short tutorial (1:35) shows how to search for books in the UIS Library Catalog.

 

Library Databases

Databases are containers for information, in the same way Netflix is a container for movies and television. UIS licenses many different databases, many of which are subject-specific. For most areas of research, Academic Search Complete is a good place to start. The following short tutorial (1:26) shows how to access UIS databases.

What should I put into the search box?

Searching in databases or in the library catalog is different from searching in Google or using a generative AI tool. The following chapter will walk you through writing a research question, generating keywords, and using database search tools:

If you're curious for more detail about why database searching works the way it does and how to turn a research question into searchable keywords, see: